Deadwood Alive

TROUPE IMMERSES VISITORS IN TOWN’S HISTORY Deadw d Alive! Story and photos by Jaci Conrad Pearson

rom the Main Street gunfights to the Trial of Jack McCall and from the Outlaw Square stage to parades and other productions, Deadwood Alive immerses visitors in the town’s rich and storied history, bringing to life a rough and tumble past.

“Deadwood Alive brings our history to life on Main Street throughout the summer, which has been very popular and we are expanding that to spring and fall seasons,” said Deadwood Historic Preservation Officer Kevin Kuchenbecker. “They now have a full-time executive director and are continuing to add programming, such as the fourth year of the stagecoach operation and adding more programming between shootouts.”

Deadwood Alive treasurer Mike Rodman said the troupe operates on an approximate $200,000 overall operating budget, most of which comes from the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission and the city’s bed and booze tax, Trial of Jack McCall and stagecoach ticket sales.

“We are a non-profit,” he added. “Everything we get, we plow right back

Finto the operation and trying to improve it. We’re all about entertaining guests and telling Deadwood’s history through historically accurate re-enactments.” In an effort to have a larger presence during Deadwood’s shoulder season, Deadwood Alive Executive Director Andy Mosher, a 12-year veteran of the troupe, was brought on full-time. “Our goal is to interact with the tourists that come to town, our guests, teach them about our unique history, entertain and educate and maybe get them to stick around town a little bit longer,” Mosher said. “Our ultimate goal is to get them to appreciate Deadwood and the Black Hills as much as we do.” During the summer, Deadwood Alive is comprised of 15 employees, including actors, those who staff the information chuckwagon and stagecoach, as well as set-up help. This fall, Deadwood Alive will again help bring Outlaw Square to life. “We will be performing Oct. 8 through Nov. 20 at the Outlaw square. We’ll be doing the Lawman’s Patrol. We’re also going to be doing Gold, Guns, and Grubstake. It’s the history of pre-1899 firearms,” Mosher said. “We’re also going to be doing a couple of editions of Meet the Gunslingers. Kids can come and meet us. We’ve got a trading card we’ll hand out to them, we’ll answer questions, tell stories, just hang out with them. We’re doing that a couple of times a day,”

FALL SCHEDULE

FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS OCT. 8-NOV. 20 AT OUTLAW SQUARE

• Noon “Lawman’s Patrol,” Tour Deadwood’s Main Street with a Deadwood Lawman. Discover the true stories of gold, gambling, shootouts, destructive fires and how to hang on to your money and your life. $15 per person, call 1-800-344-8826 - must book 24 hours in advance. • 1 p.m. “Gold, Guns and Grubstake,” the evolution of pre-1900 firearms. Join Deadwood Alive as they explore the evolution of pre-1899 firearms. Learn about and see examples of: early trapper flintlocks of the 1700s and early 1800s, percussion cap rifles, pistols

and shotguns of the early west and cartridge firing weapons that tamed the West. See how the technological advances of each era added to firearm reliability, ease of loading, capacity and rate of fire. • 2 p.m. Shootout – “A Shooting Affray” After a long night of revelry, two friends get into a disagreement over who gets the pleasure of paying for the libations. This affray ends with one man shot and the other sent a-packin’. If your drunken friend was spittin’ mad at you, would you let him borrow your gun? • 2:20 p.m. “Hangin’ with the Shootists,” meet the gunslingers, ask questions, and get their trading cards and autographs. • 4 p.m. Shootout – “Showdown on Gold Street,” Two gamblers disagree about the outcome of a poker game and decide the best way to settle this is to pull their six guns and shoot it out. Things don’t go as either gambler expected, and the result is a Deadwood legend. • 4:20 p.m. “Hangin’ with the Shootists,” meet the Deadwood Alive actors, hear their stories and ask all the questions you have always wanted to.

A programming committee comprised of members of the board of directors gives guidance in developing programming.

“And we start researching to find out what information we can and expand from there,” Mosher said.

Each person involved in Deadwood Alive either picks or is assigned their character for the summer and represents that persona out on the street.

“So you’ve got to research in what they would have looked like, dressed like, what they did, how they acted and kind of build your ensemble around that,” Mosher said. “My particular character was the first town marshal. So I’ve got a badge, but I kind of play him off as the dusty old grumpy guy and my clothes are a little more disheveled than others. Wild Bill, of course, he dresses pretty fancy.”

Main Street shoot-outs and spring programming begin mid-March, following the same fall schedule Fridays and Saturdays noon to 5 p.m. at Outlaw Square.

Deadwood Alive performs three main gunfights per day during the summer, Monday through Saturday, with no shows on Sundays, beginning Memorial Day weekend.

“In amongst all of those things, we play cards with kids out on the street. We play music,” Mosher said. “Some of these other shows that we do during the spring, we are going to be working in at the Outlaw Square, as well. Wild Bill gets shot four times a day in the Saloon No. 10. It all ends up to be about 16 shows a day.”