词源 |
Deadwood Dick. Deadwood Dick became proverbial through many late 19th-century dime novels, especially those written by Edward L. Wheeler, and long stood for a fearless Indian scout and outlaw fighter. The prototype for Wheeler’s westerns was Richard W. Clarke (1845–1930), who had been nicknamed Deadwood Dick long before his fictional exploits. Clarke, an Englishman attracted to the Black Hills by the gold diggings, won fame as both an Indian fighter and an express guard for gold shipped from the mines in and around Deadwood, South Dakota. Many of the Deadwood Dick myths have been de- bunked, but he was certainly a real character. Clarke lies in a mountain grave near Deadwood. |