{Billy the Kid} {Doc Holliday} {John Wesley Hardin} {Jesse James}
James Butler "Wild
Bill" Hickok
He was born James Butler Hickok in Troy Grove
Ill. May 27, 1837. He was 18 years old when he left home and found himself in
the Nebraska Territory where he shot and killed three men in a gunfight. He was
a union scout during the Civil War but achieved fame when he became a U.S.
Marshall for Kansas, in 1866.
He was a drinker, a gambler, a gunfighter and a lawman. His weapon of choice
was the 1851 Colt Revolver.
He was lightning quick with his guns. Everyone knew him as the "Prince of
Pistoleers". His lightning speed however, became a liability when he
accidentally shot, and killed his own deputy. The folks of Abilene elected a
new Marshall shortly thereafter.
Wild Bill found himself in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota where he became a
heavy drinker, an opium addict and on top of all that he was losing the most
precious gift of a gunfighter.........his eyesight.
His life was cut short when he was shot in the back of the head while playing
poker. On Aug 2, 1876 in the #10 saloon he was shot from behind by a local
derelict, Jack McCall. Wild Bill died with the
winning poker hand. He held a full house, aces over eights, better known as
the....
Dead Mans Hand