Angels and the Bad Men—and Women

Deadwood’s story, as revealed in Deadwood Saints and Sinners (Farcountry Press, $14.95) by Jerry Bryant and Barbara Fifer, is more than Calamity Jane’s antics and Wild Bill Hickok’s assassination. The book covers topics including Deadwood’s first telephones, and the first locomotive hauled in by oxen. It covers a wide range of characters including Old Frenchy the Bottle Fiend, who amassed thousands of bottles and cigar butts; the black political activist General Samuel Fields, who on foot raced a horse and won; and Minnie Callison, Deadwood’s first school marm who was murdered in her sleep. Jerry Bryant, a good friend and meticulous historian, always told the unvarnished truth and this book bears that trait.

—Bill Markley, author of Deadwood Dead Men