Seth Bullock was born in Amherstburg, Ontario on July 23, 1847. He arrived in Helena, Montana in 1867 and was later elected as a Republican member of the Territorial Senate of Montana. In 1873 Bullock was elected Sheriff of Montana territory in Lewis and Clark County. In addition to his other activities, he soon made a mark for himself as an auctioneer and commission merchant in early-day Helena. He entered into a partnership with Sol Star opening a hardware business as well as serving as Chief Engineer of the Helena Fire Department. In 1876, Star and Bullock followed the gold rush to Deadwood.
With the influx of miners into Deadwood Gulch, Bullock and Star recognized the great need in Deadwood for a hardware store. They quickly secured a lot on the corner of Wall and Main Streets and built a store front. They advertised furniture, hardware, lamps, wall paper etc. but for some unknown reason the first shipment of goods to arrive included a large assortment of chamber pots. Bullock auctioned them off the evening they arrived in what likely was an event of great frivolity.
Sol Star and Seth Bullock's Harware Store on the corner of Wall and Main Streets c.1877. Notice the giant coffee pot on the top of the sign on the roof.
The death of Wild Bill Hickok in August of 1876 triggered a growing demand for law and order in Deadwood, resulting in Bullock's appointment as the first Sheriff of Deadwood a few months thereafter. He quickly appointed several able, fearless deputies and before long order had settled upon Deadwood. Seth devoted much of his time to ranching and raising thoroughbred horses on the ranch he and his partner established at the confluence of the Belle Fourche River and Redwater Creek, as well as dabbling in mining, politics and promotion while continuing to serve as Deputy United States Marshal.
As Deadwood's Sheriff, Bullock was called upon to settle various disputes. In the fall of 1877 a group of disgruntled miners who had not been paid, took over the Keets mine. The mine's owner had been spending the proceeds on assorted forms of recreation instead of paying his workers. Since the mine had been producing over $18,000 a week in gold it was a serious matter. After many attempts were made to remove the miners, Bullock was called. He calmly walked over to the mine's air shaft and deposited a noxious substance, likely burning sulpher. Before long the miners made a hasty exit.
Sheriff Bullock never had to resort to killing anyone while serving as Deadwood's chief lawman. It was said he could “outstare a mad cobra or a rogue elephant” which enabled him to carry out his duties with a minimum of violence. A single glance into his steely eyes convinced criminals that this was not a man with whom they wanted to mess around.
In 1894 Bullock took on the task of building a hotel on Main Street. At a cost of $40,000 he constructed a three-story, sixty-room, steam heated hotel. The beautifully appointed Bullock Hotel was completed in 1896 and is still in use today.
In the spring of 1881, Bullock planted alfalfa on his ranch, which is generally credited as being the introduction of this important crop in the state of South Dakota. Continuing his youthful dedication to conservation, Bullock successfully secured a Federal fish hatchery for the Black Hills area, located near modern-day Spearfish. Bullock became the founder of the town of Belle Fourche (later to become the largest livestock shipping point in the United States and the county seat of Butte County) by persuading the railroad to build through the old site of the DeMore Stage Stop on the Bullock Star Ranch and offering free lots for any building moved from the town of Minnesela to his "new" town.
During the Spanish-American War, Bullock volunteered for active service in the Cavalry and was named a Captain of Troop A in Grigsby's Cowboy Regiment. The outfit never saw combat, but did sustain quite a few casualties from typhoid which was rampant in the Louisiana training camp where they impatiently sat out the short war.
Bullock met Theodore Roosevelt as he was bringing a horsethief, named Crazy Steve, into Deadwood for trial. They shared coffee and beans over the tailgate of a chuck wagon on the rangelands near Belle Fourche. TR believed that Bullock represented the best the West had to offer and their friendship grew rapidly. During the '90s, Bullock continued to maintain close contact with Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, the newly elected Vice President under President McKinley, appointed Bullock as the first Forest Supervisor of the Black Hills Reserve. In 1905 President Roosevelt appointed Seth Bullock as United States Marshal for South Dakota. Seth was reappointed in 1909 by President Taft and continued in office for one year under President Woodrow Wilson.
Bullock enjoyed escorting Roosevelt’s sons on hunting and camping trips to the north of Deadwood. Seth even joined TR on a journey to London where Roosevelt showed him off as the “ideal typical American.”
Roosevelt's death in January, 1919 was a fearful blow to Captain Bullock who was in a weak, emaciated condition himself. By mid-February, however Bullock was busily engaged in his last act of devotion to his beloved friend. He enlisted the aid of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers to erect a monument to Roosevelt on Sheep Mountain. The peak was renamed Mt. Roosevelt and on its crest Bullock and his fellow pioneers erected a tower constructed of native Black Hills stone, the first memorial dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt in the United States, July 4, 1919. The memorial tower still stands today although the entrance is barred and can only be viewed from the outside. From the vantage point of the peak visitors get a clear view of the expanse to the north of the Black Hills all the way to North Dakota and Montana.
Seth Bullock died September 1919 at the age of seventy and was buried in Mt. Moriah where he now shares the cemetery with other legends of the Old West.
