Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for 1923 season 2, episode 6.Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) and a few other people mentioned Deadwood in1923season 2, episode 6, but it wasn’t clear if it was a reference to the HBO show starring Timothy Olyphant or an actual piece of history. In1923season 2, episode 6, almost everyone was anticipating the moment when Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) arrives in Montana by train. Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) and Sheriff McDowell (Robert Patrick) both sent men to the station to await Spencer, and everyone was trying to figure out which route he would take to get home. In their speculation, thecast of1923mentioned Deadwood multiple times.
HBO’sDeadwoodwas one of the most famous Western TV shows when it premiered in 2004, and it has been widely regarded as one of thebest TV shows ever made. Given its notoriety and quality, it wouldn’t be surprising ifTaylor Sheridan drew inspiration fromDeadwoodand decided to give it a subtle nod. Sheridan is also no stranger to blurring the lines between fact and fiction, so it wouldn’t be too strange to insert a fictional town into the show. However, Deadwood is a very real place to this day, and the members of theDutton family treelikely knew it pretty well in 1923.
Deadwood In HBO’s Show Is A Real Place In South Dakota
Deadwood Was A Very Famous Town In The Wild West & The HBO Show Is Based On Its History
HBO’sDeadwoodis based on the real town of Deadwood, South Dakota, and most of the show’s plot is inspired by its real-life history. Deadwood, South Dakota was a very famous town in the Wild West, as it was settled illegally on land owned by the Lakota tribe in the 1870s. Since it wasn’t technically part of the United States, Deadwood didn’t have any laws.That, combined with the gold rush in the Black Hills surrounding Deadwood, led it to become a massive boomtown filled with lawlessness, prostitution, gambling, and violence(viaHistoric Deadwood).
1923’s Season 2 Finale Massive Runtime Revealed
A new report reveals details about the upcoming 1923 season 2 finale, and viewers can expect an elongated final episode for the Yellowstone spinoff.
Even before the show, Deadwood was a legendary town in Wild West history.It was already notorious for being a town free of law and order, but after the legendary gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok was killed by Jack McCall there on July 11, 2025, Deadwood cemented itself in history(viaHistoric Deadwood). The Duttons in1923almost certainly knew of its history and were at least nominally familiar with Deadwood. Additionally, Deadwood remained a bustling town even after the gold rush, and it’s still standing and drawing in tourists to this day.
How Far Deadwood Is From Yellowstone In Montana?
Deadwood, South Dakota Is About 400 Miles East Of Bozeman, Montana
The main reason1923season 2 referenced Deadwood, South Dakota at all, however, wasn’t because of the HBO show, it was because of its geographical location.Deadwood is located near the Western border of South Dakota, about 400 miles by car away from Bozeman, Montana, the nearest town to the Yellowstone ranch. As the conductor mentioned, a snow drift in Fargo, North Dakota forced Spencer’s train to stop, and the detour it needed to take to avoid the blockage would take him further South, right through Deadwood. Once Spencer reaches Deadwood, it will only be about 10 hours until he’s in Montana.
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A Dream and a Memory
April 6
While1923didn’t outright referenceDeadwood, it is still a reminder of how similar the Western shows are.1923isn’t based on a true story likeDeadwoodis, but they both have an incredible attention to detail and period-accurate stories, characters, and technology.1923also tells just as sprawling and complex of a story asDeadwooddoes: it basically just replaces Al Swearengen’s (Ian McShane) power plays for Deadwood with Donald Whitfield’s (Timothy Dalton) power plays for the Yellowstone. If there was any show for1923to take inspiration from,Deadwoodwould be a great choice.
1923
Cast
1923 is a series following the Dutton family during the early twentieth century. It explores the challenges they face amidst pandemics, the end of Prohibition, historic drought, and the Great Depression, as they struggle to maintain their home in the mountain west.
Deadwood
Deadwood is a western drama series created for HBO by David Milch. The series takes place in Deadwood, South Dakota, where corruption runs rampant in the gold-mining era as the settlement existed outside the U.S. territory expansion following the Civil War. As the town was the site of a major gold find, it continues to attract people from all walks of life - especially opportunistic criminals.
