Hickok, Wild Bill

Hickok, Wild Bill, 1837–76, American frontier marshal, b. Troy Grove, near Ottawa, Ill. His real name was James Butler Hickok. He took part in the Kansas struggle preceeding the Civil War, was a driver of the Butterfield stage line, and gained fame as a gunfighter. He served as a Union scout in the Civil War. After the war he became deputy U.S. marshal at Fort Riley (1866), marshal of Hays, Kans. (1869), and marshal of Abilene (1871). His reputation as a marksman in desperate encounters with outlaws made him a figure of frontier legend. After a tour of the East with Buffalo Bill (1872–73), Hickok went to Deadwood (now in S.Dak.) where he was murdered by Jack McCall.

Bibliography

See biographies by R. O'Connor (1959) and J. G. Rosa (1964).

---

Hickok, Wild Bill

 orig. James Butler Hickok

Wild Bill Hickok.

(credit: Culver Pictures)

(born May 27, 1837, Troy Grove, Ill., U.S.—died Aug. 2, 1876, Deadwood, Dakota Territory) U.S. frontiersman. He left home in 1865 to farm in Kansas, where he became involved in the Free State (antislavery) movement. He later served as a constable in Monticello, Kan. While working as a stage driver in 1861, he shot and killed the outlaw Dave McCanles; legends of his marksmanship probably began in the exaggerated accounts of his role in this incident. He was a Union scout and a spy in the American Civil War (1861–65); after the war, he was appointed deputy U.S. marshal (1866–67). His ironhanded rule as sheriff of Hays City (1869–71) and as marshal of Abilene (1871) helped tame these Kansas towns. While seated at a poker table in a saloon, he was shot dead by a drunken stranger, Jack McCall.