Violence at the Gem Theater
Prostitutes at the Gem Theater had more to fear than just Al Swearengen and his men. The patrons were for the most part miners, prospectors, gamblers, card sharps, and transient gunslingers. Many of the latter were often hired to protect the gold shipments leaving Deadwood and the Homestake in Lead, en route to Denver. Prostitutes were often beaten by the patrons, either in drunken rages or simply for the sport of it, and Swearengen’s men only erratically intervened on their behalf. The gambling floor was often the scene of drunken brawls and gunfire; it was a rare night when violence did not occur in the theater, and there were numerous fatalities there.
That Swearengen was a violent man is attested by the fact that all three of his wives divorced him, all of them citing physical violence on his part. In the summer of 1879 the Gem was damaged by fire, and then mostly destroyed in the fire which burned down most of Deadwood in September of that year. Swearengen rebuilt it both times, making in larger and more opulent each time. In 1899 it burned down yet again, and Swearengen lacked the funds to rebuild. Broke, he left Deadwood. He was found dead on a Denver street in 1904, his corpse revealing a severe head wound. Two months earlier his brother had been shot five times (with $200 in his pocket) but not robbed, indicating the attackers may have believed he was Al.