The Reverend Henry Weston Smith (January 10, 1827 – August 20, 1876) was an American preacher and early resident of Deadwood, South Dakota.

[3] According to George V. Ayres, later a prominent merchant in the area, "Reverend Smith held the first church service in the Hills" at Custer City, on May 7, 1876, with 30 men and five women in attendance.

[2] John S. McClintock's memoirs describe Smith preaching near the corner of Main and Gold Streets, to a mixture of curiosity and respect, with some removing their hats to listen.

On Sunday, August 20, 1876, Smith left a note on his cabin door after his Deadwood service, saying "Gone to Crook City to preach, and if God is willing, will be back at three o’clock."

Friends concerned about the danger of Indians or thieves had warned Smith against walking alone and unarmed, but he is remembered as replying, "The Bible is my protection.

However, Smith was murdered as he walked to Crook City, his body found alongside the road by a local resident, the exact location no longer known.

Seth Bullock, Deadwood's sheriff, described Smith's death in an August 21, 1876 letter to Reverend J. S. Chadwick: "It becomes my painful duty to inform you that Rev.

[2] In 1914, the Society of Black Hills Pioneers erected a monument on the road between Deadwood and Spearfish, South Dakota, in the approximate area where Smith's body had been found.

The highlight of the ceremony was a reading by local resident, historian, and lawyer Reed Richards of the sermon Preacher Smith had planned to deliver at Crook City that fateful day, 119 years delayed.

In the show, the circumstances of Smith's demise were changed to a gradual decay due to a brain tumor, though he was mercy-killed by Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) before dying from the cancer.