Frontier figure, born in Troy Grove, Illinois, USA. He was a stagecoach driver on both the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. As a spy and scout for the Union Army, he was captured and escaped more than once. He was marshal of Hays City (1869) and of Abilene (1871), and killed a number of men in both towns, always in self-defence or in the line of duty. He toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (18723) and was shot from behind by Jack McCall while holding the Dead Man's Hand in poker.
| Wild Bill Hickok | |
|---|---|
| James Butler Hickok | |
| Born |
May 27, 1837 Troy Grove, Illinois, USA |
| Died |
August 2, 1876 Deadwood, South Dakota, USA |
| Occupation | Lawman Gunfighter |
James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a legendary figure in the American Wild West.
Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois on May 27, 1837.
Early years as a lawman, "posting" men out of town
In 1857, he claimed a 160 acre tract of land in Johnson County, Kansas (in what is now the city of Lenexa) where he became the first constable of Monticello Township, Kansas. On several other occasions, Hickok confronted and killed several men while fighting alone.
Hickok invented the concept of "posting" men out of town. Hickok proclaimed he would shoot them on sight the following day.
Civil War and Scouting
When the American Civil War began, Hickok joined the Union forces and served in the west, mostly in Kansas and Missouri. After the war, Hickok became a scout for the U. Hickok's killing of Whistler the Peacemaker with a long-range rifle shot had influence in preventing the Sioux from uniting to resist the settler incursions into the Black Hills. That rifle shot, supposedly downhill on a windy day and reportedly at over 750 yards, helped cement Hickok's legend as a master of weapons.
Later Career as a Lawman/Gunfighter
On July 21, 1865, in the town square of Springfield, Missouri, Hickok killed Davis K. In 1871, Hickok became marshal of Abilene, Kansas, taking over for former Marshal Bear River [Thomas J. Hickok's encounter in Abilene with outlaw John Wesley Hardin resulted in the latter fleeing the town after Hickok managed to disarm him.
While working in Abilene, Hickok and Phil Coe, a saloon owner, had an ongoing dispute that later resulted in a shootout. On October 5, 1871 Hickok was standing off a crowd during a street brawl, during which time Coe fired two shots at Hickok, resulting in Hickok shooting and killing Coe. Hickok, whose eyesight was poor by that time in his life due to the early stages of glaucoma, caught the glimpse of movement of someone running toward him. Hickok was said to have met and been acquainted with later famous lawman Wyatt Earp, by Earp's biographer. However, if they met, Hickok never gave any account of it.
Wagon train venture, Calamity Jane
Hickok joined Charlie Utter's July, 1876, wagon train from Colorado to Deadwood, South Dakota, in which Utter made Hickok a partner, having known Hickok for quite some time, and linking up with him when the wagon train passed through Cheyenne, Wyoming. Hickok would act as scout, and help lead the wagon train through any troubles they might run across while en route. During the planning and organization of that trip, and the actual trip up itself, Hickok first met Calamity Jane.
Earlier claims that they had met when he joined the Wild West Show in 1873 are false, as at that time she was serving on the Great Plains with the US Cavalry, as a scout, and she herself did not start touring with Wild West Shows until 1896. She would later claim that they had a romantic relationship, and claimed to have been one of Hickok's closest friends. This was false, and basically the result of her own fascination and infatuation with Hickok. In reality, they barely knew one another, having met only a month or a little more before his death, and although Hickok by all reports was friendly toward her, there was nothing beyond casual hellos and goodbyes. Also, Hickok had only recently gotten married, and by all accounts he was completely taken by his wife.
"Dimestore novel" fame
It is difficult to separate the truth from fiction about Hickok, the first "dime novel" hero of the western era, in many ways one of the first comic book heroes, keeping company with another who achieved part of his fame in such a way, frontiersman Davey Crockett. In the "dime store novels", exploits of Hickok were layed out in heroic form, making him often seem larger than life.
Hickok himself told the writers with great seriousness that he had killed over 100 men. There is no doubt that Hickok was a fearless and deadly fighting man, equally at home with a rifle, revolver, or knife. 10" in Deadwood (then part of the Dakota Territory but on Indian land), Hickok could not find an empty seat in the corner, where he always sat in order to protect himself against sneak attacks from behind, and instead sat with his back to the door; Legend has it that Hickok's hand in poker was a Pair of Aces, and a pair of Eights, with the fifth card disputed. The fifth card was either unknown, or some say that it was not dealt yet, and the game was interrupted by Hickok getting shot. But most likely, McCall, in a drunken rage, became enraged over what he perceived as a condescending offer from Hickok to let him have enough money for breakfast after he had lost all his money playing poker the previous day. McCall claimed at the resulting two-hour trial (by a motley group of assembled miners and businessmen) that he was avenging Hickok's earlier slaying of his brother and was acquitted, resulting in the Black Hills Pioneer editorializing:
"Should it ever be our misfortune to kill a man ... Hickok's brother, Lorenzo Butler Hickok, traveled from Illinois to attend the retrial.Utter claimed Hickok's body, and placed a notice in the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer, which read:
"Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2, 1876, from the effects of a pistol shot, J. Hickok (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming.Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading:
"Wild Bill, J. Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876.At the urging of Calamity Jane, Utter in 1879 had Hickok reinterred in a ten foot square plot at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, surrounded by a cast-iron fence with an American flag flying nearby. In accordance with her dying wish, Calamity Jane was buried next to him
Shortly before Hickok's death, he wrote a letter to his new wife, which reads in part: "Agnes Darling, if such should be we never meet again, while firing my last shot, I will gently breathe the name of my wife—Agnes—and with wishes even for my enemies I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore" and "My dearly beloved if I am to die today and never see the sweet face of you I want you to know that I am no great man and am lucky to have such a woman as you"
Media
Over the years, Hickok has been the subject of various Television Programs, Movies and Books. The last days of Hickok's life are dramatized in the HBO TV series Deadwood., in which he is portrayed by Keith Carradine. According to legend, it was the hand Hickok held when he was shot. Although Hickok never drew "cross draw", was a master of it.
User Comments Add a comment…