Samuel Fields

Samuel Fields was an African-American who claimed to have been a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After 1876, General Fields moved to Deadwood, South Dakota to seek his fortune. There he went by several nicknames&mdash;including "Nigger General" and "General Darkey"&mdash;but was commonly known as "General Fields". The man took no offense at racial epithets and regardless of his personal wealth at any moment, he referred to himself as a "sly-coon".

Samuel Fields's exploits were common fodder in local newspapers, such as the Black Hills Pioneer.

On the HBO television series Deadwood the character of Samuel Fields is played by Franklyn Ajaye and rather loosely based on the real Samuel Fields.