James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a legendary figure in the American Wild West. He is perhaps the best known figure from that era. After fighting in the Union army during the American Civil War, he became a legendary army scout, and later, lawman and gunfighter. Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois on May 27, 1837. He left his father's farm in 1855 to be a stage coach driver on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. His gunfighting skills led to his nickname, "Wild Bill". Born  May 27, 1837 Troy Grove, Illinois, USA Died  August 2, 1876 Deadwood, South Dakota, USA Occupation:  Lawman, Gunfighter, Gambler

Wild Bill Hickok

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. In 1861, he became a town constable in Nebraska. He became well-known for single-handedly capturing the McCanles gang at Rock Creek Station through the use of force. On several other occasions, Hickok confronted and killed several men while fighting alone. [1]

Hickok invented the concept of "posting" men out of town. He would put a list on what was called the "dead man's tree" (men had been lynched on it) while constable of Monticello Township. Hickok proclaimed he would shoot them on sight the following day. Few stayed around to find out if he was serious.
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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. He earned a reputation as a skilled scout. After the war, Hickok became a scout for the U. S. Army and later was a professional gambler. He served for a time as a United States Marshal. In 1867, his fame increased from an interview by Henry Morton Stanley. 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.
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Later Career as a Lawman/Gunfighter

On July 21, 1865, in the town square of Springfield, Missouri, Hickok killed Davis K. Tutt, Jr. in a "quick draw" duel. Fiction would later show this kind of gunfight as typical, but Hickock's is in fact the only one on record that fits the portrayal. The incident was precipitated by a dispute over a gambling debt incurred at a local saloon.

While Sheriff/City Marshal of Hays, Kansas on July 17, 1870, he was involved in a gunfight with disorderly soldiers of the 7th US Cavalry, wounding one and mortally wounding another. In 1871, Hickok became marshal of Abilene, Kansas, taking over for former Marshal Bear River [Thomas J. Smith]. 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. Coe had been the business partner of known gunman Ben Thompson, with whom he co-owned the "Bulls Head Saloon". 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. He quickly fired one shot in reaction, accidentally shooting and killing Abilene Special Deputy Marshal Mike Williams, who was coming to his aid, an event that would haunt him for the remainder of his life. [2] 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.
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Buffalo Bill

Some accounts of Hickok report him as taking part in Buffalo Bill's Wild West; however, that production was not in existence prior to 1882, well after Hickok's death. Nonetheless, Hickok was reported by some to have appeared with Buffalo Bill in 1873 in a stage play titled "Scouts of the Plains". 
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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. The goal, which was successful, was to ship gamblers, prostitutes, and other needed commodities to the recent boom town. During the planning and organization of that trip, and the actual trip up itself, Hickok first met Calamity Jane.

She would later claim that they had a romantic relationship, and claimed to have been one of Hickok's closest friends, but 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 married, and by all accounts he was completely taken by his wife. 
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"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. In truth, most of the stories were at the very least greatly exaggerated, and in many cases, complete fabrication.

Hickok himself told the writers with great seriousness that he had killed over 100 men. This number is doubtful, and it is more likely that his total killings would be around 20 or slightly more, still a high number of men to have killed. There is no doubt that Hickok was a fearless and deadly fighting man, equally at home with a rifle, revolver, or knife. His story of fighting a grizzly bear, which he claims mistook him for food due to his greasy buckskins, personified a man who feared nothing alive, and after emptying his pistols into the bear, killed it with a bowie knife. That story, also, is thought to have been an exaggeration, but nonetheless an enjoyable tale.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Death On August 2, 1876, while playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's "Saloon No. 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; unfortunately, his previous caution proved wise, as he was shot in the back of the head with a .45-caliber revolver by Jack McCall. 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. The motive for the killing is still debated. McCall may have been paid for the deed, it may have just been the result of a recent dispute. 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 ... we would simply ask that our trial may take place in some of the mining camps of these hills"  McCall was subsequently rearrested after bragging about his deed, and a new trial was held. The authorities did not consider this to be double jeopardy because Deadwood at the time was an illegal city due to several laws that made it against the law to settle on Indian land, although many people did anyway. The new trial was held in American territory, in Yankton, South Dakota. Hickok's brother, Lorenzo Butler Hickok, traveled from Illinois to attend the retrial. This time McCall was found guilty and hanged. After his execution it was determined that McCall had never even had a brother. 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. B. Hickok (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter's Camp, on Thursday afternoon, August 3, 1876, at 3 o'clock, P. M. All are respectfully invited to attend." Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading: "Wild Bill, J. B. Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter." 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. A monument has since been built there. 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"

Gravesite . . . "Dead man's hand"

McCall was subsequently rearrested after bragging about his deed, and a new trial was held. The authorities did not consider this to be double jeopardy because Deadwood at the time was an illegal city due to several laws that made it against the law to settle on Indian land, although many people did anyway. The new trial was held in American territory, in Yankton, South Dakota. Hickok's brother, Lorenzo Butler Hickok, traveled from Illinois to attend the retrial. This time McCall was found guilty and hanged. After his execution it was determined that McCall had never even had a brother.

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. B. Hickok (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter's Camp, on Thursday afternoon, August 3, 1876, at 3 o'clock, P. M. All are respectfully invited to attend."

Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading:

    "Wild Bill, J. B. Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter."

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. A monument has since been built there. 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"
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 Media

Over the years, Hickok has been the subject of various Television Programs, Movies and Books. Some of which are listed below.
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Television

    * Was portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 1989-1992 television series The Young Riders.[1]
    * Featured in the 1995 series Legend (TV series), episode 1.06 The Life, Death and Life of Wild Bill Hickok. The episode portrays his death factually, but then goes on to show that he faked his own death (wearing a sort of bullet-proof vest), so that he could retire peacefully.
    * The last days of Hickok's life are dramatized in the HBO TV series Deadwood.[2], in which he is portrayed by Keith Carradine.
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Movies

    * Played by Gary Cooper in the 1936 film The Plainsman, featuring Jean Arthur as Calamity Jane and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
    * Portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the 1995 movie Wild Bill.[4]
    * Howard Keel played him in the 1953 film Calamity Jane[5]
    * Jeff Corey portrayed him in the 1970 Dustin Hoffman movie Little Big Man.
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Novels

    * The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok, Richard Matheson, ISBN 0515117803
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Poker

    * Was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.
    * A hand of two pair, aces and eights, is called a "Dead Man's Hand". According to legend, it was the hand Hickok held when he was shot. No contemporary cite for his hand has ever been found, according to Rosa, a biographer.
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Trivia

    * Hickok's death chair is now in a glass case above the saloon entrance, though the saloon itself was moved after the original Nuttall & Mann's #10 saloon burned down; the original site is down the street to the north, about a block away.
    * Was a Roman Catholic.
    * Preferred the cap and ball Colt 1851 .36 Navy Model
    * Wore his revolvers in reverse at his hips, sometimes in a red sash, having to draw from the inside.
    * Although Hickok never drew "cross draw", he was a master of it. Hickok usually drew from the right hip with right hand and the left hip with left hand, claiming it was faster that way.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
used with copyright and copyleft as per Wikipedia permission agreements

If you would like to read more try Chronology on Life of James Butler (Wild Bill) HICKOK by John Richard
 

Jack McCall (also known as "Crooked Nose" Jack)  Killed James "Wild Bill" Hickok, shooting him from behind, an act that among admirers of Hickok and students of Hickok's history has given rise to the phrase "the coward Jack McCall." Born in the early 1850s in Jefferson County, Kentucky Died March 1, 1877 in Yankton, Dakota Territory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Life and murder of Hickok The details of McCall's life are lost. He was raised in Kentucky with three sisters, but drifted west and became a buffalo hunter. By 1876 he was living in a gold mining camp called Deadwood, South Dakota, under the alias of Bill Sutherland.

Jack McCall

On August 2, 1876, in the Nuttal & Mann's #10 Saloon in Deadwood, McCall shot Hickok in the back of the head with a double-action .45-caliber revolver, shouting "Take that!" Hickok, in contrast to his normal habit of sitting in a corner to protect his back, on that day sat with his back to the door while engaged in a game of poker. Ironically, the killing was apparently over McCall's drunken resentment of an act of generosity by Hickok, Hickok having offered McCall money to buy breakfast after McCall had lost it all playing poker the previous day. McCall claimed, however, that the killing was retribution for Hickok having previously killed McCall's brother in Abilene, Kansas. McCall was found innocent after two hours deliberation by an impromptu court in McDaniel's Theater made up of local miners and businessmen, causing the Black Hills Pioneer to editorialize: "Should it ever be our misfortune to kill a man ... we would simply ask that our trial may take place in some of the mining camps of these hills." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - No trial and Escape McCall then fled town to Wyoming, where he bragged, at length, about the details of how he had killed Hickok in a fair gunfight. Unfortunately for McCall, however, the Wyoming authorities refused to recognize the result of McCall's first trial on the grounds of Deadwood having been in Indian Territory at the time and contended that McCall was liable to be tried again. .

Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876, photo courtesy Library of Congress.

    * McCall was the first person to be executed by United States officials in Dakota Territory.
    * McCall's killing of Hickok plays a part in the HBO television series Deadwood. McCall was portrayed by Garret Dillahunt.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
used with copyright and copyleft as per Wikipedia permission agreements

If you would like to read more try Old West Legends     Jack McCall - Cowardly Killer of Wild Bill Hickok
 

       Harper's Weekly, New York, Saturday, October 10, 1874

No event in the sporting world has excited more general attention this season than the grand International Rifle Match at Creedmoor, Long Island, between the American and Irish "teams." The latter arrived in this city on the 16th of September, and since that time have occupied themselves in viewing the sights of the New World and preliminary practice at Creedmoor. The party includes Major Arthur Blennerhassett Leech, head of the Irish Rifle Association about ten years since, Mr. H.H. Foster, Honorary Secretary of the Association, Mr. John Rigby, the maker of the rifle the team are engaged in introducing, Dr. J.B. Hamilton, Mr. James Wilson, Mr. J.K. Milner, Mr. Edmund Johnson, and Captain P. Walker. The party were accompanied by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who has come to this country to see the shooting at Creedmoor, and afterward to indulge in a few weeks' sport on the great plains of the West. 
 

We give above an illustration showing the last practice of the two teams at Creedmoor, two days before the match took place.

A beautiful silver cup which Captain Leech has brought over to present for competition to the riflemen of America is illustrated. It is a very graceful and artistic piece of workmanship, tastefully embossed, and surmounted by a representation of an ancient castle in ruin. It bears the following inscription: 
 

PRESENTED FOR COMPETITION TO THE RIFLEMEN OF AMERICA BY ARTHUR BLENNERHASSETT LEECH, CAPTAIN OF THE IRISH INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF RIFLEMEN, ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR VISIT TO NEW YORK, 1874

Reproduction "John Bodine" Rolling Block Rifle