It's 1876. Dan Ryan, formerly of Custer's 7th Cavalry, is leading a party of prospectors to the Black HillsSioux Indian territorywhere gold was discovered the year before. Off-limits to whites, the region is overrun by so many fortune-seekers that the U.S. Army is powerless to stop them. Besides, what's a paper treaty worth next to gold-rich land?
In nearby Deadwood, men raise hell all night after prospecting all day. An outlaw town with no right to exist on Indian land, Deadwood is a lawless cesspool where those who strike it rich can lose everything, including their lives. Possibly the meanest man in the Dakotas, Al Swearengen sells liquor that can poison a man when gold is involved. And now, even the legendary Wild Bill Hickoklosing his eyesight but still finding troubleand Calamity Jane are coming to stake their claim.
Dan Ryan is going to have to fend off roaming gunmen, angry Sioux, ruthless gamblers, whores, and thieving prospectors in order to protect his claim because in the Badlands of Deadwood, trouble always comes at you from behind.