Wild Bill Hickok

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  • WILD BILL HICKOK


    Born
    May 27, 1837
    Troy Grove, Illinois, U.S.


    Died
    August 2, 1876 (aged 39)
    Deadwood, Dakota Territory, U.S.


    Cause of death
    Murdered (shot in the back of the head) by Jack McCall


    Resting Place
    Mount Moriah Cemetery


    Occupation
    Lawman, Gunfighter, Gambler, Showman


    Mini-Biography
    Full Biography- Wild Bill Hickock- Wikipedia


    James Butler Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois, in 1837.
    His father, Bill Hickok, played an active role in the
    Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape from the Deep South.


    Hickok moved to Kansas in 1855 and at the age of 20 was elected
    constable of Monticello.
    In 1861 he was working as a wagon master in Montana. On 12th July, 1861,
    Hickok opened fire on three unarmed men.
    David McCanles was killed and James Woods and James Gordon
    were seriously wounded and later died of their injuries.
    Hickok was also employed as a guide on the Santa Fe Trail.
    Later he worked on the Oregon Trail.


    During the American Civil War Hickok was employed
    as a scout for the Union Army.
    After the war came to an end Hickok became a
    professional gambler in Springfield, Missouri.
    Also, for a brief time he served under General George A. Custer in his 7th Cavalry.



    Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt before their gunfight,
    Harper's New Monthly Magazine (February, 1867)


    Hickok's reputation as a gunfighter began when he killed David Tutt
    in the public square of Springfield on 21st July, 1865.
    The two men had quarrelled over cards and decided to have a gunfight.
    At 6pm Hickok and Tutt arranged to walk towards each other.
    When they were about 50 yards apart both men drew his gun.
    Tutt fired first but missed. Hickok's shot hit Tutt in the heart.
    This was the first recorded example of two men taking part in a quick-draw duel.
    The following month Hickok was acquitted after pleading self-defence.


    Hickok returned to his life as a gambler and in 1866 gave an interview
    to a journalist, George Ward Nichols about his exploits as a gunfighter.
    The article appeared in the February, 1867,
    edition of Harper's New Monthly Magazine. Newspapers such
    as the Leavenworth Daily Conservative, Kansas Daily Commonwealth,
    Springfield Patriot and the Atchison Daily Champion
    quickly pointed out that the article was full of inaccuracies
    and that Hickok was lying when he claimed he had killed "hundreds of men".


    Hickok responded to these articles by giving an interview
    to another journalist, Henry M. Stanley.
    The article appeared in the St. Louis Missouri Democrat in April 1867.
    It included the following dialogue: "I say, Mr. Hickok,
    how many white men have you killed to your certain knowledge?"
    After a little deliberation, he replied,
    "I suppose I have killed considerably over a hundred.
    " "What made you kill all those men?
    Did you kill them without cause or provocation?"
    "No, by heaven I never killed one man without good cause."



    Hickok 1869. Because a knife would
    not have been worn unsheathed,
    it is likely a photographer's prop.
    Although buckskins are often seen in movies
    depicting earlier periods,
    Hickok was one of the first to wear them.


    In 1868 Hickok became sheriff of Hays City in Kansas.
    It was a rough city and Hickok was determined to use
    violence to keep the men under control.
    In August, 1869, Hickok killed Bill Mulvey in a gunfight.
    The following month he shot Samuel Strawhun dead
    after he caused trouble in a saloon.
    The people of Hays City became concerned by
    Hickok's behaviour and he was replaced by his deputy, Peter Lanihan.



    In April 1871, Hickok was employed as marshal of Abilene.
    He was paid $150 a month plus a percentage of the fines.
    Hickok also received 50 cents for every unlicensed dog he shot.
    Hickok did not take his duties seriously
    and spent most of his time playing poker.
    In October 1871 he shot and killed two men,
    Phil Coe and a fellow officer, Mike Williams.
    This incident upset the city council and two months later Hickok lost his job.



    Wild Bill, Texas Jack Omohundro, and Buffalo Bill Cody in 1873


    Hickok now toured with Buffalo Bill Cody and his
    Wild West Show (1872-73) before teaming up with
    Calamity Jane in Deadwood, Dakota.
    He also married Agnes Lake and for a time tried gold mining.
    Hickok also spent a lot of time with John Wesley Hardin.


    On 2nd August, 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was playing cards in Deadwood.
    Jack McCall, seeking revenge for the death of his brother,
    shot Hickok in the back of the head. At the time of his death,
    Hickok was holding a pair of black aces and a pair of eights,
    and this became known as "A Dead Man's Hand".



    Dead man's hand, two pairs of aces and eights,
    the hand that wild Bill Hickock had when
    he was shot August 2, 1876.
    The fifth card was a diamond
    (jack or queen, according to Hickok's biographer)


    ...
    Steve and Charlie Utter.................................................Present-day gravesite
    at the grave of Wild Bill Hickok


    Edited and Compiled by ethanedwards.
    Information and Photographs from
    Spartucus Educational and Wikipedia

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 8 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Watched "Wild Bill", another Jeff Bridges Western about the legendary Wild Bill Hickok. Wasn't bad but had some really weird cinematography which alternated between color and black/white. Don't know how true it portrayed the actual Hickok's life but according to this film, Wild Bill had bad (and worsening) eyesight when he was shot by Jack McCall in Deadwood and he was a frequent smoker of opium.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Watched "Wild Bill", another Jeff Bridges Western about the legendary Wild Bill Hickok. Wasn't bad but had some really weird cinematography which alternated between color and black/white. Don't know how true it portrayed the actual Hickok's life but according to this film, Wild Bill had bad (and worsening) eyesight when he was shot by Jack McCall in Deadwood and he was a frequent smoker of opium.



    Two things about this post - I just realized I should have put it in the Western thread instead of this one (old age does that :wink_smile:).

    Secondly, the movie contains a very lewd sex act between Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, rendering it unsuitable for viewing by kids.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Two things about this post - I just realized I should have put it in the Western thread instead of this one (old age does that :wink_smile:).

    Secondly, the movie contains a very lewd sex act between Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, rendering it unsuitable for viewing by kids.



    Quote


    On 2nd August, 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was playing cards in Deadwood.
    Jack McCall, seeking revenge for the death of his brother,
    shot Hickok in the back of the head. At the time of his death,
    Hickok was holding a pair of black aces and a pair of eights,
    and this became known as "A Dead Man's Hand".


    As Wild Bill was playing cards at the time, it seems unlikely his eyesight was bad or was it??


    From Wikipedia

    Quote

    In 1876, Hickok was diagnosed by a doctor in Kansas City, Missouri, with glaucoma and 'ophthalmia', a condition that was widely rumored at the time by Hickok's detractors to be the result of various sexually transmitted diseases. In truth, he seems to have been afflicted with trachoma, a common vision disorder of the time. His marksmanship and health apparently had been suffering for some time,

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 3 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Back in the late Sixties, I visited Wild Bill's grave site in the mountains just west of Denver.

    At the time, I was stationed in Denver as a military recruiter. When it finally dawned on me that the U.S. government had no intention of winning the Vietnam War, I asked for and received (after a rather heated discussion with my commander) reassignment to another post.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Back in the late Sixties, I visited Wild Bill's grave site in the mountains just west of Denver.



    Alzheimers strikes again. It was not Hickok's grave I visited west of Denver but Buffalo Bill Cody's. I think Hickok is buried near Deadwood, SD, where he was murdered.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Right, Stumpy. Hickock is buried in the Mt Moriah Cemetary in Deadwood. And for the record, I'm pretty sure I've read that he suffered from the early stages of Glaucoma which of course affects the eyesight.

    As for the movie Wild Bill, I liked the movie, though it was a little off historically. I think the b&w scenes were meant to show some of the highlights of his life. I think they could've done a better job by, just doing the storyline the same way they did in Wyatt Earp. Start from an early age and progress through his life with all the adventures he had that we've all read about in history books.

  • I think they could've done a better job by, just doing the storyline the same way they did in Wyatt Earp. Start from an early age and progress through his life with all the adventures he had that we've all read about in history books.



    The lives of way too many of our historical Western figures have been sensationalized and distorted by what passed for the news media back then. And things really haven't changed all that much in modern times.

    So-called "journalists" are, along with politicians and their progenitors the lawyers, my least favorite people in American society. Every time I watch a movie that contains scenes of a news mob hounding a subject, for whatever reason, I get sick to my stomach. I will believe until the day I die that the biased news media, with their constant negative reporting, were primarily responsible for this country "losing" the Vietnam War.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Right, Stumpy. Hickock is buried in the Mt Moriah Cemetary in Deadwood. And for the record, I'm pretty sure I've read that he suffered from the early stages of Glaucoma which of course affects the eyesight.


    From an earlier post,


    From Wikipedia

    Quote

    In 1876, Hickok was diagnosed by a doctor in Kansas City, Missouri, with glaucoma and 'ophthalmia', a condition that was widely rumored at the time by Hickok's detractors to be the result of various sexually transmitted diseases. In truth, he seems to have been afflicted with trachoma, a common vision disorder of the time. His marksmanship and health apparently had been suffering for some time,

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England