Conversation with Peter Cozzens, author of Deadwood

• Thursday, October 23 @ 5:00 pm
• Lewes Public Library, Lewes, DE

Join us in the library or online for a conversation with Peter Cozzens, author of Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West, the true story of the Black Hills gold rush settlement once described as “the most diabolical town on earth” and of its most colorful cast of characters, from Wild Bill Hickok to Calamity Jane to Al Swearingen and Sheriff Seth Bullock.

Sifting through layers and layers of myth and legend—from nineteenth-century dime novels like Deadwood Dick, to HBO prestige dramas to the casino billboards outside of present-day Deadwood—Cozzens unveils the true face of Deadwood, South Dakota, the storied mining town that sprang up in early 1876 and came raining down in ashes only three years later, destined to become food for the imagination and a nostalgic landmark that now brings in more than two and a half million visitors each year. Deadwood reveals how one frontier town came to embody the best and worst of the West—a relic of humanity’s eternal quest to create order from chaos, a greater good from individual greed, and security from violence. Joining Cozzens in conversation is Ron Collins.

Cozzens is the author or editor of eighteen acclaimed books on the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. In 2002 he was awarded the American Foreign Service Association’s highest honor, the William R. Rivkin Award, given annually to one foreign service officer for exemplary moral courage, integrity, and creative dissent.

This session is available to attend in-person or through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER and indicate which you prefer.

Free History & Culture Libraries Literature & Poetry Southern Delaware

Plan Your Visit

More Events You Might Like

Stay Connected