[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. While Hickok claimed to have killed numerous named and unnamed gunmen in his lifetime, his career as a gunfighter only lasted from 1861 to 1871. At the time, shooting stray dogs within city limits was legal, and a 50-cent bounty was paid by the city for each one shot. Witnesses confirm that the story was true to the extent the party had set out to find whoever had killed the four men,[e] but the group returned to the fort "without nary a dead Indian, [never] even seeing a live one". [28] Strawhun "made remarks against Hickok", and Hickok killed him with a shot through the head. Hickok was severely injured, with a crushed chest, shoulder, and arm. While in Deadwood, South Dakota, Wild Bill Hickok became a regular poker player at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon. He noted that the sound was similar to tapping a brick wall and believed the remains weighed more than 400lb (180kg). Drawn to this ruffian lifestyle, he headed west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, working as a stagecoach driver and later as a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. McCall was tried and acquitted of murder as a result of his dubious claim that the killing was in revenge for Hickoks murder of his brother in Abilene. The old cemetery was in an area that was better suited for the constant influx of new settlers to live on, so the remaining bodies there were eventually also moved up the hill to the Mount Moriah Cemetery (in the 1880s). The enclosure was cut open by souvenir hunters in the 1950s, and the statue was removed.[71]. [3][4] James was the fourth of six children. https . Tutt reached for his pistol but Hickok was the first to draw his weapon, and shot Tutt instantly, from approximately 75 yards. What do you know about Pete Spence, a member of the Cowboys of Tombstone? Some said the two men fought over a card game, while others attributed the duel to competition for the attention of a woman named Susannah Moore. The glorification of Wild Bill Hickok began in Springfield, Mo., on July 21, 1865, when he killed gunman Dave Tutt. By Tyler MacDonald / May 18, 2021 9:31 am EST. I will be. [12], While in Nebraska, Hickok was derisively referred to by one man as "Duck Bill" for his long nose and protruding lips. [28] Tutt's shot missed, but Hickok's struck Tutt through the heart from about 75 yards (69m) away. What was the relationship between Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane? The two men faced each other sideways for a duel. Classmate Mary Connolly remembered Jessie, saying, we all played hopscotch and jumped rope on the playground. But mother and daughter eventually left town again. The first major description of the incident appeared in Harpers New Monthly Magazine in February 1867, six years after the fact, written by Col. George Ward Nichols, who claimed to have been told the story by Hickok in 1865. Bill and Jane are buried next to each other in Deadwoods Mount Moriah Cemetery. That winter, writer M.L. James Butler Hickok arrived in Springfield, Missouri . Calamity Jane never married Wild Bill . was advancing on him with a drawn pistol and that Tutt had previously made threats of personal injury to Deft. She was Maude Weir, born in 1881. Many historic sites and monuments commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and television. Hickok joined the antislavery Free State Army of Jayhawkers and, having already become skilled with a gun as a youth, served as a bodyguard for Gen. James H. Lanes. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Wild Bill Hickok begins to establish his reputation as a gunfighter after he shoots three men during a shootout in Nebraska. [13][14] He was also known before 1861 among Jayhawkers as "Shanghai Bill" because of his height and slim build. As a result, calcium carbonate from the surrounding soil had replaced the flesh, leading to petrifaction. [citation needed], Buffalo Bill claimed that he encountered Hickok disguised as a Confederate officer in Missouri in 1864. Hickok, just a stable-hand at the time, killed the three men, despite being severely injured. "Wild Bill. The identity of the fifth card (his "hole card") is also the subject of debate. McCanles may have been the first man Hickok killed. Jessie and Jane were back together when they arrived in Billings, Montana in 1898. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. i have been told that Wild Bill Hickok is my great great great (i don't know how many greats) uncle, and i haven' been able to find out if any of his brotherrs had kids. The episode correctly relates Hickok's vision problems late in his life, and also includes his murderer, Jack McCall, in a highly fictionalized role. Playing cards with his back to the door, Hickok had no clue that he was about to be murdered. Not having the courage to do it himself, he one day filled about 200 cowboys with whiskey intending to get them into trouble with Wild Bill, hoping that they would get to shooting and in the melee shoot the marshal. During the Civil War, Wild Bill Hickok served in the Union Army as a civilian scout and later a provost marshal. In 1941, Jean Hickok McCormick appeared in Billings, Montana. ", Judge Boyd said, "That when danger is threatened and impending a man is not compelled to stand with his arms folded until it is too late to offer successful resistance, and if the jury believe from the evidence that Tutt was a fighting character and a dangerous man and that [Defendant] was aware such was his character and that Tutt at the time he was shot by the Deft. A second son, named Lorenzo Butler Hickok, was born in October of 1831 but died soon thereafter. Jack McCall. On October 5, 1871, Hickok was standing off a crowd during a street brawl when Coe fired two shots. [12] The article was controversial wherever Hickok was known, and several frontier newspapers wrote rebuttals. A month or so later, he left their honeymoon in Cincinnati for the goldfields of the Black Hills in the Dakota Territory, where he hoped to make enough money to send for her. Between her birth in the 1850s and her death in 1903, Jane left a dizzying trail as she blazed around the west. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1977). Foxs visit coincided with the few weeks Jessie actually attended St. Edwards Academy in Deadwood. Writing in 1911, he detailed his admiration for Hickok and included a paragraph on the shooting that differs considerably from the reported account: "Phil" Coe was from Texas, ran the "Bull's Head" a saloon and gambling den, sold whiskey and men's souls. They traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota, together and were acquaintances, but there is no evidence of a romance (especially on his part). Nick McGlashan had two children, Lennyn Annette Richardson of Unalaska (7) and Kane Wilder Hammond of Port Townsend, WA (1). The cards he was holding at the time a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights became known as "the dead man's hand.". 10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. On September 4, Hickok was wounded in the foot while rescuing several cattlemen in the Bijou Creek basin who had been surrounded by Indians. [9], In 1865, Hickok recruited six Native Americans and three cowboys to accompany him to Niagara Falls, where he put on an outdoor demonstration called The Daring Buffalo Chasers of the Plains. During this period Hickok prevented a man from beating an 11-year-old boy, who grew up to become Buffalo Bill Cody, Hickoks longtime friend. He told Clemmons (Hardin) to stay out of trouble in Abilene and asked him to hand over his guns, and Hardin complied. Before and during Hickok's lifetime (1837-1876), the most readily available firearms were cap-and-ball, or percussion. Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 - August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. [46]:pp.5456[47], In August 1871, Hickok sought to arrest Hardin for killing Charles Couger in an Abilene hotel "for snoring too loud". The bullet emerged through his right cheek and struck another player, riverboat Captain William Massie, in the left wrist. 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. "Gunfighters of the Real West: Wild Bill Hickok. [38], On September 1, 1868, Hickok was in Lincoln County, Kansas, where he was hired as a scout by the 10th Cavalry Regiment, a segregated African-American unit. awaiting execution. During the Civil War he found employment as a teamster and spy for the Union Army. The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok was a 1950s TV series starring Guy Madison and Andy Devine. Hickok waved his hand past Mulvey at some onlookers and yelled, "Don't shoot him in the back; he is drunk." In July 1865, "Wild Bill" Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in Springeld, MOthe rst quick-draw duel on the frontier. They initially agreed not to fight over the watch, but when Hickok saw Tutt wearing it, he warned him to stay away. James Butler Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois, on May 27, 1837, to William Alonzo Hickok and Polly Butler Hickok. Wild Bill Hickok is remembered for his services in Kansas as sheriff of Hays City and marshal of Abilene, where his ironhanded rule helped to tame two of the most lawless towns on the frontier. This incident added to his fame as a gunslinger, which skyrocketed when journalist and later explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley reported as fact in the New York Herald in 1867 Hickoks exaggerated claim that he had killed 100 men. After his August 1876 murder, she further claimed that they had been married and that he was the father of her child. They refused, so Hickok altered it himself. [40]:196, In September 1869, his first month as sheriff, Hickok killed two men. His exploits as a gunfighter, scout, and lawman were legendary and he became the topic of many fictionalized accounts. [74] He wore his revolvers butt-forward in a belt or sash (when wearing city clothes or buckskins, respectively), and seldom used holsters; he drew the pistols using a "reverse", "twist", or cavalry draw, as would a cavalryman. 10 Black Pioneers in Aviation Who Broke Barriers, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Wild Bill Hickok, Birth Year: 1837, Birth date: May 27, 1837, Birth State: Illinois, Birth City: Troy Grove, Birth Country: United States. In the film version, Howard Keel co-stars as Hickok to Doris Day's Calamity Jane. Hickok was of English ancestry. During the Civil War, he served as a wagon master, scout, detective, courier, and spy. A classmate later remembered the children teasing Jessie about her mother, throwing stones at her while shouting, Calamity Jane! Visit our corporate site. Her friends held a fundraiser for her and the benefit proved a howling successuntil Jane began treating her generous friends to drinks. After shooting Coe, Hickok caught a glimpse of someone running toward him and quickly fired two more shots in reaction, accidentally shooting and killing Abilene Special Deputy Marshal Mike Williams, who was coming to his aid. shot Tutt to prevent the threatened impending injury [then] the jury will acquit.". [68], As I write the closing lines of this brief sketch, word reaches me that the slayer of Wild Bill has been rearrested by the United State [sic?] McCall was brought to trial the next day. [52], In 1876, Hickok was diagnosed by a doctor in Kansas City, Missouri, with glaucoma and ophthalmia. ", Hermon, Gregory (1987). Hickok's retort is one of the West's most famous sayings (though possibly apocryphal): "Did the crow have a pistol? The threatened impending injury [ then ] the jury will acquit. `` became the topic of many accounts... 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