I’ve been making things up about Wild Bill Hickok. He and Calamity Jane appear in the book I’m writing, in the margins, on the side, like an undercurrent.
But for real, today is Wild Bill Hickok’s birthday. He was born on May 27, 1837, which would have made him a Gemini on the Astrological scale of things. It is called the Twin Sign because it is said that Geminis have two personalities. They can talk to a brick wall and make friends, but they also know everything about everything. So they say.
At any rate, Wild Bill Hickok was born with a different name. He came to the world as James Butler Hickok in Homer, Illinois. His dad was William Alonzo Hickok, a farmer, and abolitionist. His mom was Polly Butler. I have an affinity for her, as my name is Polly, and I went to Butler University. I must be related.
Back to James. He was the fourth of six children. His father (William) used the family house as a station on the Underground Railroad. Good man. William Hickok died in 1852 when James was 15, cause unknown to me. Eventually, James would take his father’s name, which would transform into the name we all came to know. Wild Bill Hickok.
As a little boy, our James Hickok could really handle a gun. He was an outstanding marksman with a pistol. They say.
In 1855, he got into a fight with a fellow named Charles Hudson. In the skirmish, both of them fell into a deep canal. Each one — mistakenly — thought they had killed the other. So, to avoid the murder charge, James Hickok fled Illinois following that fight. He was 18 years old at the time.
In a lot of ways, starting out, he followed in his father’s convictions. Hickok moved to the Kansas Territory, where he joined Jim Lane’s Free State Army. This group was known as the Jayhawkers, and they were an antislavery vigilante group. All of this, smack dab in the era of Bleeding Kansas.
During the time he served as a Jayhawker, he met 12-year-old William Cody, who would one day become Buffalo Bill. Those two would be friends for years to come. Those little Jayhawkers. Hickok later appeared in many of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows as a main attraction. But he never enjoyed the spotlight. He only lasted a few months with the troupe.
His life was full of living on the edge. He took his father’s name, as mentioned, but it turned into William Haycock during the American Civil War. It could have resulted from a dialect and transcription error to start out with. But, most newspapers referred to him as William Haycock until 1869.
No matter, he became a folk hero of the West. And he wore a lot of hats along the way — a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor. But the biggest notch in his reputation came around his involvement in many famous gunfights. Or so he said.
He was a walking legend in his own time when it came to the gunfighting. But mostly, it was not so true. He fabricated and elaborated on a great number of these gunfighting stories. Remember, he had the gift of gab, that Geminis do. Today, many of these accounts are known to be fictitious, but people still tell the stories, which bolster much of his fame and reputation.
In reality, he was only in about six gunfights, over a ten-year period, from 1861 to 1871.
In the end, he would die by gunfire. In 1876, Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker. All of this happened at the Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, South Dakota (then a Territory).
A drunk man named Jack McCall was not so happy with Bill. So he walked into the saloon and shot Bill Hickok right in the face, killing him instantly. Not long before this all happened, Hickok told his friends who were traveling with them that he thought he would be killed while in Deadwood. The hand of cards which he held at the time of his death has become known as the Dead Man’s Hand: two pairs — black aces and black eights.
James Butler Hickok. And that is how it goes.
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“Stories don’t always have happy endings.”
― Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls
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“But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
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“Wild things have restless wings that too often need to fly.”
― Michael Xavier
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It may be wild, or it could be plain old Bill
