On August 2, 1876, during a poker game in a saloon that found him with his back uncharacteristically to the door, Hickok was shot in the back of his head by Jack McCall, who may have been hired to kill him. The first was Bill Mulvey, who was rampaging through town, drunk, shooting out mirrors and whisky bottles behind bars. Shes all Ive got to live fer; shes my only comfort [sic]. Fox described Jessie as neatly dressed but shy and embarrassed. Yet she had a bright face, and her manners were very good for one whose opportunities had been so few.. During the next several years he appeared in Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West Show, living off his fame as the consummate gunfighter. As vile a character as I ever met for some cause Wild Bill incurred Coe's hatred and he vowed to secure the death of the marshal. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,.css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}contact us! Hickok was bedridden for months before he went to southern Nebraska in the summer of 1861 to work at the Pony Express station at Rock Creek. I suggest you read Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend by James D. McLaird. At the coroner's inquest into Strawhun's death, despite "very contradictory" evidence from witnesses, the jury found the shooting justifiable. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1977). He replaced Tom "Bear River" Smith, who had been killed while serving an arrest warrant on November 2, 1870. A highly fictional film account of Hickok's later years and death, titled Wild Bill (1995), stars Jeff Bridges as Hickok and David Arquette as Jack McCall, and was written and directed by Walter Hill. [12], While in Nebraska, Hickok was derisively referred to by one man as "Duck Bill" for his long nose and protruding lips. They initially agreed not to fight over the watch, but when Hickok saw Tutt wearing it, he warned him to stay away. They traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota, together and were acquaintances, but there is no evidence of a romance (especially on his part). Martha (her name wasnt even Jane) had several husbands and a daughter, Jessie, who died in Los Angeles in 1960. McCanles may have been the first man Hickok killed. Calamity Jane! Jessie withdrew from the Academy a short time later, but in January of 1896, Jane was finally able to take her to St. Martins Academy in Sturgis. One story claimed he killed a bear with his bare hands and a bowie knife. . Lancaster, California. At Castle City, Montana in 1893, when Jane was running a restaurant, she had with her the daughter of one of her soldier friends in Texas who probably was Jessie. There are many versions of the shootout that occurred at Rock Creek on July 12, 1861, shortly after the start of the Civil War, and all, in one way or another, contributed to Hickoks legend. Author McClaird theorised that Jessie, who had no birth certificate, said what she had to in order to receive financial assistance at her last residence in California. Wikimedia Commons Calamity Jane poses in front of Wild Bill Hickok's grave. Notorious Old West gunmen John Wesley Hardin and James Butler Hickok, also known as "Wild Bill," began as friends. [26]:329 Hickok did not enjoy acting, and often hid behind scenery. Foxs visit coincided with the few weeks Jessie actually attended St. Edwards Academy in Deadwood. 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. For more on American historysubscribe to All About History for as little as 26. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. "[55], On March 5, 1876, Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake, a 50-year-old circus proprietor in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. A later film (1953) and subsequent stage musical, both titled Calamity Jane, also portray a romance between Calamity Jane and Hickok. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading: Wild Bill, J. All Rights Reserved. Russell, Majors and Waddell had not kept up with their payments for the station, and the gun-brandishing McCanles had come to demand his money from Wellman, who insisted that he did not have it and refused to relinquish the property to McCanles, as did his wife. Hickok said he had "tried to restore order". Not wasting a second, he quietly drew his revolver and shot Hickok in the back of the head, instantly killing him. Brink, were tried for killing McCanles, but were found to have acted in self-defense. [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. Wild Bill Hickoks legend only grew further when other stories about his fighting prowess surfaced. [62][63] Hickok may have told his friend Charlie Utter and others who were traveling with them that he thought he would be killed while in Deadwood. Mulvey angrily declared that he had come to town to kill Hickok. Take that!" by Marshall Trimble | Nov 1, 2007 | Inside History. Were Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane married, and did they have a daughter? In 1876, Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota) by Jack McCall, an unsuccessful gambler. At 4:15 in the afternoon, a young gunslinger named Jack McCall walked into the saloon, approached Hickok from behind, and shot him in the back of the head. The story continued that McCanles invaded the Wellmans cabin and prepared to shoot Hickok, who acted faster and shot McCanles in the chest. Jessie later said that the Deadwood Chief of Police wrote her about Janes death in 1903. shot Tutt to prevent the threatened impending injury [then] the jury will acquit.". The identity of the fifth card (his "hole card") is also the subject of debate. Born in Homer (later called Troy Grove), Illinois, James Butler Hickok . Omissions? In fact, William Hickok (senior) was so opposed to slavery that it's been reported that the Hickok house was a station for the Underground Railroad, where black slaves stopped for refuge on their journey north to freedom. 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 was assigned Buffalo Bill Cody, a sergeant, and five privates. [5] William Hickok died in 1852, when James was 15. Jane had been hired to travel with Kohl & Middleton Dime Museums; as she purchased her ticket out of town she told railroad agent A.O. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1979). [46]:pp.5456[47], In August 1871, Hickok sought to arrest Hardin for killing Charles Couger in an Abilene hotel "for snoring too loud". was advancing on him with a drawn pistol and that Tutt had previously made threats of personal injury to Deft. Hickok was arrested for murder, tried, and acquitted. Wild Bill Hickok was an American folk hero. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter's Camp, on Thursday afternoon, August 3, 1876, at 3 o'clock P. M. All are respectfully invited to attend. [6][35] Witnesses confirm that while working as a scout at Fort Harker, Kansas, on May 11, 1867, Hickok was attacked by a large group of Indians, who fled after he shot and killed two. Even in death Hickok's legend grew. She was born in Missouri and spent most of her life on the country's western border. Jack McCall. [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. Hickok was of English ancestry. Hickok saved Cody from getting beaten by another man and the two became longtime pals. She was the eldest of as many as six children born to Robert and Charlotte (Burch) Cannary. [66] McCall was acquitted of the murder, which prompted editorializing in the Black Hills Pioneer: "Should it ever be our misfortune to kill a man we would simply ask that our trial may take place in some of the mining camps of these hills." [36][37], In December 1867, newspapers reported that Hickok had come to stay in Hays City, Kansas. The. [50] The two entrepreneurs had painted a picture of a bull with a large erect penis on the side of their establishment as an advertisement. Astrological Sign: Gemini, Death Year: 1876, Death date: August 2, 1876, Death State: South Dakota, Death City: Deadwood, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Wild Bill Hickok Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/personality/wild-bill-hickok, Publisher: A&E Television Networks, Last Updated: July 28, 2020, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. 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. [18] On March 22, 1858, he was elected one of the first four constables of Monticello Township. [29][30], Two days later, Hickok was arrested for murder. Nicholss version of the shootout in Harpers grabbed the publics attention, making Hickok an instant legend whose gunfighting prowess became fodder for dime novels. Although the show brought Hickok some much-needed income, he was unhappy, began drinking heavily, and returned to the West in March 1874. Zimmerman said that despite their closeness in age, he and Jessie didnt say much to each other. In December, the Rawlins Republican reported that Jane visited town with a little girl she had stolen. The child was no doubt Jessie, who was next seen with her mother in Ekalaka, Montana in 1894 by at least two people. 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