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Also known by his nickname Deadwood Dick, Nat Love was born a slave in 1854 in Davidson County, Tennessee. At the age of fifteen he ventured to the Great Plains where, like many ex-slaves, he found work in the cattle industry. For twenty years he worked on cattle ranches in the Texas Panhandle and Arizona. Love participated in the great cattle drives of the 1870s, driving herds to Dodge City, Kansas, and to mining camps in Montana and the Black Hills. While in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in July 1876, he reportedly earned the nickname Deadwood Dick after winning a riding, roping, and shooting competition. Love retired from the cattle industry in 1890 and went to work as a porter for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. His last job was as a bank guard in Los Angeles.
Love is best known for his autobiography,