women, even to the point of killing them. The violence in the Gem was not confined to the prostitutes, with the saloon being a frequent site of gunfights between drunken patrons; and in one memorable instance, the memoirs of John S. McClintock reported a prostitute named "Trixie" having shot a large hole through the skull of a man who astounded everyone by surviving for another half an hour. Destruction The Gem was damaged by fire in the summer of 1879 and repaired, but then very soon destroyed in a major fire that devastated the town on September 26, 1879. Swearengen built an even larger and more grand establishment, reopening in December 1879 to adulation as the finest theater ever seen in Deadwood. In 1899, however, the Gem burned down once again, and a broke Swearengen declined to rebuild and left for Colorado. Despite the Gem's history as Deadwood's longest-lived entertainment institution, its support by so many of the town power brokers over the years, and the glowing tributes in the press after the rebuilt Gem was unveiled, after its demise it was reviled in the press as an evil institution and a town shame. Deadwood television series and film Swearengen (played by Ian McShane) and the Gem are both portrayed in the HBO television show, Deadwood (2004–2006) and Deadwood: The Movie (2019), but in heavily modified form. The show's fictional Gem Saloon is already well-established when the show begins in August 1876 and in the movie, which takes place in 1889, it is implied that Swearengen dies due to liver failure in his bed upstairs in the saloon (the real Swearengen was murdered in Denver in 1904) and that he leaves the saloon to a former prostitute named Trixie. References See also Bella Union Saloon American frontier Buildings and structures in Deadwood, South Dakota Drinking establishments in South Dakota Buildings and structures demolished in 1879 Buildings and structures demolished in 1899 1877 establishments in Dakota Territory Demolished buildings and structures in South Dakota