Most of the characters (Al Swearengen, Sol Star, Reverend Smith, the Metz family, et. al., in addition to the more famous Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and Jack McCall, ) have real-life counterparts.
Ellsworth is also the name of the Air Force Base located near Deadwood, South Dakota.
SPOILER: The corset that Alma Garret takes off before sleeping with Bullock for the first time is called the "Merry Widow". Appropriate considering her recently losing her husband.
SPOILER: The series shows Seth Bullock and Sol Starr witness Wild Bill Hickok's arrival in Deadwood, however in reality, Wild Bill arrived in Deadwood two weeks prior to Bullock. Bullock arrived in Deadwood on August 1st, 1876, the day before Bill was killed by Jack McCall.
The real Seth Bullock was born in a town called Amherstburg in Ontario, Canada.
For a long time there was a bar called Bullocks Tavern in Amherstburg Ontario Canada, which was originally owned by Seth Bullock's parents and was also the place he was born.
SPOILER: In season two, the actor playing Francis Wolcott, 'Garrett Dilahunt' , also played Jack McCall, the killer of Wild Bill Hickock, in season one. David Milch has a habit of reusing actors.
George Hearst was the father of William Randolph Hearst, the famous newspaperman on whom Citizen Kane (Citizen Kane (1941)) was based, and the great-grandfather of Patricia Hearst.
Until the end of Season Two, the character of Ellsworth did not have a first name. When it was decided to give him a first name, the actor portraying the role, 'Jim Beaver', requested that he be given the first name Whitney, after Whitney Ellsworth, producer of "Adventures of Superman" (1952), whom Beaver knew from his research for a book on the life of "Superman" star George Reeves (I).
The word "fuck" and its derivatives are used 2,980 times throughout the series.
Despite appearing in every episode, Jeffrey Jones (I) (Merrick) was listed as a guest star in the first season. Similarly, Gerald McRaney (George Hurst) received a "special guest star" credit in Season 3, even though he appeared in all 12 episodes of that season.
