Kirsten Flagg/Staff writer

Deadwood, S.D., circa 1876: a booming gold-mining town evolving from a lawless frontier to civilization's latest outpost.

Nipomo, Calif., circa 2005: a booming coastal town trying to balance the needs for more housing and water with a commitment to its rural roots.

At the center of each stands one man, bringing the spirit of each to life: Gary Leffew, 1970 world bull riding champion, mentor to aspiring rodeo cowboys at his Nipomo ranch and muse to David Milch, creator of the award-winning HBO television series "Deadwood."

The link between the two towns was forged more than three years ago in one of those typically unlikely Hollywood encounters.

Milch was searching for inspiration for a script that kept falling flat to his ears. Leffew was searching for a master to sculpt his emerging talent for and love of writing.

The rodeo king and screenwriter met through a mutual friend, a horse trainer who had worked with Milch in the past. The connection was instant; so was the birth of "Deadwood."

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"I thought this was the real McCoy," Milch said of that first meeting, during a recent visit to the set. "I felt he grasped what I was trying to do. And I thought I'd seen the show come to light for the first time."

On the set

Leffew arrives on the streets of "Deadwood" about 7 a.m. every day. He roams the mud-smothered alleyways, clogged with carriages.

"I watch and observe, and then I see if there's something not being done right, I let them know," Leffew said of his abstract role as "consultant" to the show.

He spends a lot of time back in his pickup writing lines he'll later share with Milch to be included in a script. Typically, Leffew said, they're the gruffer comments, delivered by the likes of Al Swearengen, a foul-mouthed, scheming saloon operator.

Some of Leffew's inspiration comes directly from the set, where he admires the genius of the show as it unfolds before him in a slow, careful fashion, each scene shot from every angle until it comes out just right.

That's the way it works with Milch, a former Yale University lecturer who also created the hit "NYPD Blue" and "Hill Street Blues" TV series.

Actors describe it as a show that stretches the limits of what's typically allowed through the medium of television - employing language, cinematography, history and character development that defies the usual good guy/bad guy divide in most Westerns.

"There are no black hats or white hats here," explained Powers Boothe, who plays Western-style entrepreneur Cy Tolliver.

Leffew described it as a show that portrays a world strikingly similar to the one he spent 20 years traveling through - the rodeo circuit.

"(Milch) was having a hard time getting the feel of Deadwood. And so, you know, I told him once you get the gold fever in your blood, it never goes away. You can't just go back," said Leffew. "And I said the closest thing you're going to find today is the rodeo cowboy. They're a restless breed. You know, they work eight seconds a day. And then the rest of the time they just have to get into mischief."

For the filming of the pilot last year, Leffew roped in 10 of his cowboy buddies to train the actors in horses and in spirit.

The hours spent on horseback hearing the cowboys' wild stories left an impression on the cast. A number of the cowboys come back for guest appearances or to work on stunts.

"These guys here have got fascinating stories," said Jeffrey Jones, the actor behind A.W. Merrick, the local newspaperman. "Talk about a wealth of experience - of fun living, hard living."

A love of life is exactly what Leffew hopes to inspire in others, whether it be at his ranch where he trains future bull riders or in the writing he does in his pickup with his dog, Spot.

From rider to writer

"You learn to clear your head when you get on a bull," Leffew said. "You mentally link up with them. It's like a dance. It's like two units become one."

After leaving the rodeo business at age 40, Leffew spent some years making television commercials and training the next generation at his ranch.

In both he employed the same meditation techniques that enabled him to converse with a bucking bull. It was during a moment of meditation a few years ago that Leffew received the insight that carried him to writing.

He hasn't gotten on a bull in a while, but he said he's using the same courageous mentality to hold onto the horns of the pen.

"When you're really writing ... it clicks, it just kind of comes through you," Leffew said. "So really it's like riding a bull in that way. Something outside of you is doing it. There's a satisfaction like riding a bull. And then there's days when you don't ride a bull. And those days are crap. You know it's as they say, chickens today and feathers tomorrow, but every day you just show up."

The second season of "Deadwood" starts tonight. The third season, next year, is scheduled to include an episode written by Leffew, Milch said.

* Staff writer Kirsten Flagg can be reached at 739-2206 or kflagg@pulitzer.net.

March, 6, 2005