Hit HBO Series Publishes 'The Deadwood Pioneer' as Promo

By: E&P Staff Who said newspapers are uncool as a promotional tool?

The people behind the hip HBO series "Deadwood," returning for its third season this Sunday, have "published" a four-page version of "The Deadwood Pioneer," dated May 24, 1877, and distributed thousands of copies at Grand Central Station in New York and other locations today.

The promo "Pioneer" boasts headlines such as "Smallpox Contained in Deadwood City," "Hearst Associate Hangs Himself," "Gold Miners Dig Own Graves" and "Duel Excites Crowd."

A brief front-page item notes that a Scotsman named Alexander Graham Bell has invented a "Bizarre Electrical Speech Machine."

Inside are Help Wanted ads, display ads, and an election roundup. There's also gossip: "Rumors are swirling that Mr. Hearst travels far and wide with his beloved cook Lucretia 'Aunt Lou' Marchbank." And there are references to the Chez Ami brothel on Main Street, and familiar figures such as Sheriff Bullock and Francis Wolcott.

The actual Deadwood Pioneer Times was first printed in South Dakota on June 8, 1876, and is often called the first newspaper west of the Missouri. It lives on today as the Black Hills Pioneer, a daily based in Spearfish, S.D.