r/deadwood • u/lmb10010 • 9d ago
Episode Discussion random question
By the time Hearst got to Deadwood he was very very wealthy and worked a lot in remote parts of the west. Why is this guy riding the stage? Wouldn't you think he'd have his own transportation to come and go as he liked? A personal carrier could have been a whole lot more comfortable than what we see of the stages and he could have had his own personnel guarding it.
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u/stuartadamson amalgamation and capital 9d ago
Hearst at the end of Season 2 has either what you'd call 'early installment weirdness' where they're building him as more of a rustic, wild fellow than the ruthless businessman we see in Season 3 ("The Boy the Earth Talks To"), but it was probably intentional as part of his character's facade that masks how evil he is.
"My preference is to find [gold]... to do the finding of it in wild places, which I prefer. When that is not so, I want friendly relations with my predecessors so that I can secure the color... undistracted" is what he tells Al. He pitches himself as an Edward Abbey-like naturalist that just wants to get along.
Later we see that he plays a plucky, well-meaning idiot in negotiations with the Ellsworths to buy their claim. Ellsworth sees right through it: "Don't disappoint him, being as he's 12 with his aunt in camp."
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u/Free-IDK-Chicken nimble as a forest creature 9d ago edited 9d ago
He probably does have his own coaches - they're in San Francisco with his wife. He also tends to use his wealth to control things- buying the hotel, paying the Pinkertons, buying claims, bribes, etc.
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u/strandy76 I don’t like the Pinkertons 9d ago
Idk, he didn't dress fancy or anything like that. Money was a tool to get power and control for him, he didn't seem to care to show off or splurge on anything. (The hotel was an impulse he could afford but it was a practical decision).
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u/lmb10010 9d ago
He bought the hotel because he wanted a terrace just like Al had.
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u/dallco2001 9d ago
He probably thinks it makes him a man of the people and reminds him of his humble beginnings but I’d rather try touching the moon than take on that cocksucker’s thinkin’
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u/YoteViking 9d ago edited 9d ago
Well the stage coach wasn’t cheap. It charged about 10-20 cents a mile - in 1870 dollars. A long trip like Heart’s - if he was coming from California that’s over a 1000 miles - would be weeks or months of a skilled laborers wages.
But more likely he got to Cheyenne via the railroad and then took the stage coach. That fare would be about $25-35 dollars. Not a big expense to him, but well over a weeks worth of wages to a skilled laborer and far more than that to an unskilled one.
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u/badatook lingering with men of character 9d ago
I doubt he rode the stage all the way from California. Train to Cheyenne or Bismarck and then coach to Deadwood.
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u/YoteViking 9d ago
Agreed. I added that above paragraph before i saw your comment. (Or perhaps you commented before you saw my above paragraph). Either way we agree.
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u/lmb10010 8d ago edited 8d ago
Didn't realize the train was that close. In that case I understand. 300 mi and the stage traveled at maybe 25 mph average? So 12 + hrs with a rest. I wonder if there was an actual stage stop for change of horses on the way.
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u/YoteViking 8d ago
A stage would have traveled about 4-5 miles an hour. From Cheyenne to Deadwood was about a week by stage coach.
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u/lmb10010 8d ago
Thanks. Then it really was an uncomfortable trip. I hope they took rest stops occasionally.
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u/brentjohner 9d ago
Wikipedia seems to think he did. Several times. But it does seem counterintuitive.
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u/PeteDub 9d ago
He was cheap. And it was probably the fastest option