Deadwood South Dakota Like You've Never Seen It Before by Paty Jager

I'm proud to be part of a 17 author anthology that is available in both ebook and print. Wild Deadwood Tales has stories that are set in Deadwood and show the historical and contemporary lives in that town. All the short stories in the anthology had to be connected to Deadwood.

Some authors spun a short story that goes along with a series they write. Others used historical events to concoct their version of history. Others used the ghosts of Deadwood's past to build their story. Which gives readers a variety of genres in which to learn about Deadwood.

My short story in the anthology is Saving Dallie. I have one of my main characters from my Silver Dollar Saloon series in Deadwood along with his Silver Dollar Saloon partner, to check out a brewery in Deadwood. While there, Beau Gentry sits in on a card game at the Gem Theater.

The theater was notorious for the owner telling women he wanted them to come to the theater to sing and they ended up working as prostitutes. When they tried to leave, he would beat them up and threaten to kill them. Al Swearengen wasn't a nice person.

At the time of my short story there were 75 saloons in Deadwood. Many were canvas and wood structures using barrels and wood as the bar. There were 7 wholesale liquor dealers, 5 brewers, and 38 bartenders. making the liquor trade an employer of 3% of the population.

Not only was there liquor at the Gem Theater, there was gambling. Hundreds of professional gamblers arrived in Deadwood hoping to take some of the gold from the prospectors pockets while the prospector was gambling for entertainment.Nearly every saloon had gambling. The games played the most were blackjack, poker, faro, roulette, and policy- a game like keno. In my story, Beau is sitting in on a game where a miner throws his daughter into the pot. Beau knows that the girl will do more than sing if Swearengen gets a hold of her.

Not every bar in Deadwood had prostitutes, but every house of prostitution had a bar. Most of the bars who professed to be theaters, such as the Gem, had women and men who sang and danced. Most of the entertainment was said to be "ribald song and smutty jest."

The Gem was one of the lowest places and one of the longest running even though it was dubbed, "dissolute and degraded." While it started out with accolades and boasted being neat and tasteful, it soon fell into "an infamous den of prostitution under the guise of being a dance hall."  Many leading citizens prospered financially from the establishment. Swearengen's wife continually wore at least one black eye and his "girls" were managed by a man who treated the women worse than Swearengen treated his wife.

Saving Dallie

Beau Gentry, owner of the Silver Dollar Saloon, has vowed to help every woman he comes across that reminds him of his mother’s past.  When a miner tosses his daughter into the pot at a poker game and the winner is a brothel owner, Beau is determined to keep the young woman out of the man’s hands. Even if it means putting himself in danger as they travel from Deadwood to Shady Gulch.

If you'd like to checkout the other stories in the Anthology you can find the information here:

WILD DEADWOOD TALES Anthology

Rodeos and romance, Old West adventure, and even a few ghostly tales. Deadwood's wild past and exciting present come alive in seventeen original short stories written by USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors to benefit the Western Sports Foundation. Contributing authors: E.E. Elisabeth Burke, Zoe Blake, Paty Jager, Teresa Keefer, Megan Kelly, Sylvia McDaniel, Amanda McIntyre, Peggy McKenzie, Angi Morgan, Nancy Naigle, Jacqui Nelson, Terri Osburn, Ginger Ring, Maggie Ryan, Lizbeth Selvig, Tina Susedik and A.C. Wilson

Proceeds from this limited edition collection go to benefit the Western Sports Foundation, an organization providing critical assistance to athletes competing in Western lifestyle sports. Whether they need help recuperating from an injury or planning for the future, WSF is there for them.

website: http://bit.ly/DeadwoodTales

universal by link https://www.books2read.com/WDTales


Paty Jager is the award-winning author of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.This is what readers have to say about the Silver Dollar Saloon series: “Paty Jager brings her characters to life, right off the pages of her book. You will laugh, cry, be sad, and get angry right along with the characters.”

Source: Deadwood:The Golden Years by Watson Parker