McCormick claimed that ONeil offered to adopt her, taking she and her mother to meet his wife in Omaha. During the Civil War, Wild Bill Hickok served in the Union Army as a civilian scout and later a provost marshal. Why were some shotguns called Greeners by cowboys in the Old West. Overall, it was reported that Hickok had killed over 100 men during his lifetime. Lonergan pinned Hickok to the ground, and Kyle put his gun to Hickok's ear. The murderer escaped. [9], Shortly before his death, Hickock wrote a letter to his new wife, which read in part, "Agnes Darling, if such should be we never meet again, while firing my last shot, I will gently breathe the name of my wifeAgnesand with wishes even for my enemies I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore. [38], In July 1869, Hickok returned to Hays and was elected city marshal of Hays and sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas, in a special election held on August 23, 1869. Area newspapers reported that Jane named the boy Little Calamity. A freighter named Evans recalled watching Jane smother the baby with kisses, calling him Muzzies yittle snoozey [sic] darling. Jane later told others that Little Calamity died. During Wild Bill Hickok 's life he was many things such as, an actor, gambler, lawman, and a marksman specialists. 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). The family did some moving around during this time period and the next child, James Butler Hickok, was born in May of 1837. ", 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. "Wild Bill's Sweetheart: The Life of Mary Jane Owens. B. Hickock [sic] (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1982). [45], Hickok later said he did not know that "Wesley Clemmons" was Hardin's alias, and that he was a wanted outlaw. [25] The 1883 History of Greene County, Missouri described him as "by nature a ruffian a drunken, swaggering fellow, who delighted when 'on a spree' to frighten nervous men and timid women. Jane was well-known for her abilities as a sharpshooter . The incident began when David McCanles, his brother William and several farmhands came to the station demanding payment for a property that had been bought from him. But thirty years had passed when she began making inquiries about Jane, whom she thought was her grandmother. [77][78] A print of the film is maintained in the Museum of Modern Art film archive.[79]. 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.". But Coe "reckoned without his host". He worked as a technical writer on the Atlas, Minuteman, and Titan missile-launching systems, as well as Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. On the afternoon of August 2, 1876, he was playing cards with his back to the door, something he seldom did. [citation needed], From 1871 until his death in 1876, Hickok had vision problems. authorities, and after trial has been sentenced to death for willful murder. He was the fourth son of William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok. They refused, so Hickok altered it himself. ), 18721886. 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." [28] Tutt's shot missed, but Hickok's struck Tutt through the heart from about 75 yards (69m) away. Hickok never fought in another gun battle. Citizens warned Mulvey to behave, because Hickok was sheriff. [34]:34 The show featured six buffalo, a bear, and a monkey, and one show ended in disaster when a buffalo refused to act, prompting Hickok to fire a bullet into the sky. James Butler Hickok arrived in Springfield, Missouri . 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. Infuriated, Thompson tried to incite John Wesley Hardin to kill Hickok by exclaiming to Hardin that "He's a damn Yankee. [61], Hickok died instantly. The charge was later reduced to manslaughter. 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. Marshal. 10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. [65][66], McCall was summoned before an informal "miners' jury" (an ad hoc local group of miners and businessmen). [9], At the time of his death, Hickok was wearing a Smith & Wesson Model No. In one show, he shot the spotlight when it focused on him. Hickok encouraged McCall to quit the game until he could cover his losses and offered to give him money for breakfast. He fought against slavery with General James Lane in Kansas, and operated as a constable in Johnson County. On July 21, 1865, the two men faced off in Springfield's town square, standing sideways before drawing and firing their weapons. They initially agreed not to fight over the watch, but when Hickok saw Tutt wearing it, he warned him to stay away. Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading: Wild Bill, J. setTimeout(function(){var t=document.createElement("script");t.setAttribute("src","https://sample.dragonforms.com/getEmbeddedClientScript.do?embeddedsite=TW_dispatch_nl"),t.setAttribute("type","text/javascript"),document.body.appendChild(t)},5); Become a subscriber today and youll recieve a new issue every month plus unlimited access to our full archive of backlogged issues. He was released from the group after a few months. When Kyle's weapon misfired, Hickok shot Lonergan, wounding him in the knee, and shot Kyle twice, killing him. [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. Children: Possibly two daughters; . As a result, calcium carbonate from the surrounding soil had replaced the flesh, leading to petrifaction. "The Custer-Hickok Shootout in Hays City. [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." August marks of the deaths of two of the Wild West's most famous figures: Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Upon being sprung, Jane whisked into Castle City, picked up the girl, and went on her way. After a brief visit from Hickok, who then rode off into the sunset, a sea captain named James ONeil happened to find her. Nick McGlashan had two children, Lennyn Annette Richardson of Unalaska (7) and Kane Wilder Hammond of Port Townsend, WA (1). 2 Army revolver, a five-shot, single-action, .32-caliber weapon, innovative as one of the first metallic cartridge firearms and favored by many Union officers during the Civil War. "J.B. Hickok, Deputy U.S. It is a loose adaptation of Hickok's life, ending with his famous aces-and-eights card hand. In an 1871 account that changed his life, Hickok was reportedly involved in a shootout with saloon owner Phil Coe. The trial did not last more than fifteen minutes.[23]. And though it is difficult to picture her in the domestic arena, Jane was also a mother. ", DeMattos, Jack (1980). "Wild Bill and the Timber Thieves. [58] Jane confirmed this account in an 1896 newspaper interview, although she claimed she had been hospitalized with illness rather than in the guardhouse. Nick McGlashan loved his family, friends and fans. Corrections? 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 son of William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok, he was by all accounts a master marksman from an early age. This incident added to his fame as a gunslinger, which skyrocketed when journalist and later explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley reported as fact in the New York Herald in 1867 Hickoks exaggerated claim that he had killed 100 men. "[55], On March 5, 1876, Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake, a 50-year-old circus proprietor in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Hickok lost a gold watch to Tutt in a poker game. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Military records after 1865 list him as Hickok, but note that he was also known as Haycock. All About History is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Many historic sites and monuments commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and television. McCall tried to . A semifictionalized version of Hickok's time as marshal of Abilene Kansas, titled Hickok (2017), stars Luke Hemsworth as Hickok, Trace Adkins as the Bull's Head Saloon keeper Phil Coe, Kris Kristofferson as Abilene mayor George Knox, and Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau as John Wesley Hardin. In the Frederic Remington illustration of The Sentinel, is the mission San Xavier del Bac? 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. Three years after Jack McCall shot Hickok in the back as he was playing cards in Deadwood, South Dakota, an 1879 story in the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Daily Leader noted that the pistols were made expressly . Although McCall accepted the money, he was apparently insulted. Wikimedia Commons Advertisement 11. In real life, Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary) never met 'Doc' Holliday: she actually was in love and pursued 'Wild Bill' Hickock. A classmate later remembered the children teasing Jessie about her mother, throwing stones at her while shouting, Calamity Jane! He was born James Butler Hickok on 27 May 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. Wild Bill Hickok was born on May 27, 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. One of the workers, Joseph McLintock, wrote a detailed description of the reinterment. After the war Hickok continued his adventurous ways, at times just skirting the right side of the law. 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. Wild Bill had learned of the scheme and cornered Coe, had his two pistols drawn on Coe. His reputation as a gunfighter gave rise to legends and tales about his life. It was the last word on a true child of one of the wildest women of the west. 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. Did Old West houses have outhouses, and were public facilities available? In 1871 he took over as the marshal of the tough cow town of Abilene, Kansas. 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. In an instant, he pulled the triggers again sending two bullets into Coe's abdomen (Coe lived a day or two) and whirling with his two guns drawn on the drunken crowd of cowboys, "and now do any of you fellows want the rest of these bullets?" On March 5, 1876, he married Agnes Thatcher Lake, an owner of a circus in Cheyenne, Wyoming territory. Wild Bill Hickok begins to establish his reputation as a gunfighter after he shoots three men during a shootout in Nebraska. 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. [6] Since the event was outdoors, he could not compel people to pay, and the venture was a financial failure. [69] In 1979, Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. The new trial was held in Yankton, the capital of the Dakota Territory. After in inquest where other incidents of Hickoks brand of frontier justice was revealed, he was relieved of his duties. 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! . 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. [15] He grew a moustache following the McCanles incident, and in 1861 began calling himself "Wild Bill".[16][17]. The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok was a 1950s TV series starring Guy Madison and Andy Devine. [64], Hickok was playing five-card stud or five-card draw when he was shot. Bonhams auction company offered this pistol at auction on November 18, 2013, in San Francisco, California,[75] described as Hickok's Smith & Wesson No. In the melee, Hickok caught a glimpse of someone moving towards him and responded with two shots killing his deputy Mike Williams. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was suffering from glaucoma. 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. [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. His work included identifying and counting the number of troops in uniform who were drinking while on duty, verifying hotel liquor licenses, and tracking down individuals who owed money to the cash-strapped Union Army. 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. 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. [82], At the time of this affair I was at a station farther west and reached this station just as Wild Bill was getting ready to go to Beatrice for his trial. [52], In 1876, Hickok was diagnosed by a doctor in Kansas City, Missouri, with glaucoma and ophthalmia. McCall lost heavily. Were Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane married, and did they have a daughter? Hickok lost his re-election bid to his deputy. was advancing on him with a drawn pistol and that Tutt had previously made threats of personal injury to Deft. Updates? Burke she had enrolled Jessie in the school. and that Deft. He afterward resumed using his given name, James Hickok. Many people knew that Jane had a "crush" on Hickok but few, if any, knew that they were married. One story claimed he killed a bear with his bare hands and a bowie knife. According to their account, the shootout took place not inside the Wellmans cabin but inside the Rock Creek station itself, and Hickoks defense was far from single-handed. In any case, Hardin appeared to have thought highly of Hickok. What was the relationship between Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane? What do you know about Pete Spence, a member of the Cowboys of Tombstone? That winter, writer M.L. Around this time, young James Hickok began using his father's name of William - the 'Wild' part came later - and he also met Buffalo Bill Cody, then just a messenger boy on a wagon train. 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. 10 Black Pioneers in Aviation Who Broke Barriers, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Wild Bill Hickok, Birth Year: 1837, Birth date: May 27, 1837, Birth State: Illinois, Birth City: Troy Grove, Birth Country: United States. Several times he was arrested for vagrancy. Jesse James suffered from it. The event haunted Hickok for the rest of his life. Hickok and Brinks were charged with murder but found not guilty. McCall alleged that John Varnes, a Deadwood gambler, had paid him to murder Wild Bill. By Jan MacKell Collins. Born in Homer (later called Troy Grove), Illinois, James Butler Hickok . During the Civil War, he served as a wagon master, scout, detective, courier, and spy. [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. He was found not guilty by a miners court after telling judges that Hickok killed his brother, though later accounts showed McCall had no brothers. He is also remembered for the cards he was holding when he was shot dead a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights since known as the dead man's hand. He replaced Tom "Bear River" Smith, who had been killed while serving an arrest warrant on November 2, 1870. Calamity Jane never married Wild Bill Hickok. Hickok, just a stable-hand at the time, killed the three men, despite being severely injured. [citation needed], Buffalo Bill claimed that he encountered Hickok disguised as a Confederate officer in Missouri in 1864. 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. Calamity Jane never married Wild Bill . She said she was the daughter of Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, and was born in a cabin near Livingston, Montana in 1873. Playing cards with his back to the door, Hickok had no clue that he was about to be murdered. The couple had five children besides James Butler , three boys and two girls. But by January 1903 she was back with her mother once more, a fact verified by the Belle Fourche Bee in South Dakota. [59], The next day, Hickok was playing poker again. Di Certo is the author of ten books and composer of three albums of children's songs. McCormick had a lot of written proof too, which was largely believed by those who met her. For the next several years, Hickok worked as a stagecoach driver. 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.. For the next several years, various witnesses saw Jane, who towed Jessie around with her as she drank her way across the west. ", Hermon, Gregory (1987). 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. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation. McCall was brought to trial the next day. Calamity Jane was reported to have been buried next to Hickok according to her dying wish. . Not wasting a second, he quietly drew his revolver and shot Hickok in the back of the head, instantly killing him. 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. When a seat opened up at the table, a drunk man named Jack McCall sat down to play. I suggest you read Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend by James D. McLaird. Calamity Jane (1852-1903) was a well-known American frontierswoman and entertainment who was well-known for her marksmanship and acquaintance with Wild Bill Hickok. Hickok was of English ancestry. Was he shooting back? After his August 1876 murder, she further claimed that they had been married and that he was the father of her child. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He was famous on the Deadliest Catch for his hard work, knowledge of fishing, and quick-witted humor. [24], In late 1863, Hickok worked for the provost marshal of southwest Missouri as a member of the Springfield detective police. They traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota, together and were acquaintances, but there is no evidence of a romance (especially on his part). Later, after bragging of his murder of Hickok, McCall was retried in Laramie, Wyoming Territory, found guilty, and hanged on March 1, 1877. Nicholss version of the shootout in Harpers grabbed the publics attention, making Hickok an instant legend whose gunfighting prowess became fodder for dime novels. [33], In September 1865, Hickok came in second in the election for city marshal of Springfield. Hickok is known to have fatally shot six men and is suspected of having killed a seventh (McCanles). At Bridger, Montana, Jane moved in with a cowboy named Robert Dorsett. [citation needed] Although he was just 39, his marksmanship and health were apparently in decline, and he had been arrested several times for vagrancy,[53] despite earning a good income from gambling and displays of showmanship only a few years earlier. [67], After bragging about killing Hickok, McCall was rearrested. In 1860, Hickok was badly injured by a bear, while driving a freight team from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He died in 1887. He was sentenced to death on January 3, 1877 and on March 1, 1877 he was executed by hanging. Some said the two men fought over a card game, while others attributed the duel to competition for the attention of a woman named Susannah Moore. 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. "The Girl and the Gunfighter: A Newly Discovered Photograph of Wild Bill Hickok. In the episode Dillon and Hickok are old friends. [60] McCall then entered the saloon, walked up behind Hickok, drew his Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army .45-caliber revolver, and shouted, "Damn you! In the Clint Eastwood movie Hang em High, a tumbleweed wagon picks up prisoners to haul them off to jail. No other woman in the American west possesses a more enigmatic legacy than Martha Calamity Jane Canary. Jack McCall. In 1857, Hickok claimed a 160-acre (65ha) tract in Johnson County, Kansas, near present-day Lenexa. 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. Visit our corporate site. Wild Bill's brother, Oliver Cromwell Hickok married and fathered five children per: Search Results from User Submitted Genealogies (only as accurate as submitter). When they returned from overseas, Agnes and Bill Lake decided to start their own circus. While in Deadwood, South Dakota, Wild Bill Hickok became a regular poker player at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon. 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. They performed together until Bill was tragically murdered in 1869. "[citation needed]. They arrived in Topeka on April 2. The bear then grabbed his arm in its mouth, but Hickok was able to grab his knife and slash its throat, killing it. Not having the courage to do it himself, he one day filled about 200 cowboys with whiskey intending to get them into trouble with Wild Bill, hoping that they would get to shooting and in the melee shoot the marshal. before shooting Hickok in the back of the head at point-blank range. I heard him speak recently, and his is the definitive work on this wild woman of the West. In July 1865, "Wild Bill" Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in Springeld, MOthe rst quick-draw duel on the frontier. [40]:192, On July 17, 1870, Hickok was attacked by two troopers from the 7th U.S. Cavalry, Jeremiah Lonergan and John Kyle (sometimes spelled Kile),[42] in a saloon. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. What happened to Wild Bill Hickok's pistols? 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. There, again, he killed several men, including his deputy marshal, whose deaththe result of an accidental shootingled to Hickoks dismissal. If James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok had an eye disease, present-day experts believe that, like many others of his time, he may have suffered from trachoma. Her friends held a fundraiser for her and the benefit proved a howling successuntil Jane began treating her generous friends to drinks. 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. In court she presented the judge with a doctors certificate indicating she was in a rather delicate condition, an early euphemism for pregnant. [36][37], In December 1867, newspapers reported that Hickok had come to stay in Hays City, Kansas. Neither claim was true. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1984). https . [40]:196, In September 1869, his first month as sheriff, Hickok killed two men. At the time of the so-called McCanles Massacre, Hickok was known as Duck Bill because of his sweeping nose and protruding upper lip (covered with a mustache later in life). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. During the next several years he appeared in Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West Show, living off his fame as the consummate gunfighter. By the end of 1861, he was a wagon master, but in September 1862, he was discharged for unknown reasons. She was born in Missouri and spent most of her life on the country's western border. [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. (If said child had actually existed, he or she was said to . Jessie and Jane were back together when they arrived in Billings, Montana in 1898. The way Wild Bill conducted himself in his later years was a direct correlation for what he did when he was a young boy. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He told Clemmons (Hardin) to stay out of trouble in Abilene and asked him to hand over his guns, and Hardin complied. On September 4, Hickok was wounded in the foot while rescuing several cattlemen in the Bijou Creek basin who had been surrounded by Indians. [68], As I write the closing lines of this brief sketch, word reaches me that the slayer of Wild Bill has been rearrested by the United State [sic?] It was written by Michael Lanahan and directed by Timothy Woodward Jr. He was very famous as a lawman as he established law and order in some of the most notorious towns on the frontier. [29][30], Two days later, Hickok was arrested for murder. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wild-Bill-Hickok, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Wild Bill Hickok, Wild Bill Hickok - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up).