Six months later Jane visited friends in Deadwood, stating Jessie had married and was living in North Dakota with two children. He seemed to have respect for Hickok's abilities and replied, "If Bill needs killing, why don't you kill him yourself? [52], In 1876, Hickok was diagnosed by a doctor in Kansas City, Missouri, with glaucoma and ophthalmia. The Bull's Head Saloon in Abilene had been established by gambler Ben Thompson and Coe, his partner, businessman, and fellow gambler. [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. He was the fourth son of William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok. [18] On March 22, 1858, he was elected one of the first four constables of Monticello Township. [21] Hickok subsequently visited McCanles' widow, apologized for the killing, and offered her $35 in restitution, all the money he had with him at the time. Hickok was sent from Abilene to arrest Matt Dillon (William Conrad) for the murder of a man he had thrown out of Dodge earlier that month. It ends with Hickok surviving the murder attempt due to wearing body armor and being shot in the back, then secretly leaving for a ranch in California. In an 1871 account that changed his life, Hickok was reportedly involved in a shootout with saloon owner Phil Coe. By the end of the night most of the money had been spent, and Jane was roaring drunk. [58] Jane confirmed this account in an 1896 newspaper interview, although she claimed she had been hospitalized with illness rather than in the guardhouse. Hickok may have picked up the nickname Wild Bill for his daring fighting in the Union army during the Civil War, which included service as a spy, a scout, and a sharpshooter. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [19] According to Hickok's account, he found the road blocked by a cinnamon bear and its two cubs. Few could help her verify the truth, and Jean McCormick was of little help. Wikimedia Commons Advertisement 11. Hickok lost his re-election bid to his deputy. 10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. He was involved in several notable shootouts during the course of his life. Did Wild Bill Hickok have a child? Hickok is currently interred in a 10ft (3m) square plot at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, surrounded by a cast-iron fence, with a U.S. flag flying nearby. Less than a month after Hickok's death, the trial was found to have no legal status because Deadwood was located in Indian Territory - McCall's acquittal was deemed invalid. The cards Hickok had been holding when he was shot and killeda pair of black aces and a pair of black eights plus an unknown fifth cardbecame known as the Dead Mans Hand.. McCall lost heavily. In the HBO show Deadwood (2004-2006), Wild Bill is played by Keith Carradine. Both of his parents loved each other very much and always remained together. He wanted me to go with him, and as we started on our way, imagine my surprise and uncomfortable feeling when he announced his intention of stopping at the McCanles home. She said she was the daughter of Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, and was born in a cabin near Livingston, Montana in 1873. They had ivory grips and nickel plating, and were ornately engraved with "J.B. Hickok1869" on the backstrap. He was released on $2,000 bail and stood trial on August 3, 1865. Leaving Springfield, he was recommended for the position of deputy federal marshal at Fort Riley, Kansas. As the scene unfolded, McCanles entered the station, and, from behind the curtain that divided it in two, either Hickok or Wellman shot McCanles. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation. Foxs visit coincided with the few weeks Jessie actually attended St. Edwards Academy in Deadwood. Two 7th Cavalry troopers jump, Most people have heard of Calamity Jane, once promoted as The Famous Woman Scout of. ", 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. 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. He was later elected constable of Monticello Township in Johnson County, Kansas. [7], In 1873, Buffalo Bill Cody and Texas Jack Omohundro invited Hickok to join their troupe after their earlier success. He claimed he was avenging Hickok's earlier slaying of his brother, which may have been true; a man named Lew McCall had indeed been killed by an unknown lawman in Abilene, Kansas, but whether or not the two McCall men were related is unknown. In 1899, Dorsett took Jessie to live with his mother in Lewiston. before shooting Hickok in the back of the head at point-blank range. And though it is difficult to picture her in the domestic arena, Jane was also a mother. [65][66], McCall was summoned before an informal "miners' jury" (an ad hoc local group of miners and businessmen). 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. They traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota, together and were acquaintances, but there is no evidence of a romance (especially on his part). Citizens warned Mulvey to behave, because Hickok was sheriff. By 1942 Jessie had changed her story, perhaps at McCormicks urging. [46]:4558[48] A newspaper reported, "A man was killed in his bed at a hotel in Abilene, Monday night, by a desperado called 'Arkansas'. McCall was brought to trial the next day. They initially agreed not to fight over the watch, but when Hickok saw Tutt wearing it, he warned him to stay away. 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. 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. "The Custer-Hickok Shootout in Hays City. A later film (1953) and subsequent stage musical, both titled Calamity Jane, also portray a romance between Calamity Jane and Hickok. No other woman in the American west possesses a more enigmatic legacy than Martha Calamity Jane Canary. 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. The wagon train arrived in Deadwood in July 1876. There, again, he killed several men, including his deputy marshal, whose deaththe result of an accidental shootingled to Hickoks dismissal. Future Publishing Limited William Austin, the cemetery caretaker, estimated 500lb (230kg). 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. On the afternoon of August 2, 1876, he was playing cards with his back to the door, something he seldom did. All rights reserved. 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. As a result, calcium carbonate from the surrounding soil had replaced the flesh, leading to petrifaction. (If said child had actually existed, he or she was said to . [46]:pp.5456[47], In August 1871, Hickok sought to arrest Hardin for killing Charles Couger in an Abilene hotel "for snoring too loud". Thus began the reputation that By the end of 1861, he was a wagon master, but in September 1862, he was discharged for unknown reasons. The murderer escaped. 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 second trial was not considered double jeopardy because of the irregular jury in the first trial and because Deadwood was at the time in unorganized Indian country. She was Maude Weir, born in 1881. [45], Hickok later said he did not know that "Wesley Clemmons" was Hardin's alias, and that he was a wanted outlaw. 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! The movie The Plainsman (1936), starring Gary Cooper as Hickok, features the alleged romance between Calamity Jane and him as its main plot line. The enclosure was cut open by souvenir hunters in the 1950s, and the statue was removed.[71]. In the early 1990s ABC television series Young Riders, a fictional account of Pony Express riders, Hickok is portrayed by Josh Brolin.[80]. From there the ONeils took the pair to the family home in Richmond, Virginia, and ultimately raised the Jean in Liverpool, England. One of the workers, Joseph McLintock, wrote a detailed description of the reinterment. 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. Im glad shes come [home from school] while youre here, Jane told Fox, fer I want you to see her. Di Certo is the author of ten books and composer of three albums of children's songs. For the next several years, various witnesses saw Jane, who towed Jessie around with her as she drank her way across the west. When did cowboys begin wearing these shirts? Michelle Renes novel, Hour Glass, is a moving, revealing picture of the legendary Calamity Jane., A bar in Hays City, Kansas, on July 17, 1870. Like his friend Buffalo Bill Cody, Hickok was the son of an abolitionist. While a Jayhawker, he met 12-year-old William Cody (later known as "Buffalo Bill"), who, despite his youth, served as a scout just two years later for the U.S. Army during the Utah War. Although the show brought Hickok some much-needed income, he was unhappy, began drinking heavily, and returned to the West in March 1874. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. "[56], Martha Jane Cannary, known popularly as Calamity Jane, claimed in her autobiography that she was married to Hickok and had divorced him so he could be free to marry Agnes Lake, but no records that support her account have been found. Hickok has remained one of the most popular and iconic figures of the American Old West, and is still frequently depicted in popular culture, including literature, film, and television. All About History is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. On August 2, 1876, Wild Bill Hickok died a sudden, violent death while gambling in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. 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. On July 21, 1865, in a shootout in Springfield, Missouri, he killed David Tutt, a skillful gunfighter who had been flaunting the watch he won from Hickok in a poker game. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}10 Black Pioneers in Aviation Who Broke Barriers. 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.. The gun did not sell because the highest bid of $220,000 was less than the reserve set by the gun's owners.[76]. McCall tried to . The couple had five children besides James Butler , three boys and two girls. "Gunfighters of the Real West: Wild Bill Hickok. The couple had five children besides James Butler, three boys and two girls. . Calamity Jane never married Wild Bill Hickok. He was very famous as a lawman as he established law and order in some of the most notorious towns on the frontier. This, in turn, was destroyed by souvenir hunters and replaced in 1902 by a life-sized sandstone sculpture of Hickok. Even in death Hickok's legend grew. 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. "[46] Hoping to intimidate Hickok, Coe allegedly stated that he could "kill a crow on the wing". [6] Since the event was outdoors, he could not compel people to pay, and the venture was a financial failure. She was the eldest of as many as six children born to Robert and Charlotte (Burch) Cannary. 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. In one show, he shot the spotlight when it focused on him. As a very young boy, Bill was born to father William Alonzo Hickok and mother Polly Butler. Notorious Old West gunmen John Wesley Hardin and James Butler Hickok, also known as "Wild Bill," began as friends. The. ", DeMattos, Jack (1980). [64], Hickok was playing five-card stud or five-card draw when he was shot. When Jane arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1895, she told others that she needed money to enrol Jessie in a convent school at Sturgis. [citation needed], Buffalo Bill claimed that he encountered Hickok disguised as a Confederate officer in Missouri in 1864. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Hickok was a favourite of Custer and his wife, Libbie, who described him as a delight to look upon. Hickoks physical appearance was by many accounts arresting. But thirty years had passed when she began making inquiries about Jane, whom she thought was her grandmother. Mulvey wheeled his horse around to face those who might shoot him from behind, and before he realized he had been fooled, Hickok shot him through the temple. 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