She said she was the daughter of Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, and was born in a cabin near Livingston, Montana in 1873. 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. There, again, he killed several men, including his deputy marshal, whose deaththe result of an accidental shootingled to Hickoks dismissal. 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. The "special election" may not have been legal, as a letter dated September 17 to the governor of Kansas noted that Hickok had presented a warrant for an arrest which was rejected by the Fort Hays commander, because, when asked to produce his commission, Hickok admitted that he had never received one. The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok was a 1950s TV series starring Guy Madison and Andy Devine. [9], Hickok used his late father's name, William Hickok, from 1858, and the name William Haycock during the American Civil War. ", Hermon, Gregory (1987). They even did a stint abroad, performing for one season in Germany in 1862. Martha (her name wasnt even Jane) had several husbands and a daughter, Jessie, who died in Los Angeles in 1960. "The Custer-Hickok Shootout in Hays City. Behind the mission, arent those the Santa Catalina Mountains? [13][14] He was also known before 1861 among Jayhawkers as "Shanghai Bill" because of his height and slim build. Unsurprisingly, the two gunslingers found much to relate to in . 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. 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. Wikimedia Commons Advertisement 11. The event haunted Hickok for the rest of his life. Foxs visit coincided with the few weeks Jessie actually attended St. Edwards Academy in Deadwood. The watch had great sentimental value to Hickok, so he asked Tutt not to wear it in public. Hickok never fought in another gun battle. The wagon train arrived in Deadwood in July 1876. How Did Wild Bill Hickok Die? This, too, was badly defaced, and was then enclosed in a cage for protection. He twice asked another man at the table, Charles Rich, to change seats with him, but Rich refused. For the next several years, various witnesses saw Jane, who towed Jessie around with her as she drank her way across the west. While in Deadwood, South Dakota, Wild Bill Hickok became a regular poker player at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon. Most modern retailers of Old West period clothing seem to sell only banded collared shirts, yet old photographs show cowboys did wear shirts with collars. [64], Hickok was playing five-card stud or five-card draw when he was shot. [69] In 1979, Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. In July 1865, "Wild Bill" Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in Springeld, MOthe rst quick-draw duel on the frontier. In 1941, Jean Hickok McCormick appeared in Billings, Montana. Perhaps most famously, Harper's New Monthly Magazine printed an account of the story in 1867, claiming Hickok had killed 10 men. [12] The article was controversial wherever Hickok was known, and several frontier newspapers wrote rebuttals. Corrections? Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Horace Hickok was born in October of 1834. He usually sat with his back to a wall so he could see the entrance, but the only seat available when he joined the game was a chair facing away from the door. [citation needed], Henry M. Stanley, of the Weekly Missouri Democrat, reported Hickok to be "an inveterate hater of Indian People", perhaps to enhance his reputation as a scout and American fighter, but separating fact from fiction is difficult considering his recruitment of Indians to cross the nation to appear in his own Wild West show. McCormick claimed that ONeil offered to adopt her, taking she and her mother to meet his wife in Omaha. McCall was brought to trial the next day. By the end of 1861, he was a wagon master, but in September 1862, he was discharged for unknown reasons. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1982). The original wooden grave marker was moved to the new site, but by 1891, it had been destroyed by souvenir hunters whittling pieces from it, and it was replaced with a statue. 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. 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. That belief came from the fertile imaginations of othersespecially Jean McCormick, who claimed to be the daughter of the legendary pair. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Six months later Jane visited friends in Deadwood, stating Jessie had married and was living in North Dakota with two children. At the end of the trial, Judge Sempronius H. Boyd told the jury they could not find Hickok acted in self-defense if he could have reasonably avoided the fight. Doc Holliday did have a bad cough, as suggested in this episode, from his tuberculosis. [7] Photographs of Hickok appear to depict dark hair, but all contemporaneous descriptions affirm that it was red. The son of William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok, he was by all accounts a master marksman from an early age. At the [second] trial it was suggested that [McCall] was hired to do his work by gamblers 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. 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. 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. 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. The couple had five children besides James Butler , three boys and two girls. On August 2, 1876, Wild Bill Hickok died a sudden, violent death while gambling in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. "George Ward Nichols and the Legend of Wild Bill Hickok. ), 18721886. 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. "The Girl and the Gunfighter: A Newly Discovered Photograph of Wild Bill Hickok. 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. In July, 1865, in Springfield, Missouri's town square, Hickok killed Davis Tutt, an old friend who after personal grudges escalated became an enemy. He told Mrs. McCanles he was sorry he had to kill her man then took out $35 [$1,056 in 2021 dollars] and gave it to her saying: "This is all I have, sorry I do not have more to give you." Jane was well-known for her abilities as a sharpshooter . He reported returning with five prisoners after killing 10. His father was said to have used the family house, now demolished, as a station on the Underground Railroad. "Dead man's hand" was an established poker. McCall tried to . In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was suffering from glaucoma. In court she presented the judge with a doctors certificate indicating she was in a rather delicate condition, an early euphemism for pregnant. Calamity Jane is reputed to have led a mob that threatened McCall with lynching, but at the time of Hickok's death, Jane was actually being held by military authorities. They performed together until Bill was tragically murdered in 1869. 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. John McCall ( / mkl / ); (1852/1853 - March 1, 1877), also known as " Crooked Nose " or " Broken Nose Jack ", was the murderer of Old West legend Wild Bill Hickok. [61], Hickok died instantly. During the next several years he appeared in Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West Show, living off his fame as the consummate gunfighter. By Tyler MacDonald / May 18, 2021 9:31 am EST. [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. Jean McCormick was the daughter of Jane "Calamity Jane" Cannary and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok. It was at this time that Hickok came across a bear blocking a road, an encounter that would become part of the lore surrounding him: Hickok shot the bear, which only angered it, and a struggle ensued, during which Hickok used a knife to slit the bears throat, but not before he was nearly crushed to death. Citizens of the town complained to Hickok, who requested that Thompson and Coe remove the image. 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. "Gunfighters of the Real West: Wild Bill Hickok. He was one of the early heroes of the West popularized in the dime novels of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born James Butler Hickok on 27 May 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. While at Castle City Jane went to Gilt Edge, some two hundred miles away, where she was jailed for being drunk. Was he shooting back? But Coe "reckoned without his host". Updates? In 1855, at the age of 18, he left to become a part of thegrowing American West. He died in 1887. In 1899, Dorsett took Jessie to live with his mother in Lewiston. The charge was later reduced to manslaughter. In 1869 Hickok became sheriff of Hays City, Kansas, where he killed several men in shootouts. 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. 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. Before being called Wild Bill Hickok, his original name was James Butler Hickok. Hardin left Kansas before Hickok could arrest him. 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. 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. On October 5, 1871, Hickok was standing off a crowd during a street brawl when Coe fired two shots. Keith Bell Manchester, United Kingdom Calamity Jane never married Wild Bill Hickok. 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. Burke she had enrolled Jessie in the school. 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. He was involved in several notable shootouts during the course of his life. Hickok and Brinks were charged with murder but found not guilty. When he saw Hickok, he leveled his cocked rifle at him. In reality, Janes first verified child was born in November 1882 when she was living with rancher Frank King near Miles City, Montana. The Harper's piece also told the story of how Hickok had pointed to a letter "O" that was "no bigger than a man's heart." [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. After the fact, there was much speculation as to whether romantic rivalry had had a role in the incident: Hickok was apparently involved with a woman who had also been involved with the married McCanles. Though no solid record exists, he is believed to have served as a Union spy in the Confederate Army before his discharge in 1865. 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. 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. 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