James Butler Hickok/"Wild Bill"
Written and researched by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska, B.F.A.
James Butler Hickok was born on May 27, 1837 in Homer (now Troy Groves), Illinois. James' father , Bill Hickok, established a station for the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves. Bill, Sr. died in 1852. After his father's death James adopted his father's name and was from that point on known as "Bill"(Crutchfield, 106) James was the fourth born of six children, and his parents moved to Illinois from Vermont, before he was born. His brother, Oliver Hickok, left home to try his luck, in California, during the gold rush. He moved to Monticello, Kansas, when he was a young man. He served as a Union Scout in the Civil War. He was a professional gamble and duelist. His first duel was against a fellow card shark. "Wild Bill," as he was nicknamed, had the habit of telling many a tale about his own abilities and feats. He was known as the bald-faced liar among American gunmen. He once claimed that he picked off fifty (50) Confederates with fifty (50) bullets. He was in several scapes and tangled with mostly amateurs and drunks.
Hickok was a man with an athletic physique and a flamboyant dresser with shoulder length hair, and a sweeping mustache.
In March 1858, Bill was a laborer in Monticello Township, Kansas, and was elected as their constable. By 1859 Hickok worked for Russell, Majors, and Waddell as a teamster on the Santa Fe Trail. Russell, Majors, and Wandell also originated the Pony Express at the urging of Senator William M. Guin of California. He met Kit Carson, and he encountered a 12-year-old Bill Cody at Leavenworth. Around this time, at Raton Pass, Hickok was mauled by a bear. Bill killed the bear with his pistol and knife and was taken to Kansas City for medical attention. He was then hired for light duties at the Rock Creek Station of the Pony Express, until he recovered from his mauling. The Pony Express was officially inaugurated on April 3, 1869. A lad named Cody would later ride 300 nonstop miles (to and fro) after he discovered his relief man was killed.
Working at the Rock Creek Station, in Nebraska, Bil met Dave McCanles and his mistress Sarh Shill. Bill was not happy because McCanles insulted him by calling him "Duck Bill" and "Hermophrodite." Bill retaliated by seeing Miss Shull, whom McCanles had bought a house near to his own. Apparently, somewhat serious about their relationship. On July 12, 1861, their feud came to a head. McCanles came to the Rock Creek Station, where Bill now worked, and he was accompanied by McCanles' cousin, James Gordon, and his 12-year-old son, Monroe McCanles, and an employee named James Wood apparently had some sort of grudge against the Station manager(?). Wood was a friend of McCanles. McCanles and his friends exchanged angry words with Horace Wellman, the station manager. Then McCanles saw Hickok behind the curtain partition and threated to drag "Duck Bill" outside.
Hickok replied: "There will be one less son-of-a-bitch when you try that." Hickok was now 24 years of age and had never been involved in a shoot-out, but he was ready.
When McCanles stepped forward towards the curtain, Hickok shot him in the chest. McCanles staggered outside and died in the arms of his son. Gordon and Woods went to see who fired the shots. When Woods came to the door, Hickok shot him twice, and turned to shoot Gordon at the front door. Woods and Gordon decided to run, but Horace Wellman and Doc Brink (the stable hand) gave chase with a hoe and a shotgun. Brink killed Gordon with a shotgun blast, while Wellman hacked at Woods with his hoe.
In 1867, the Harper's New Monthly Magazine ran an article written by Colonel George Ward Nichols called "Wild Bill.: The story was greatly embellished, and a legend was born.
After the Civil War, Hickok became a gambler in Springfield, Missouri and fought Dave Tutt over Suzanna Moore. Tutt was a former Union soldier and they decided to fight a duel the next day. At sunset, they confronted each other in the town square. Tutt fired the first shot and Hickok returned the same to Tutt's chest. Tutt died instantly. After this incident, Hickok ran for chief of police in Springfield, Missouri. On January 1, 1867, Hickok enlisted in Custer's 7th Cavalry for the wage of $100 a month.
In 1867, Hickok met Henry M. Stanley who asked: "I say, Bill, or Mr. Hickok, how many white men have you killed, to your certain knowledge?"
Hickok replied: "I would be willing to take my oath on the Bible that I have killed over a hundred."
Bill Hickok left the West for a time and went to Niagara Falls. Here he tried his hand a staging a play called "The Daring Buffalo Chases of the Plains." This proved him to be a terrible actor, so he returned back West.
In one of his "tall tales" Hickok claimed that he once killed gunman, at his back, by firing over his left shoulder, and at the same time, with his other gun, outshot the man in front of him. Whether this was true is doubtful.
Some of his real deeds were heroic. When he was an Army scout in 1868, he rescued thirty-four (34) men from an Indian siege in Colorado. He rode off through the attacking natives to summond help. He kept peace in Hays City and Abilene, Kansas and killed four men in the line of duty.
On March 30, 1868, Wild Bill arrested eleven (11) deserters and he asked Buffalo Bill Cody to help him bring in the gang.
In 1869 Hickok was sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. The county seat was Hays City. This town was swarming with buffalo hunters and members of the 7th cavalry looking for a good time. On August 24, 1869, Will Bill encountered a drunk ruffian named Bill Mulvey. Mulvey and his equally drunken friends began to shoot up the town. When Bill Hickok tried to arrest Bill Mulvey he got mean. Sheriff Hickok shot Mulvey and he died the next morning.
On September 27, 1869, another troublemaker was raising hell in the saloon. Around midnight Sheriff Hickok and his deputy Peter Lanihan went to the John Bitter Beer Saloon. Samuel Strawhun and his drunkerd cronies were tearing the place apart. Hickok shot Strawhun in the head, killing him instantly. Because Hickok had killed two men in five weeks, the voters elected Deputy Lenehan in his place, thinking that Bill Hickok was just a little bit too trigger happy.
On July 17, 1870, the drunken Hickok fought five drunken members if the 7th Cavalry. Gunfire erupted and two soldiers were wounded. One soldier died the next day at the Fort Hays Hospital.
In April 1871, he was hired as Marshal of Abilene, Texas. He was paid $150.00 a month plus a percentage of the fines. When Jesse and Frank James, while on the run from the law, slipped into Abilene, Kansas, in 1871, they were approached by Marshal Wild Bill Hickok. He told them not to make any trouble in his town, and added that he had arranged for his funeral in the event that he attempted to capture them. Bill never approached that subject again. Bill spent more of his time as marshal at the poker table. Anyone who wanted to discuss official business came to his headquarters at the Alamo, with its huge bar, gaming devices, an orchestra, and oil paintings of nude women on the walls. Hickok saw no reason to leave his gambling while keeping the peace. He remained in office with the pleasure of the mayor, and if another was voted into office, he knew his position might be replaced with a more dedicated man. Amazingly, compared to other lawmen, Hickok was a paragon of propriety. He was a gunfighter turned lawman most likely because he was the only man who would take the job. In addition to his salary Hickok got 50 cents for every unlicensed dog he shot while within the city limits. Similarly, in Tombstone, Virgil Earp was said to have brought and accordian player to task for keeping townsmen awake at night with his playing.
Wild Bill's glory was short-lived. In 1871, in Abilene, he came up against a bunch of fighting drunks and killed one, as well as a policeman. The city council fired him for shooting his own. He ended up drinking, gambling, and being arrested for vagrancy from time to time. Bill Hickok traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody's troupe for a time. He also participated in the 1872 buffalo hunt with Custer and Cody in Kansas for the pleasure of the Russian Prince Alexis.
He was paid $150.00 a month plus a percentage of the fines. When Jesse and Frank James, while on the run from the law, slipped into Abilene, Kansas, in 1871, they were approached by Marshal Wild Bill Hickok. He told them not to make any trouble in his town, and added that he had arranged for his funeral in the event that he attempted to capture them. Bill never approached that subject again. Bill spent more of his time as marshal at the poker table. Anyone who wanted to discuss official business came to his headquarters at the Alamo, with its huge bar, gaming devices, an orchestra, and oil paintings of nude women on the walls. Hickok saw no reason to leave his gambling while keeping the peace. He remained in office with the pleasure of the mayor, and if another was voted into office, he knew his position might be replaced with a more dedicated man. Amazingly, compared to other lawmen, Hickok was a paragon of propriety. He was a gunfighter turned lawman most likely because he was the only man who would take the job. In addition to his salary Hickok got 50 cents for every unlicensed dog he shot while within the city limits. Similarly, in Tombstone, Virgil Earp was said to have brought and accordian player to task for keeping townsmen awake at night with his playing.
By 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was diagnosed with eye problems and was no longer able to maintain his marksmen skills. Bill Hickok liked his ladies of the night and he contracted gonorrhea. This disease was thought to have affected his eyesight. He then decided to "settle down" and married Agnes Lake, a 50-year-old circus proprietor he had known for a time. Their wedding was on March 5, 1876 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Calamity Jane claimed (in he autobiography) that she was married to Hickok first and had divorced him so he could be free to marry Agnes Lake. One wonders if his gonorrhea was abated or not. No sooner had he married than he was off to South Dakota hoping to strike it rich in gold mining.
In 1879, Abilene ranked as the first of the rowdy Kansas cattle towns. The provisional town government named a reluctant grocer as marshal and decide it was high time they had a jail for all the troublemakers. The jail wasn't even finished when a bunch of hell-bent cowboys came to town. They gave a glance to their grocer lawman and decided he was not dedicated to keeping the peace. They then continued on to raise of whoop of trouble, which included the tearing down of the unfinished jail. When the jail was completed, they jailed a few troublemakers, who were freed by their friends. They simply shot the back door down and set their friend free. The Old West has a wide diversity of lawmakers.
John Wesley Hardin was befriended by Hickok, until he shot a snoring hotel guest for disturbing his sleep and fled town. He married Jane Bowen, his longtime sweetheart, and they had two children. Hickok had drank with Hardin, whored with him, and gave him advice. John Hardin was said to be fascinated by Bill Hickok. John spent fifteen (15) years in prison for one of his forty-four (44) murders. After receiving a pardon, he launched himself as an attorney in El Paso, Texas (in 1895). However, he was gunned down soon after.
Hickok wandered off to Deadwood in the Dakota territory. He came across a man named Jack McCall, in the Number Ten (10) saloon. Jack was convinced that Bill had killed his brother in Kansas. He came upon Hickok from behind and shot him in the back of the head, while he was playing poker, on August 2, 1876. The cards Hickok held, at his time of death, were a pair of black aces and a pair of eights, which came to be known as "A Dead Man's Hand." Jack McCall was thought to have been a coward for shooting a man in the back and thus was tried for murder. Before he was hanged, McCall said that he could not meet Hickok face to face because of his reputation as a gunfighter. "I didn't want to commit suicide," was his only defense. Jack McCall was tried and hung for murder.
Calamity Jane visited his grave often, and she asked to be buried in Deadwood, South Dakota, near to Will Bill Hickok in her will in 1903. Her wish was granted. Calamity was said to have birthed two children: a boy around 1882 and a daughter was born October 28, 1887. The daughter was raised in St. Mary's Convent in Sturgis, South Dakota. Her father was thought to be Clinton Burke, an El Paso cab driver. He married Calamity Jane in 1885. The son was born after the death of Will Bill Hickok.
SOURCES:
Cruthfield, James A., Bill O'Neil, and David L. Walker. Legends of the Wild West. Lincolnwood, IL.: Publications International, Ltd., 1995.
Reedstrom, E. Lisle. Authentic Costumes & Characters of the Wild West. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1992.
Russell, Don. Lives and Legends of Buffalo Bill. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1960.
Wilson, R.L. and Greg Martin. Buffalo Bill's Wild West: An American Legend. New York: Random House, 1998.
View My Guestbook
This page was last updated on July 22, 2005
