Wild Bill Hickok
Gunman, Union spy, US Marshall, actor
and professional gambler
Wild Bill Hickok was born on May 27, 1837, in Troy Grove,
Illinois. His father was part of the Underground Railroad, an organization
designed to assist runaway slaves in their quest for freedom to
the free states in the North or Canada. Like his father, Wild Bill
was also an active supporter of abolition. Wild Bill's fame began
with the McCanles gang shoot-out in 1861 near Rock Creek, Nebraska.
The McCanles gang were outlaws wanted for almost any crime in the
book, including murder and bank robbery. Wild Bill confronted the
McCanles alone, killing three of it's members, and taking the remaining
members prisoner.
During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Wild Bill worked
as a Union scout and spy. After the war he served as deputy
US Marshall in various Kansas cattle towns, including Hays
City and Fort Riley. In 1871 he was appointed US Marshall
of Abilene, Kansas. These Kansas frontier towns were very
violent and lawless, but Wild Bill managed to bring some law
and order to them with his ruthless "no guns" policy.
After mistakenly killing his deputy sheriff, Mike Williams, Wild
Bill Hickok was fired, and his career as a lawman was over. He decided
to move to Deadwood, Dakota, a gold rush town packed with miners,
easy targets for a gambler like Hickok.
During the early seventies of the nineteenth century, Wild Bill
Hickok joined his friend, Buffalo Bill Cody, on stage in Cody's
play "Scouts of the plains". Wild Bill's career as an actor was
short-lived, because his talents lay elsewhere. He did however tour
briefly with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, in which he was
one of the main attractions (when he was sober).
After returning to Deadwood, Wild Bill Hickok was killed
on August 2, 1876, 39 years old, while playing poker in a
local saloon. He was apparently shot from behind by Jack McCall,
holding a hand consisting of black aces and eights, a hand
that is now known as the "dead man's hand". Wild
Bill was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery, just outside of
Deadwood. Calamity Jane, supposedly his lover at one time
in Deadwood, lies buried next to him.
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