Oliver Hickok had, by this time, gone to California for the Gold Rush. In these few, but eloquent compassionate words is revealed true man among men, a true hero, and another glimpse into the character that became a legend. On March 5, 1876, Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake, a 50-year-old circus proprietor in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Recently, a "photo" of the mysterious Captain O'Neil surfaced. They were originally good friends,[12] but they eventually fell out over a woman, and it was rumored that Hickok once had an affair with Tutt's sister, perhaps fathering a child. Tilghman wrote; "He was mounted on no prancing charger, only a sturdy government mule, but he rode with the easy grace of a Plainsman. Shull said that Hickok killed McCanles in "self-defense". Hickok wanted his beloved mother to know he was behaving himself. Wild Bill Hickok aired from 1 April 1951 until 31 December 1954 over the Mutual Broadcasting System on radio and then made the move to television from 1955 to 1958. ", Hermon, Gregory (1987). Born in Troy Grove, near Ottawa, Illinois, he took part in the Kansas struggle preceding the Civil War, was a driver of the Butterfield stage line, and gained fame as a gunfighter. Born in Illinois in 1837, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok first gained . Their quick-draw duel was recorded as the first of its kind. The sad, but true, ending to this story is that in the 1940's a woman named Martha Dewey came forth. In the HBO show Deadwood (2004-2006), Wild Bill is played by Keith Carradine. One thing led to another and soon five or six of them lay unconscious on the pool room floor. Seldom did he have to repeat himself. While Tutt was consoling Moore, Hickok struck up a relationship with Tutt's sister! The legendary James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok began his career as a Kansas lawman in 1858 at the age of 20. [1]. "The Custer-Hickok Shootout in Hays City. He was famously photographed with a pair of ivory handled Colt 1851 Navy revolvers and a large Bowie knife tucked into his belt c. 1869. Wild Bill was having a run of bad luck that day and was forced to borrow a poker stake from the bartender. [f], The regular county election was held on November 2, 1869. Hickok is recorded as appearing in the show developed by Mr. Barnett. Tutt left the saloon but returned to the square at 6 p.m., while Hickok arrived on the other side and warned him not to approach him while wearing the watch. Coe explained that he was shooting at a stray dog[30] but suddenly turned his gun on Hickok, who fired first and killed Coe. The authorities did not consider this to be double jeopardy because at the time Deadwood was not recognized by the U.S. as a legitimately incorporated town, as it was in Indian Country and the jury was irregular. In 1936 an old woman was interviewed about her recollections of old Abilene, and Hickok, during this time period. Hickok warned him not to do that or there would be "trouble". Witnesses confirm that while scouting from Fort Harker Kansas on May 11, 1867, Hickok was attacked by a large group of Indians, who fled after Hickok shot and killed two. [25] The 1883 History of Greene County, Missouri described him as "by nature a ruffian a drunken, swaggering fellow, who delighted when 'on a spree' to frighten nervous men and timid women. "J.B. Hickok, Deputy U.S. He was born James Butler Hickok on 27 May 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. At the end of the trial, Judge Sempronius Boyd gave the jury two contradictory instructions. It won the Best Song Oscar for "Secret Love", by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster . That woman was "Sarah Shull". McCanles and his friends came to the station looking for trouble. Two more Hickok children were eventually born, Celinda Hickok in September of 1839, and Lydia Hickok in October of 1842. Thus Hickok,inadvertently, killed his good friend Mike Williams who had been running to his aid. In another portion of the "diary" McCormick claimed Calamity had wed Hickok aboard a steamship named the "Madagascar", by it's captain named "O'Neil". Mistakenly thinking he had killed Hudson, Hickok fled and joined General Jim Lane's vigilante "Free State Army" (The Red Legs) where he met 12-year-old William Cody, later to be known as "Buffalo Bill," who at that time was a scout for Johnston's Army. After the war, Hickok became a scout for the U. S. Army and later was a professional gambler. When they reached the "Alamo" saloon Coe drew his pistol and fired it. This made it difficult for the men to carry the remains to the new site. Wild Bill Hickok - Single Episodes | Old Time Radio Show | Audio. In 1867, Hickok took a break from the west and moved to Niagara Falls, where he tried his hand at acting in a stage play called "The Daring Buffalo Chases of the Plains. When I was a young boy, I heard that we were distantly related to Wild Bill through my mother's side. 10 in Deadwood, in the Black Hills, Dakota Territory. In reality, they barely knew one another, having met only about a month before his death. Colonel George Armstrong Custer! When he got to the place where Coe and his friends were he demanded to know who fired the shot. Instead, this ridiculous woman, supposedly claimed not only to have known Hickok, but to have had an affair with him! He answered Coe by sneering, "Did the crow have a pistol? He wanted me to go with him, and as we started on our way, imagine my surprise and uncomfortable feeling when he announced his intention of stopping at the McCanles home. 10 in Deadwood, in the Black Hills, Dakota Territory. 3:52. . Melissa Sartore. As city Marshal Hickok moved in to stop the trouble. When James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was born on 27 May 1837, in Troy Grove, LaSalle, Illinois, United States, his father, William Alonzo Hickok, was 35 and his mother, Pamelia "Polly" Butler, was 32. ), 18721886. After Wild Bill's death in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in 1876, the letters . He had sons named Samuel Hickox (1643-1695) and Joseph (1645-1687). Outlaw. [9], Hickok used his late father's name, William Hickok, from 1858, and the name William Haycock during the American Civil War. The two men, Hickok and Custer, became good friends. She had come there with her traveling circus show. At the conclusion of the incident a woman's voice was heard to shout, "good for you Wild Bill"! HBO's Western series Deadwood is filled with violent and dangerous characters, but even the deadliest among them knew to stay clear of Wild Bill Hickok. Coe claimed that he was shooting at a stray dog,[g] and then suddenly turned his gun on Hickok, who fired first and killed Coe. The couple had five children besides James Butler, three boys and two girls. At the trial it was proved that the murderer was hired to do his work by gamblers[44] who feared the time when better citizens should appoint Bill the champion of law and order - a post which he formerly sustained in Kansas border life, with credit to his manhood and his courage. Not a word was uttered. Tutt called out, "Boys, I'm killed", before he collapsed and died. Lorenzo Butler Hickok spoke with McCall after the trial, and said McCall showed no remorse. Over the years, his gunfighting and gambling prowess became the stuff of "wild west" lore, exaggerated, embellished and celebrated in contemporary pulp fiction. When it came to relieving themselves, men and women in the American West might have ducked behind a tree. of Public Welfare did grant old age assistance to a Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick after receiving evidence that Calamity Jane and Wild Bill had married at Benson's Landing, Montana Territory, on September 25, 1873. But Coe "reckoned without his host". He further claimed that Hickok, as a result, had two guns cocked and pointed at 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. [46]:pp.5456[47], In August 1871, Hickok sought to arrest Hardin for killing Charles Couger in an Abilene hotel "for snoring too loud". Few stayed around to find out if he was serious. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. He served as a Union scout in the Civil War. He calmly told them that if they didn't return their pistols to their holsters, which they had drawn them from, there would be more "dead men" in the square. Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading: "Wild Bill, J. On several later occasions, Hickok was to confront and kill several men while fighting alone. Barnum, and a man called Colonel Sidney Barnett of the Niagara Falls area of New York state. Coe supposedly stated that he could "kill a crow on the wing," and Hickok's retort is one of the West's most famous sayings (though possibly apocryphal): "Did the crow have a pistol? Both men are iconic legends and folk heroes of the Old West; Cody as a cowboy, Pony Express rider, stage coach driver, teamster, Union Army soldier, civilian army scout, buffalo hunter, and ultimately the greatest of showmen; and Hickok as a Union . Wild Bill is probably the most famous Deadwood resident, even though he was only in town a few short weeks. Wild Bill had a premonition that Deadwood would be his last camp and expressed this belief to two of his friends Colorado Charlie. The young man was a Union sympathizer, and the crowd was Confederate. Omissions? Jack McCall walked to within a few feet of Wild Bill and then suddenly drew a pistol and shouted, Take that! before firing. Hickok and his accomplices, the station manager Horace Wellman, his wife, and an employee, J.W. Some were ex-Union soldiers, some were ex-Confederate. Wild Bill Hickok, is one of the most famous figures of the wild west. James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a figure in the American Old West. . [47] Potato Creek Johnny, a local Deadwood celebrity from the late 1800s and early 1900s, is also buried next to Wild Bill. As a result, calcium carbonate from the surrounding soil had replaced the flesh leading to petrifaction. Two troopers, Jeremiah Lonergan and John Kile (Kyle), set upon Hickok in a saloon. There was no such recollection, of the incident, in the minds of old Abilene residents. Instinctively, he liked them and they liked him. Hickok warned the armed and dangerous man to cease causing trouble. Upon Hickoks arrival, she told him that a Confederate gang led by McCanles was pursuing him, and almost immediately they were set upon by the Confederates. Hickok remained in Hays through August 1868, when he brought 200 Cheyenne Indians to Hays to be viewed by "excursionists". Thank you Steve and Gary! Not only could the horse not hold the animal, it was flipped head over heals! It rests in a peaceful and quite beautiful cemetery known as Mt. Hickok chased and wounded the fleeing Gordon, who was then fatally shot by someone else (according to some by Doc Brinks, another Pony Express employee). It is known that the Hickok home even had a hidden cellar, which was used to hide the escaping slaves. She died on August 3, 1655 in Farmington. ", "Wild Bill, J. As the scene unfolded, McCanles entered the station, and, from behind the curtain that divided it in two, either Hickok or Wellman shot McCanles. 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.". The bear then grabbed his arm in its mouth, but Hickok was able to grab his knife and slash its throat, killing it. His own show, The Daring Buffalo Chase of the Plains, did not fare well, but in 1873 he joined Buffalo Bill Codys The Scouts of the Prairie, which was based in Rochester, New York. "Dead man's hand"Owing to the number of poker players who died during disputes, Dead man's hand was already established poker idiom for a number of a different hands long before Hickok died. In 1859 he joined the Russell, Waddell, and Majors freight company as a driver. He was released from the group after a few months. [23] After Strawhun made remarks against Hickok, Strawhun died instantly from a bullet through the head as Hickok tried to restore order. Hickok lost his re-election bid to his deputy. In 1859 he joined the Russell, Waddell, and Majors freight company called the Pony Express. Hickok interrupted him and then proceeded to tell the entire mob what he thought of them, and it wasn't complimentary. In 1866 Hickok helped guide Gen. William T. Shermans tour of the West, and in 186768 he scouted for Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock and Lieut. According to Hardin's biography Hickok came to disarm Hardin one day, for violation of the gun carry laws enacted in Abilene. Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading: Wild Bill, J. (2) On March 5, 1876, Bill married Agnes Thatcher Lake, the owner of a circus in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Usually, Hickok always sat with his back to a wall. 2 Revolver on Offer at Bonhams This Fall", "Wild Bill Hickok's Death-Day Revolver Fails to Sell at California Auction", "Wild-Bill-Hickok - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes", "Josh Brolin as James Butler Hickok (aka Wild Bill)", https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0028/2964/7961/files/Deadwood_1876_Rules_English.pdf?4346553514003986582, Black Hills War, or Great Sioux War (1876), Cheyenne-Black Hills Stage Route (18761887), Sidney-Black Hills Stage Road (18761887), Rapid City, Black Hills and Western Railroad (18931947), Fossil Cycad National Monument (19221957), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wild_Bill_Hickok&oldid=1149777935, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, James B. Hickok, J.B. Hickok, Shanghai Bill, William Hickok, William Haycock, Bird, Roy (1979). [81], Hickok's birthplace is now the Wild Bill Hickok Memorial and is a listed historic site under the supervision of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. In 1857, Hickok claimed a 160-acre (65 ha) tract in Johnson County, Kansas (in what is now the city of Lenexa),[4] where, on March 22 in 1858, he was elected as one of the first four constables of Monticello Township, Kansas. Hickok never mentioned it in his statements. He seemed to have respect for Hickok's abilities and replied, "If Bill needs killing, why don't you kill him yourself? "Wild Bill" Hickok, one of the greatest gunfighters of the American West, is murdered in Deadwood, South Dakota. On the contrary, he was applauded. Hickok was assigned to bring the men to Topeka for trial, and he requested a military escort from Fort Hays. [60] McCall then entered the saloon, walked up behind Hickok, drew his Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army .45-caliber revolver, and shouted, "Damn you! While acting in this capacity Sherman's command stopped in a small Kansas town. Hickok has remained one of the most popular and iconic figures of the American Old West, and is still frequently depicted in popular culture, including literature, film, and television. Like a man possessed, Hickok purposely strode through the roughest and most dangerous parts of Abilene. Hickok's fight with Tutt set the mold for the classic, although rare in reality, western gunfight and gunfighter image. [6] Since the event was outdoors, he could not compel people to pay, and the venture was a financial failure. Hickok quickly drew his pistols and fired back at Coe. Was he shooting back? He first instructed the jury that a conviction was its only option under the law. In July of 1876, Hickok joined a wagon train led by Charlie Utter in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This was done to allow the farmers time to bring their families into town for safety. [19], In July 1869, Hickok was back in Hays and was elected sheriff and city marshal of Ellis County, Kansas, in a special election, on August 23, 1869.[20]. Guess they weren't fans of The Simpsons. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1982). [24], On July 17, 1870, also in Hays, he was involved in a gunfight with disorderly soldiers of the 7th U.S. Cavalry. McCanles may have been the first man Hickok killed. 8:45. Deadwood was then, and is now, a town with basically one main street running through it. In the first season, the show explores this famous gunfighter's final days in the titular lawless town before he was murdered while playing poker. Normally, as a cowherd approached Abilene, riders from town were sent out to warn the local farms. Here he met a 12 year old boy named Bill Tilghman. [2], Because of his "sweeping nose and protruding upper lip," Hickok was nicknamed "Duck Bill. The graveyard filled quickly and was in an area that could be better used for the constant influx of settlers to live on, so all the bodies there were moved up the hill to the Mount Moriah Cemetery in the 1880s. On July 21, 1865, in the town square of Springfield, Missouri, Hickok killed Davis K. Tutt, Jr. in a "quick draw" duel. Hickok is on record as being fined, for participating in the altercation. Only station employees were allowed to testify at the trial (testimony by McCanless son was barred), and the verdict was that the men had acted in self-defense. I would have rather been somewhere else, but Bill stopped. It also meant fear and alarm to the common citizen, who had to deal with the drunken dangerous cowboys. At this time McCanles was the leader of a local "gang" that considered themselves "desperadoes". The fifth card was either unknown, or some say that it had not yet been dealt. 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