In 1871 he took over as the marshal of the tough cow town of Abilene, Kansas. On September 4, Hickok was wounded in the foot while rescuing several cattlemen in the Bijou Creek basin who had been surrounded by Indians. In her book Calamity Janes Daughter: The Story of Maude Weir, Weirs own daughter, Ruth Shadley, said her family secretly knew that Maudes real mother was Calamity Jane. [44] In his 1895 autobiography, published after his death, Hardin claimed to have been befriended by Hickok, the newly elected town marshal, after he had disarmed the marshal using the road agent's spin, but Hardin was known to exaggerate. Keith Bell Manchester, United Kingdom Calamity Jane never married Wild Bill Hickok. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. They refused, so Hickok altered it himself. Trachoma is often associated with poverty and poor hygiene that allows the bacteria to infect and re-infect eyes; if left untreated, it can cause blindness. In real life, Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary) never met 'Doc' Holliday: she actually was in love and pursued 'Wild Bill' Hickock. As a result, calcium carbonate from the surrounding soil had replaced the flesh, leading to petrifaction. The charge was later reduced to manslaughter. Hickok was killed August 2, 1876, at the age of 39, and Calamity Jane died of illness on August 1, 1903, at age 51; both died in South Dakota.. During his life, Hickok was a soldier, scout, stagecoach driver, lawman, gunfighter, showman, marksman, gambler, and more. Not a word was uttered. A former cavalryman, J.W. At Bridger, Montana, Jane moved in with a cowboy named Robert Dorsett. Alonzo and Polly Hickok moved to Illinois in 1833, finally settling in Troy Grove (known as Homer at the time), LaSalle County, along the banks of the Little Vermillion Creek. Did Wild Bill Hickok have children? [1][2], James Butler Hickok was born May 27, 1837, in Homer, Illinois, (present-day Troy Grove, Illinois) to William Alonzo Hickok, a farmer and abolitionist, and his wife, Polly Butler. Updates? Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [9], At the time of his death, Hickok was wearing a Smith & Wesson Model No. In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was suffering from glaucoma. While at Castle City Jane went to Gilt Edge, some two hundred miles away, where she was jailed for being drunk. What happened to Wild Bill Hickok's pistols? 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=1141945329, 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). In one show, he shot the spotlight when it focused on him. During Wild Bill Hickok 's life he was many things such as, an actor, gambler, lawman, and a marksman specialists. was advancing on him with a drawn pistol and that Tutt had previously made threats of personal injury to Deft. 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. He is chiefly portrayed as a protagonist, although historical accounts of his actions are often controversial, and much of his career is known to have been exaggerated both by himself and by contemporary mythmakers. The Bull's Head Saloon in Abilene had been established by gambler Ben Thompson and Coe, his partner, businessman, and fellow gambler. Before being called Wild Bill Hickok, his original name was James Butler Hickok. Hickok's brother, Lorenzo Butler, traveled from Illinois to attend the retrial. The murderer escaped. A legend during his life and considered one of the American west's premier gunfighters, James Butler ("Wild Bill") Hickok was born May 27, 1837, in Troy Grove, Illinois. Several times he was arrested for vagrancy. James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. Later historians, however, have presented a radically different portrayal of the events at Rock Creek. He became a deputy U.S. marshal, and on March 28, 1868, he picked up 11 Union Army deserters who had been charged with stealing government property. Hickok waved his hand past Mulvey at some onlookers and yelled, "Don't shoot him in the back; he is drunk." Many historic sites and monuments commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and television. From William Alonzo and Polly Butler's marriage, they welcomed six children in total, and HIckon is the fourth among them all. [36][37], In December 1867, newspapers reported that Hickok had come to stay in Hays City, Kansas. In more recent times, however, Calamity Jane biographer James McLaird disproved McCormicks claim by researching when and how her fantastic autobiography unfolded. On December 9, Hickok and Lanihan both served legal papers on Macintosh, and local newspapers acknowledged that Hickok had guardianship of Hays City. The bullet emerged through his right cheek and struck another player, riverboat Captain William Massie, in the left wrist. 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. authorities, and after trial has been sentenced to death for willful murder. He died in 1887. Outlaw John Wesley Hardin arrived in Abilene at the end of a cattle drive in early 1871. Her friends held a fundraiser for her and the benefit proved a howling successuntil Jane began treating her generous friends to drinks. Wikimedia Commons Advertisement 11. Wild Bill Hickok was an American folk hero. "Wild Bill's Sweetheart: The Life of Mary Jane Owens. Later that year he became a teamster with the great freighting enterprise Russell, Majors and Waddell, creators of the Pony Express, for which he was too tall and heavy to be a rider. 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. In June of 1887, the Cheyenne Daily Leader in Wyoming reported that Jane was arrested for drunkenness. This angered the buffalo and panicked audience members, causing the animals to break free of their wire fencing and chase audience members, some of whom were trampled. Wild Bill Hickoks legend only grew further when other stories about his fighting prowess surfaced. Two 7th Cavalry troopers jump, Most people have heard of Calamity Jane, once promoted as The Famous Woman Scout of. She appears to have finally learned the truth by the time she died in 1980, for her death certificate correctly lists her mothers maiden name as Canary. [51], Hickok was relieved of his duties as marshal less than two months after the accidental shooting, this incident being only one of a series of questionable shootings and claims of misconduct during his career. Wild Bill Hickok, byname of James Butler Hickok, (born May 27, 1837, Homer [now Troy Grove], Illinois, U.S.died August 2, 1876, Deadwood, Dakota Territory [now in South Dakota, U.S.]), American frontiersman, army scout, and lawman who helped bring order to the frontier West. They performed together until Bill was tragically murdered in 1869. 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.". He fought and spied for the Union Army during the American Civil War and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor, and professional gambler. Dismounting, he approached the bear and fired a shot into its head, but the bullet ricocheted off its skull, infuriating it. Hickok said he had "tried to restore order". 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). Born in Homer (later called Troy Grove), Illinois, James Butler Hickok . Though no solid record exists, he is believed to have served as a Union spy in the Confederate Army before his discharge in 1865. [57] The two possibly met for the first time after Jane was released from the guardhouse in Fort Laramie and joined the wagon train in which Hickok was traveling. 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. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1984). Most newspapers referred to him as William Haycock until 1869. Hardin left Kansas before Hickok could arrest him. Wild Bill Hickok's proficiency with a pistol is well known, but there remains some confusion concerning how he used his weapons and which ones he actually used. He left his wife a few months later to seek his fortune in the goldfields of South Dakota. Did Nick McGlashan have a family? August 18, 1876, image 3", "Jack McCall Cowardly Killer of Wild Bill Hickok", "American Wonder Wild Bill Hickok Shot and Killed from Behind on This Day in History", Bozeman Avant Courier, December 22, 1876, image 1, testimony of George M. Shingle, "Riverboat captain 'carried' bullet that killed Hickok", "Jack McCall and the Murder of Wild Bill Hickok", "Wild Bill Hickok: Pistoleer, Peace Officer and Folk Hero", Photograph of Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Model 1851 Navys, "Wild Bill Hickok's Smith & Wesson No. Wild Bill Hickok was one of the early "Heroes of the West." He had built a reputation as an extraordinary gunfighter with a sense of fairness and justice. In 1941, Jean Hickok McCormick appeared in Billings, Montana. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wild-Bill-Hickok, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Wild Bill Hickok, Wild Bill Hickok - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 - August 2, 1876), also known as "Wild Bill" Hickok was a legendary figure in the old west. 1876, Wild Bill Hickok & # x27 ; s pistols Smith & Wesson Model No moved in a. `` Wild Bill Hickok was wearing a Smith & Wesson Model No over the. In with a drawn pistol and that Tutt had previously made threats of injury... Away, where she was jailed for being drunk literature, did wild bill hickok have children and! Threats of personal injury to Deft & # x27 ; s pistols Mary Jane Owens benefit... Fortune in the goldfields of South Dakota some discrepancies married Wild Bill Hickok was suffering from glaucoma 36 ] 37... Every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some.... 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