Al Swearengen & the Gem Saloon

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2023

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Al Swearengen was the notorious owner of Deadwood’s Gem Theatre, which quickly became one of the boom town's most popular entertainment venues. Swearengen’s business practices, however, were far from ethical. He coerced desperate women into becoming prostitutes, often through bullying and physical violence, and wasn’t exactly gentle with the menfolk, either. Despite the Gem Theater burning down in 1879 as part of a larger fire that destroyed much of Deadwood, Swearengen was undeterred. He rebuilt the Gem even bigger and better than before only to have it burn again 5 years later. Once again, Swearengen rebuilt the Gem, but you can’t stop what’s coming. After a series of setbacks and lawsuits, the theatre caught fire a final time, under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Swearengen eventually left Deadwood for Colorado, but his body was found near a streetcar track in Denver a few years later. The cause of his death was never determined, leaving open the possibility of foul play. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Merchandise! https://www.teepublic.com/user/wild-west-extravaganza Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d Jim Bridger Part 1 - https://www.wildwestextra.com/jim-bridger-ashleys-100/ Wild Bill Hickok Part 1 - https://www.wildwestextra.com/wild-bill-hickok-part-one/ Deadwood’s Al Swearengen by Jerry Bryant - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1560377232?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=1560377232&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_qv_asin Deadwood Saints and Sinners by Jerry Bryant - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1560376465?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=1560376465&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_qv_asin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For over 20 years, Al-Sweringen held court at the infamous Jim Saloon, a veritable hotbed
0:05.3	of debauchery and crime in the violent boomtown of Deadwood, you stupid son of a bitch.
0:11.3	Also referred to as a defiler of youth and destroyer of home ties, the gym was the perfect
0:16.1	venue for Sweringen to peddle his vice, and make no mistake about it, the real Ows Sweringian was much meaner
0:22.1	than portrayed on HBO.
0:24.1	So bear your hoophole-headed cock-sucking ears
0:26.0	and tell your god to ready for blood.
0:28.2	My name's Josh, and you're listening
0:30.0	to the Wild West extravaganza.
0:33.7	And Pussies have fries next 15 minutes.
0:44.3	Music and Pussies have prize next 15 minutes. Ellis Albert Sweringen and his twin brother Lemuel were born on July 8, 1845 near Oskaloosa, Iowa.
0:52.3	Al's father Daniel, originally from Kentucky, made his way to Ohio
0:56.4	in 1836, where he met and married Albert's mother, Keziah. The loved birds headed west
1:02.0	Iowa, settling in what's now Mahaska County, and started popping out babies, of which they'd have a
1:07.4	grand total of eight. Now, Daniel was a farmer by trade, but would, interestingly
1:11.9	enough, also serve as the Mahaska County Sheriff between the years 1853 and 1855. And I say
1:18.6	interested because his son, our topic du jour, Al Sweringen, wasn't exactly known as Mr. Law and
1:24.6	Order. By 1856, the family sold their farm and moved into the
1:28.3	nearby town of Oskaloosa, where the elder Sweringen dabbled in various business ventures.
1:33.4	Everything from running a grocery store to selling real estate, operating a slaughterhouse,
1:38.1	and even participating in extramarital activities with his sister-in-law. Oh boy. By 1869, Mr. Sweringen would leave
1:46.1	Keziah, his wife of over 30 years, and move in with her much younger sister,
	...

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