I'm watching the show Deadwood and I was wondering how Bullock made money as sheriff. At the time that the show takes place, Deadwood was not part of the US and the town was just a loosely organized series of shops and services. Seth Bullock becomes the sheriff for the camp and I was wondering if they collected taxes at all for services like a sheriff, or was he paid for services rendered. Or, as he still ran his hardware store, was the job solely a volunteer job.
Although Deadwood began illegally in the 1870s within land granted to the Lakota People, the United States claimed the entire area as part of its territorial holdings. Congress allocates funding to territories for certain organizational purposes (particularly as territories were initially organized). In addition, territorial governments had the ability to impose taxes and to gather revenue.
The Dakota Territory capital in Yankton (1861-1883) was responsible for imposing law and order and it accomplished this by hiring sheriffs and organizing courts. In addition, the federal government could and typically did send marshals to remote territories.