Al Swearengen and the Gem Theater Al Swearingen
Of all the historic theaters in Deadwood, the most infamous was Ellis Alfred Swearengen’s Gem Theater. Located below the intersection of Wall and Main (currently a parking lot next to the Celebrity Hotel), the Gem had the reputation for vile entertainment and debasement of the women who were pressed into service there. Proprietor Al Swearengen recruited women by assuring them of jobs in hotels or respectable homes and promising the thrill of adventure on the Western frontier. When the women arrived in Deadwood, they found they were stranded, victims of a virtual white slave trade, forced to work in abominable conditions, and perform disreputable acts. With support from some of the leading citizens of Deadwood, and consequently, little attention from the authorities, the Gem prospered and became the city’s chief attraction.

The Gem was one of the longest continuously-operating entertainment venues in Deadwood, resurrecting itself after several fires and running strong to the turn of the century when a third fire in 1899 closed its doors for good. The front held a bar with seats for patrons and spectators on each side. The rear of the building was divided up into small rooms where the Gem girls entertained customers. Swearengen’s staff included Dan Dority as general manager, Johnny Burns as box herder (meaning “in charge of the girls”) and several bouncers. The staff was as brutal as Swearengen himself, and the beating of women was commonplace.

Al Swearengen was thrice married. The Black Hills Pioneer reported that Swearengen’s first wife Nettie left him on September 9, 1876, later divorcing him for spousal abuse. He treated his second and third wives no better.

The Gem in its prime was said to take in $5,000 on most nights, and $10,000 on some, yet Swearengen died penniless. He left Deadwood soon after the 1899 fire and was killed not long after while trying to board a train in Denver’s rail yard.