July 25, 2024 • 30 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Old West legend “Wild” Bill Hickok—his name conjures up an image of an out-of-control gunslinger. What’s the truth? Here to tell the story of “Wild” Bill is Roger McGrath.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue here with our American Stories wild Bill Hiccock.
His name conjures up an image of an out of
controlled gunslinger. Here to tell the real story of wild
Bill is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Hooman and Vigilantes.
He's a US marine and former history professor at UCLA,
(00:31):
and he's appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries. He's also
a regular contributor for US here at Our American Stories,
Take it Away, McGrath.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Will Bill Hiccock was a gunfighter and lawman of legendary
proportions in the Old West, who also served as a
scout for the US Army during the Civil War and
later during the Indian Wars. Nearly everything he did in
his adult life commanded it, even the hand of cards
he was holding when shot to death in a dead
(01:05):
Wood saloon in the eighteen seventies. No Western figure was
better known. He's the subject of hundreds of articles and books.
A half dozen movies have been made about his life,
most notably The Plainsman starring Gary Cooper and recently Wild
(01:26):
Bill starring Jeff Bridges. There was also a television series,
The Adventures of wild Bill Hiccock, which ran for eight
seasons and starred Guy Madison. Wild Bill Hiccock is born
James Butler Hiccock in eighteen thirty seven in the Homer, Illinois,
a small town eighty miles west of Chicago. The town
(01:49):
later changes its name to try Grove. James's god fearing
Christian parents are abolitionists who risk their lives by turning
their home into a station for slaves along the underground railroad.
Is during this time that the lean and wiry young
man gets his first taste of a hostile gunfire, when
(02:12):
he and his father are chased by law officers who
suspect them of carrying more than just hey in their wagon.
A danger of freeing slaves makes a last impression on
young James, giving him a fearlessness that begins to define
him as a man. James helps the family, which also
(02:34):
includes three older brothers and two younger sisters, more by
his hunting than by his laboring on the farm. From
a young age, James is fond of guns, and through
natural talent and regular practice, becomes a crack shot. He
also develops the ability to shoot a handgun equally well
with either hand. James is a voracious reader, and consumes
(02:58):
everything he can about America's fiercely independent frontier heroes, especially
Daniel Boone and Kit Carson James Butler. Hitcock heads west
himself to Kansas Territory in eighteen fifty six. Kansas is
a battleground between settlers from Illinois and other northern states
(03:20):
who want to prohibit slavery there, and Southerners, mostly from
Missouri and Arkansas, who want to establish slavery in the
new territory. Hiccock continues as abolitionist ways joins Jim Lane's
Free State Army to battle with the Free Staters called
the Border Ruffians, who have crossed into Kansas from Missouri
(03:41):
to attack anti slavery settlers. Kansas becomes Bleeding in Kansas,
a prelude to this civil war. In eighteen fifty eight,
Hitcock is elected constable of the town of Monticello in
the northeastern corner of Kansas. Hiccock is now twenty one
years old and is described as six foot one and
(04:03):
underneighty bounds, with all burned hair and blue gray eyes.
For his size, he has small, almost delicate hands. He
has great dexterity and can draw a handgun and manipulate
its hammer and trigger with precision and quickness that astonish witnesses.
He serves as constable for a year and then goes
(04:24):
to work driving freight wagons and stage coaches for the
famous firm of Russell's, Majors and Waddell, the founders of
the Pony Express. In July eighteen sixty one, twenty four
year old Hiccock is at the Rock Creek Station, a
tiny stop on the Pony Express, when David McCandless comes
to the station to collect a debt from the company.
(04:48):
McCanless calls on the station manager, Horace Wellman, to come
out with the money. McCandless, who nicknames Hiccock duck Bill, says,
if Hiccock is boarding Willman, he will come inside and
drag them boothout. Here's Old West historians Paul Lutton and
Marshall Tremble.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
The station was owned by a tough local character who
had Southern sympathies by the name of David McCandless, and
the Pony Express company hadn't been paying their in mc
candles was always coming around and harassing.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
The people at the station, so there was animosity between
David mccantless, and while Bill Hiccock and mccantless was a bully.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Hickock's distaste for bullys began with his participation in the
Underground Railroad and continues with a chance encounter in eighteen
fifty seven with an eleven year old boy named Bill Cody,
who history will remember as Buffalo Bill. Cody first meets
Hiccock in a driving trip to Salt Lake City when
(05:52):
Cody is an extra hand for Russell Meejor's and Waddell
and Hitcock is a teamster. During the trip, one of
the other teamsters beat rates and bullies the young Cody
until the boy retaliates by throwing a pot of hot
coffee into the teamster's face. A teamster reacts instantly. Cody
(06:12):
describes what happens next in his autobiography. He sprang for
me with the ferocity of a tiger, and would undoubtedly
have torn me to pieces had it not been for
the timely interference of my newfound friend, Wild Bill, who
knocked the man down. As soon as he recovered himself,
he demanded a wild Bill, what business it was of
(06:35):
his that he should put in his oar. It's my
business protect that boy or anybody else from being unmercifully abused, kicked,
and cuffed. And I'll whip any man who tries it on,
said wild Bill. And if you ever again lay a
hand on that boy, little Billy there, I'll give you
(06:57):
such a pounding that you won't get over it for
a month of Sundays. From that time forward, wild Bill
was my protector and intimate friend, and the friendship thus
begun continued until his death. Here's criminal justice Professor Arnett Gaston.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Hiccock's sense of justice, greatly influenced by his parents.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Caused him to get into situations where he should always
stand up for right. He was a defender of the downtrodden.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
He was a defender of those who couldn't defend himself,
and all this added to his order.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Originally from the mountains of North Carolina. McCanless is large
and powerful, and some weeks earlier and easily thrown Hiccock
to the ground and what was described as a friendly
wrestling match, Hiccock doesn't give McCandless a chance to do
so again. As McCandless steps through the station's doorway, Hickock
fires a rifle, a bullet pierces McCandless's heart, and he
(07:59):
has blown back backwards, falling to the ground dead two
members of the McCanless gang. They now run to the
station ors Wellman shoots Woods and Woods staggers back and
falls to the ground. Wellman's wife runs outside and finishes
off Woods by hacking him with a home Hiccock shoots Gordon,
(08:22):
but he somehow runs to a nearby creek. Hitcock and
several station employees track him down and shoot him to
death with a shotgun. Six years later, a fanciful article
appears in Harper's magazine describing how Hitcock single handedly fought
and defeated David Mcanalison his ten man gang of border Ruffians.
(08:45):
He becomes a national hero overnight. Here's Old West historian
Marcus Huff Harper's.
Speaker 6 (08:54):
Weekly was essentially the Internet of the West. I mean
everyone ready, it was everywhere, and it was the news
to not only have a story about yourself and there
the illustrations. It was fantastic for Hiccock professionally.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and some other
noted historians telling the story of wild Bill Hiccock, how
he got the name Bill from James, but most importantly,
an early childhood experience with danger, the right kind of danger,
the heroic kind that may have been indeed the single
thing that explains who Wild Bill was. His parents well,
(09:39):
they were using their home as an escape portal and
part of the underground railroad. More of the story of
wild Bill Hiccock here on our American stories, and we
(10:09):
continue with our American stories and the story of wild
Bill Hiccock Here to continue with the tale is Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Hickock leaves the Rock Creek station two weeks after the
shooting and travels to Fort Leavenworth to continue the family
tradition of fighting against slavery and volunteers a scout in
the Union Army. It's at this time that Hiccock develops
his signature cavalry style reverse draw or twist draw that
(10:40):
will make him famous. Hickock next leads a Union wagon
train from Fort Levenworth, Kansas, to Sedalia, Missouri. Confederate guerrillas
attack the wagon train and Hiccock barely escapes being captured.
It's about this time he earns his nickname wild Bill.
Legend says he stops a bartender from being lynched after
(11:02):
a saloon brawl in Independence, Missouri. A woman in the
crowd applauses action and yells, good for you, Wild Mill.
Here's Old West's historian Chris ends Bill Hiccock.
Speaker 7 (11:17):
Was so pretty it hurts. He was very compassionate man.
He was a decent man. His eyes would reflect that compassion.
But if you ever challenged him, he could stare down
a rattle snake.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Hiccock curious dispatches through every fire for the Union forces
during the Battle of Peerage in Arkansas in eighteen sixty two.
The Union victory there ensures Missouri will remain in the Union.
In April eighteen sixty five, after four years, with over
six hundred and twenty thousand killed and nearly a million
(11:53):
more wounded, captured, or missing, Hiccock tries his luck as
a gambler Missouri. Kickcock finds himself losing heavily in a
poker game to Davis Tutt, a former Confederate soldier turned
professional gambler who's commonly known as Dave Kitcock gives Tut
a valuable watch as collateral for his gambling debts. Here's
(12:15):
Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
He warns Todd he does not want to see him
walking around with that watch. So what does Tot do
The next day?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
He walks around with the watch.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
What happens next has been the basis for countless legends
about Old West gunfights.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Tut appears on one side of Springfield's town square, Hitcock
on the other. What follows will later be made iconic
by countless dime novels, radio and television dramas such as Gunsmoke,
and Western films such as High Noon. At a distance
of about seventy five yards, Hickcock stops and calls out,
(12:55):
Dave here, I am. They draw their guns and fire
simon ultaneously. Hiccock's round drills Tut in the heart. Tut
calls out, boys, I'm killed, and drops to the ground dead.
(13:20):
When newspapers publish reports of the shootout, it's the first
time the name wild Bill is used in print. Hitcock's
legend as a gunfighter in skyrockets. After a coroner's jury
declares that Dave Tutt had died at the hands of
James Butler, Hiccock wild Bill is arrested on a charge
(13:41):
of manslaughter. He posts bail and pleads not guilty at
an initial court hearing. In the trial, Hiccock's attorney argues
self defense. The prosecutor argues Hitcock could have avoided the fight.
The jury is out only ten minutes. I return earns
a verdict of not guilty. In eighteen sixty six, Hickock
(14:05):
is summoned to Fort Riley, Kansas by a Civil War friend,
Captain R. B. Owen, who recommends Hickock for an appointment
as a US Deputy Marshal. Hiccock becomes a Deputy Marshal
and spends a year hunting horse thieves, counterfeiters, deserters, and
other such miscreants. He also does some duty as an
army scout, as while Hitcock is at Fort Riley that
(14:28):
he reconnects with William Cody, soon to be known as
Buffalo Bill. Cody is serving as a government detective and
army scout. On January first, eighteen sixty seven, Hiccock begins
scouting in the frontier for one of the finest cavalry
commanders of the Civil War, the boy General of the
(14:48):
Michigan Volunteers, George Custer. Custer is now a lieutenant colonel
in the Regulars and commander of the famous seventh cavalry.
Custer calls Hiccock his best scot out and says he
is the consummate plainsman. Guster's wife, the fetching Libby Custer
later said of Hitcock physically, he was a delight to
(15:11):
look upon, tall, life and free in every motion. He
rode and walked as if every muscle was perfection, and
the careless swing of his body as he moved seemed
perfectly in keeping with the man, the country, and the
time in which he lived. Hiccock can ride trail and track,
and he's not only a crack shot, but also extraordinary
(15:33):
with handguns. He practices with his guns whenever possible, and
he disassembles and cleans them daily. He can hit several
objects thrown in the air at the same time, firing
with a gun in each hand. But it's one thing
to shoot at targets. It's another thing to shoot at
(15:54):
a man who's trying to kill you. In the face
of fire. Hiccock is not only one of the fast,
but one of the most deadly accurate shootests who have
ever lived. In July eighteen sixty seven appears the first
dime novel about Hitcock, Wild Bill, the Indian slayer. There's
(16:14):
some truth in this, because as a scout he fights
and kills Indians and will continue to do so through
eighteen sixty eight and well into eighteen sixty nine. He
has several close calls. In one fight, a Cheyenne warrior
drives Alliance into Hiccock's thigh. But fame often has a
lot of sharp edges and has to be handled carefully.
(16:34):
There's always the threat of some lowlife trying to earn
his spurs. In August eighteen sixty nine, Hiccock is elected
sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. The county's largest town is
Hayes City, a wild and wooly railroad stop full of
buffalo hunters and teamsters and soldiers from nearby Fort Hays.
One writer referred to it as the sodom of the
(16:57):
plains here, Marcus Huff and historian David Eisenbach.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
Hey City was a hotbed of youthful indiscretion. It was
a cattle town railhead, yet a lot of guys coming
there to spend their money.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
It was fairly lawless until Hitcock came around.
Speaker 8 (17:21):
Once you acquire this international fame, which he did, of
being the cricket shot. You know in the West, you're
going to get some jerk who wants to make a
name for himself by taking you down.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
He is sheriff only a few days when he confronts
hill raiser Bill Mulvey, who's drunk, weaving his gun about
and challenging others to fight. Hickock shoots him to death.
A month later, Kitcock puts two bullets into the head
of Sam Strawn under similar circumstances. Hickock's quick to shoot
(17:56):
policy loses him our re election bid. In November eighteen
sixty nine, Hickock remains in Hayes City, again trying his
luck as a gambler, is drinking in one of the
saloons when two troopers of Custer's seventh Cavalry suddenly accosts
the legendary gunslinger. In the ensuing struggle, one of the
(18:20):
troopers presses a gun to Hitcock's ear and pulls the trigger,
but the Remington forty four fails to fire. Hickcock's Colt
Navy thirty eight does fire, and the soldier is mortally wounded.
Hickcock wounds the second soldier with a shot to the knee.
Hiccock then springs to his feet and smashes through a
(18:42):
window and into the night, never again to appear in
Hayes City.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story
of wild Bill Hitcock. And just as Hickock would do,
he ends up in Bloody Kansas. And of course this
is where the struggle and the fight over slaves he
reaches its apex. And this is just years before the
Civil War, where Hitcock ably serves. And then of course
what to do after the war. And there he is
(19:10):
back as a constable, and he earns this reputation as
one of the fastest and most accurate guns in the West.
But a lot of punks McGrath noted, want to challenge
him when we come back more of the story of
wild Bill Hiccock here on our American Stories. And we
(19:38):
continue here with our American stories and the story of
wild Bill Hiccock. Let's pick up where we last left
off with Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
In April eighteen seventy one, Hitcock becomes City Marshal of Abilene, Kansas.
Abilen is the first of famous Kansas cattle towns. Here's
Paul Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Ebiline had a reputation as being the roughest of all
the cattle towns. Who was end of trail for the
herds coming north from Texas. Everyone's fueled on alcohol, of course,
and somebody has to keep the feasts, and that's while
Bill Hiccock.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
So this is an interesting moment in American history where
a burgeoning society recognizes that it needs to remove the
unsavory elements.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
But how do you do that?
Speaker 5 (20:32):
Well, you need to find someone who has one foot
in both wounds, who can travel in both circles.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Most of the cowboys you drive the herds from Texas
to the Abilene railhead are Confederate veterans or the sons
of Confederate veterans. After months on the trail and with
a payoff in their pockets, they intend to have fun.
Union veteran Hiccock is at odds with them. It's a
highly volatile situation with great potential for violence. Confederate veteran
(21:04):
and Texan Phil Coe is a giant of a man
for his era, six foot four and two hundred and
twenty five pounds. He has problems with Hiccock from the
day he arrives in Appley, mostly over the way he
co operates his saloon, The bulls Head Tavern go had
upset the town with a saloon advertisement painted on the
(21:27):
side of the building. A drying up a bull with
a massive erect fallis while Bill painted over it and
Coe swore revenge. Problems further escalate when Hitcock and Co
begin to court the same woman. On an October night
in eighteen seventy one, coh and several of his Texas
(21:49):
friends are drinking in the Alamos Saloon. Their rivalry spells
into the street and Co draws his gun and fires
into the air. Sound of the on fire brings Hiccock
on the run, and he demands to know who fired
the shot. Co says he fired at a stray dog
who tried to bite him. Just straight, h I don't
(22:13):
care what you're shooting at. Bill. A law says, no
guns in town. Hiccock demands Coe's gun. Co either hesitates
to comply or refuses, depending on the witness, and Hiccock
immediately draws both pistols and fires. Coe is hit in
the stomach and collapses. A second later, Hiccock catches movement
(22:36):
out of the corner of his eye and spins and
fires twice more, the bullets tearing to Mike Williams, Hiccock's
own deputy, who is rushing to Hitcock's aid. Williams dies
on the spot. The death haunts Hiccock for the rest
of his life. Meanwhile, Co in terrible pain, struggles for
(22:57):
several days and dies two months later. Abilene's city council
relieves Hiccock of his duties, and he again returns to gambling.
Hiccock drifts across the West for the better part of
a year. It said he drinks too much and wins
too little. It's a here. Buffalo Bill finds him in
(23:20):
September eighteen seventy three. Buffalo Bill hirres his old friend
to perform and Cody's theatrical productions Scouts of the Planes
and Buffalo Bill, King of the border Men. Hiccock is
well paid, but he hates appearing on stage and often
stammers or forgets his lines. He's embarrassed by the histrionic
(23:42):
melodrama and false heroics. He is a man of action,
not words. He quits in March eighteen seventy four. Back
to the High Planes goes Hitcock. He spends much of
his time in the railroad down to shy and Wyoming,
and it's here in February eighteen seventy six. Then he
marries Agnes Lake Hickcock. Honeymoon's with Agnes in her hometown
(24:06):
at Cincinnati, but he then heads west the newest mining
moondown Deadwood, in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. Two
years earlier, it was General Custer on a special expedition
who discovered gold in the Black Hills. Hiccock arrives in
Deadwood in July eighteen seventy six and bumps into many
(24:28):
of his old friends. Mining's not for him, though, and
he spends most of his time gambling in saloons.
Speaker 7 (24:37):
I don't think you could have found any place more
vile than Deadwood, South Dakota. It just was a place
that had no law. He had people stealing from one another,
He had people jumping one another. There are people that
are being killed in a very violent way who had
(24:59):
all of this going on on. And in this scene
you find Wilbo Hitcock.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
You're called shortly after noon on August second, eighteen seventy six,
as America is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary Kitcock strolls
into the number ten saloon and joins a poker game
in progress. Hiccock asks Charles Rich, who is seated in
(25:26):
a chair against the wall, to exchange seats with him.
Rich only laughs and tells wild Bill not to worry,
nobody is gunning for him. A few minutes later, Hiccock
repeats the request, and this time all the poker players,
Carl Mann, William Massey, and Charles Rich begin ribbing Hitcock
(25:46):
for his excessive caution. A drifter named Jack McCall enters
a saloon. He draws no attention. It'd been in the
number ten only the night before, losing all money had
on him in a card game to Hitcock and others.
Hit some rash, take it easy.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Here, have some breakfast on me.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Here again is Marshall, Tremble and Chris Ens.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
McCall's offended that Hitcock has given him money to go
and get something neat and calm down, but McCall isn't
having any of it.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Man will Bill, Hiccock and Jack McCall were gambling one night.
He was a drifter, the ne'er do well loser. The
guy's got a chip on his shoulder of some kind.
Speaker 7 (26:33):
McCall is just a punk looking for a way to
start a fight with wild Bill Hiccock, and that's precisely
what he does.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Now. McCall moves along the bar until he's behind Hitcock. Well,
Bill's attention is on Massie, a former steamboat captain on
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Hitcock is losing heavily to Massi,
and Hitcock remarks, the old duffer, he broke me on
the hand. Those are Hiccock's last words. There's the explosion
(27:07):
of a revolver and McCall yells, damn you take good Jack.
McCall is drunk.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
He's somebody who's looking for a way of fast fame.
McCall comes in and before Hiccock knows it, takes his
gun and shoots him in the back of the hat.
Hiccock face down on the table and he's dead.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
After Hiccock dies with aces and eights in his hand,
that hand becomes a powerful symbol in Western literature and
film that writers and filmmakers use to signal that death
is at hand.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Thirty nine year old Hiccock out lives his close friend
George Custer by less than two months. Custer had earlier
fallen hit the Battle of the Little Born. Captain Jack
Crawford recalls of his friend Hiccock he was loyal in
his friendship, generous to a fault, and invariably espoused the
(28:11):
cause of the weaker against the stronger in a quarrel.
Pickcock is buried in Deadwood's cemetery with the inscription wild
Bill killed by the assassin Jack McCall. McCall is tried
in Deadwood's Miner's Court. A surprising number of character witnesses
(28:31):
up here in behalf of McCall, saying he's a quiet,
peaceable man that Hitcock had earlier threatened to kill. Hiccock
has called one of the premier gunfighters at the frontier,
who is quick to shoot without giving an opponent a chance.
The jury finds the defendant not guilty. TheCall leaves for
(28:55):
Cheyenne in Laramie City, he doesn't go far enough. The
first is declared not binding because Deadwood is technically on
the Sioux Reservation and the Deadwoods Miners Court and its
proceedings are therefore extra legal. McCall is arrested again, and
(29:15):
this time tried in Yankedon to go to territory. This
time he's found guilty of murder and hanged. McCall becomes
a footnote in history, wild Bill becomes a legend.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
And a terrific job on the production. Editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to
Roger McGrath. He's the author of Gunfighters, Holiman and Vigilantes
Violence on the Frontier. He has appeared on numerous History
Channel documentaries. He's a regular contributor for us here at
Our American Stories and what a story, what a life
lived by wild Bill, And my goodness, I'd love to
(29:57):
see his resume stop here or stop there, Always anger,
always defending the indefensible, and wild Bill Well he becomes
a legend and was a legend. The story of wild
Bill Hiccock here on Our American Stories
And we continue here with our American Stories wild Bill Hiccock.
His name conjures up an image of an out of
controlled gunslinger. Here to tell the real story of wild
Bill is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Hooman and Vigilantes.
He's a US marine and former history professor at UCLA,
(00:31):
and he's appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries. He's also
a regular contributor for US here at Our American Stories,
Take it Away, McGrath.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Will Bill Hiccock was a gunfighter and lawman of legendary
proportions in the Old West, who also served as a
scout for the US Army during the Civil War and
later during the Indian Wars. Nearly everything he did in
his adult life commanded it, even the hand of cards
he was holding when shot to death in a dead
(01:05):
Wood saloon in the eighteen seventies. No Western figure was
better known. He's the subject of hundreds of articles and books.
A half dozen movies have been made about his life,
most notably The Plainsman starring Gary Cooper and recently Wild
(01:26):
Bill starring Jeff Bridges. There was also a television series,
The Adventures of wild Bill Hiccock, which ran for eight
seasons and starred Guy Madison. Wild Bill Hiccock is born
James Butler Hiccock in eighteen thirty seven in the Homer, Illinois,
a small town eighty miles west of Chicago. The town
(01:49):
later changes its name to try Grove. James's god fearing
Christian parents are abolitionists who risk their lives by turning
their home into a station for slaves along the underground railroad.
Is during this time that the lean and wiry young
man gets his first taste of a hostile gunfire, when
(02:12):
he and his father are chased by law officers who
suspect them of carrying more than just hey in their wagon.
A danger of freeing slaves makes a last impression on
young James, giving him a fearlessness that begins to define
him as a man. James helps the family, which also
(02:34):
includes three older brothers and two younger sisters, more by
his hunting than by his laboring on the farm. From
a young age, James is fond of guns, and through
natural talent and regular practice, becomes a crack shot. He
also develops the ability to shoot a handgun equally well
with either hand. James is a voracious reader, and consumes
(02:58):
everything he can about America's fiercely independent frontier heroes, especially
Daniel Boone and Kit Carson James Butler. Hitcock heads west
himself to Kansas Territory in eighteen fifty six. Kansas is
a battleground between settlers from Illinois and other northern states
(03:20):
who want to prohibit slavery there, and Southerners, mostly from
Missouri and Arkansas, who want to establish slavery in the
new territory. Hiccock continues as abolitionist ways joins Jim Lane's
Free State Army to battle with the Free Staters called
the Border Ruffians, who have crossed into Kansas from Missouri
(03:41):
to attack anti slavery settlers. Kansas becomes Bleeding in Kansas,
a prelude to this civil war. In eighteen fifty eight,
Hitcock is elected constable of the town of Monticello in
the northeastern corner of Kansas. Hiccock is now twenty one
years old and is described as six foot one and
(04:03):
underneighty bounds, with all burned hair and blue gray eyes.
For his size, he has small, almost delicate hands. He
has great dexterity and can draw a handgun and manipulate
its hammer and trigger with precision and quickness that astonish witnesses.
He serves as constable for a year and then goes
(04:24):
to work driving freight wagons and stage coaches for the
famous firm of Russell's, Majors and Waddell, the founders of
the Pony Express. In July eighteen sixty one, twenty four
year old Hiccock is at the Rock Creek Station, a
tiny stop on the Pony Express, when David McCandless comes
to the station to collect a debt from the company.
(04:48):
McCanless calls on the station manager, Horace Wellman, to come
out with the money. McCandless, who nicknames Hiccock duck Bill, says,
if Hiccock is boarding Willman, he will come inside and
drag them boothout. Here's Old West historians Paul Lutton and
Marshall Tremble.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
The station was owned by a tough local character who
had Southern sympathies by the name of David McCandless, and
the Pony Express company hadn't been paying their in mc
candles was always coming around and harassing.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
The people at the station, so there was animosity between
David mccantless, and while Bill Hiccock and mccantless was a bully.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Hickock's distaste for bullys began with his participation in the
Underground Railroad and continues with a chance encounter in eighteen
fifty seven with an eleven year old boy named Bill Cody,
who history will remember as Buffalo Bill. Cody first meets
Hiccock in a driving trip to Salt Lake City when
(05:52):
Cody is an extra hand for Russell Meejor's and Waddell
and Hitcock is a teamster. During the trip, one of
the other teamsters beat rates and bullies the young Cody
until the boy retaliates by throwing a pot of hot
coffee into the teamster's face. A teamster reacts instantly. Cody
(06:12):
describes what happens next in his autobiography. He sprang for
me with the ferocity of a tiger, and would undoubtedly
have torn me to pieces had it not been for
the timely interference of my newfound friend, Wild Bill, who
knocked the man down. As soon as he recovered himself,
he demanded a wild Bill, what business it was of
(06:35):
his that he should put in his oar. It's my
business protect that boy or anybody else from being unmercifully abused, kicked,
and cuffed. And I'll whip any man who tries it on,
said wild Bill. And if you ever again lay a
hand on that boy, little Billy there, I'll give you
(06:57):
such a pounding that you won't get over it for
a month of Sundays. From that time forward, wild Bill
was my protector and intimate friend, and the friendship thus
begun continued until his death. Here's criminal justice Professor Arnett Gaston.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Hiccock's sense of justice, greatly influenced by his parents.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Caused him to get into situations where he should always
stand up for right. He was a defender of the downtrodden.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
He was a defender of those who couldn't defend himself,
and all this added to his order.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Originally from the mountains of North Carolina. McCanless is large
and powerful, and some weeks earlier and easily thrown Hiccock
to the ground and what was described as a friendly
wrestling match, Hiccock doesn't give McCandless a chance to do
so again. As McCandless steps through the station's doorway, Hickock
fires a rifle, a bullet pierces McCandless's heart, and he
(07:59):
has blown back backwards, falling to the ground dead two
members of the McCanless gang. They now run to the
station ors Wellman shoots Woods and Woods staggers back and
falls to the ground. Wellman's wife runs outside and finishes
off Woods by hacking him with a home Hiccock shoots Gordon,
(08:22):
but he somehow runs to a nearby creek. Hitcock and
several station employees track him down and shoot him to
death with a shotgun. Six years later, a fanciful article
appears in Harper's magazine describing how Hitcock single handedly fought
and defeated David Mcanalison his ten man gang of border Ruffians.
(08:45):
He becomes a national hero overnight. Here's Old West historian
Marcus Huff Harper's.
Speaker 6 (08:54):
Weekly was essentially the Internet of the West. I mean
everyone ready, it was everywhere, and it was the news
to not only have a story about yourself and there
the illustrations. It was fantastic for Hiccock professionally.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and some other
noted historians telling the story of wild Bill Hiccock, how
he got the name Bill from James, but most importantly,
an early childhood experience with danger, the right kind of danger,
the heroic kind that may have been indeed the single
thing that explains who Wild Bill was. His parents well,
(09:39):
they were using their home as an escape portal and
part of the underground railroad. More of the story of
wild Bill Hiccock here on our American stories, and we
(10:09):
continue with our American stories and the story of wild
Bill Hiccock Here to continue with the tale is Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Hickock leaves the Rock Creek station two weeks after the
shooting and travels to Fort Leavenworth to continue the family
tradition of fighting against slavery and volunteers a scout in
the Union Army. It's at this time that Hiccock develops
his signature cavalry style reverse draw or twist draw that
(10:40):
will make him famous. Hickock next leads a Union wagon
train from Fort Levenworth, Kansas, to Sedalia, Missouri. Confederate guerrillas
attack the wagon train and Hiccock barely escapes being captured.
It's about this time he earns his nickname wild Bill.
Legend says he stops a bartender from being lynched after
(11:02):
a saloon brawl in Independence, Missouri. A woman in the
crowd applauses action and yells, good for you, Wild Mill.
Here's Old West's historian Chris ends Bill Hiccock.
Speaker 7 (11:17):
Was so pretty it hurts. He was very compassionate man.
He was a decent man. His eyes would reflect that compassion.
But if you ever challenged him, he could stare down
a rattle snake.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Hiccock curious dispatches through every fire for the Union forces
during the Battle of Peerage in Arkansas in eighteen sixty two.
The Union victory there ensures Missouri will remain in the Union.
In April eighteen sixty five, after four years, with over
six hundred and twenty thousand killed and nearly a million
(11:53):
more wounded, captured, or missing, Hiccock tries his luck as
a gambler Missouri. Kickcock finds himself losing heavily in a
poker game to Davis Tutt, a former Confederate soldier turned
professional gambler who's commonly known as Dave Kitcock gives Tut
a valuable watch as collateral for his gambling debts. Here's
(12:15):
Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
He warns Todd he does not want to see him
walking around with that watch. So what does Tot do
The next day?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
He walks around with the watch.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
What happens next has been the basis for countless legends
about Old West gunfights.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Tut appears on one side of Springfield's town square, Hitcock
on the other. What follows will later be made iconic
by countless dime novels, radio and television dramas such as Gunsmoke,
and Western films such as High Noon. At a distance
of about seventy five yards, Hickcock stops and calls out,
(12:55):
Dave here, I am. They draw their guns and fire
simon ultaneously. Hiccock's round drills Tut in the heart. Tut
calls out, boys, I'm killed, and drops to the ground dead.
(13:20):
When newspapers publish reports of the shootout, it's the first
time the name wild Bill is used in print. Hitcock's
legend as a gunfighter in skyrockets. After a coroner's jury
declares that Dave Tutt had died at the hands of
James Butler, Hiccock wild Bill is arrested on a charge
(13:41):
of manslaughter. He posts bail and pleads not guilty at
an initial court hearing. In the trial, Hiccock's attorney argues
self defense. The prosecutor argues Hitcock could have avoided the fight.
The jury is out only ten minutes. I return earns
a verdict of not guilty. In eighteen sixty six, Hickock
(14:05):
is summoned to Fort Riley, Kansas by a Civil War friend,
Captain R. B. Owen, who recommends Hickock for an appointment
as a US Deputy Marshal. Hiccock becomes a Deputy Marshal
and spends a year hunting horse thieves, counterfeiters, deserters, and
other such miscreants. He also does some duty as an
army scout, as while Hitcock is at Fort Riley that
(14:28):
he reconnects with William Cody, soon to be known as
Buffalo Bill. Cody is serving as a government detective and
army scout. On January first, eighteen sixty seven, Hiccock begins
scouting in the frontier for one of the finest cavalry
commanders of the Civil War, the boy General of the
(14:48):
Michigan Volunteers, George Custer. Custer is now a lieutenant colonel
in the Regulars and commander of the famous seventh cavalry.
Custer calls Hiccock his best scot out and says he
is the consummate plainsman. Guster's wife, the fetching Libby Custer
later said of Hitcock physically, he was a delight to
(15:11):
look upon, tall, life and free in every motion. He
rode and walked as if every muscle was perfection, and
the careless swing of his body as he moved seemed
perfectly in keeping with the man, the country, and the
time in which he lived. Hiccock can ride trail and track,
and he's not only a crack shot, but also extraordinary
(15:33):
with handguns. He practices with his guns whenever possible, and
he disassembles and cleans them daily. He can hit several
objects thrown in the air at the same time, firing
with a gun in each hand. But it's one thing
to shoot at targets. It's another thing to shoot at
(15:54):
a man who's trying to kill you. In the face
of fire. Hiccock is not only one of the fast,
but one of the most deadly accurate shootests who have
ever lived. In July eighteen sixty seven appears the first
dime novel about Hitcock, Wild Bill, the Indian slayer. There's
(16:14):
some truth in this, because as a scout he fights
and kills Indians and will continue to do so through
eighteen sixty eight and well into eighteen sixty nine. He
has several close calls. In one fight, a Cheyenne warrior
drives Alliance into Hiccock's thigh. But fame often has a
lot of sharp edges and has to be handled carefully.
(16:34):
There's always the threat of some lowlife trying to earn
his spurs. In August eighteen sixty nine, Hiccock is elected
sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. The county's largest town is
Hayes City, a wild and wooly railroad stop full of
buffalo hunters and teamsters and soldiers from nearby Fort Hays.
One writer referred to it as the sodom of the
(16:57):
plains here, Marcus Huff and historian David Eisenbach.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
Hey City was a hotbed of youthful indiscretion. It was
a cattle town railhead, yet a lot of guys coming
there to spend their money.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
It was fairly lawless until Hitcock came around.
Speaker 8 (17:21):
Once you acquire this international fame, which he did, of
being the cricket shot. You know in the West, you're
going to get some jerk who wants to make a
name for himself by taking you down.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
He is sheriff only a few days when he confronts
hill raiser Bill Mulvey, who's drunk, weaving his gun about
and challenging others to fight. Hickock shoots him to death.
A month later, Kitcock puts two bullets into the head
of Sam Strawn under similar circumstances. Hickock's quick to shoot
(17:56):
policy loses him our re election bid. In November eighteen
sixty nine, Hickock remains in Hayes City, again trying his
luck as a gambler, is drinking in one of the
saloons when two troopers of Custer's seventh Cavalry suddenly accosts
the legendary gunslinger. In the ensuing struggle, one of the
(18:20):
troopers presses a gun to Hitcock's ear and pulls the trigger,
but the Remington forty four fails to fire. Hickcock's Colt
Navy thirty eight does fire, and the soldier is mortally wounded.
Hickcock wounds the second soldier with a shot to the knee.
Hiccock then springs to his feet and smashes through a
(18:42):
window and into the night, never again to appear in
Hayes City.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story
of wild Bill Hitcock. And just as Hickock would do,
he ends up in Bloody Kansas. And of course this
is where the struggle and the fight over slaves he
reaches its apex. And this is just years before the
Civil War, where Hitcock ably serves. And then of course
what to do after the war. And there he is
(19:10):
back as a constable, and he earns this reputation as
one of the fastest and most accurate guns in the West.
But a lot of punks McGrath noted, want to challenge
him when we come back more of the story of
wild Bill Hiccock here on our American Stories. And we
(19:38):
continue here with our American stories and the story of
wild Bill Hiccock. Let's pick up where we last left
off with Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
In April eighteen seventy one, Hitcock becomes City Marshal of Abilene, Kansas.
Abilen is the first of famous Kansas cattle towns. Here's
Paul Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Ebiline had a reputation as being the roughest of all
the cattle towns. Who was end of trail for the
herds coming north from Texas. Everyone's fueled on alcohol, of course,
and somebody has to keep the feasts, and that's while
Bill Hiccock.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
So this is an interesting moment in American history where
a burgeoning society recognizes that it needs to remove the
unsavory elements.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
But how do you do that?
Speaker 5 (20:32):
Well, you need to find someone who has one foot
in both wounds, who can travel in both circles.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Most of the cowboys you drive the herds from Texas
to the Abilene railhead are Confederate veterans or the sons
of Confederate veterans. After months on the trail and with
a payoff in their pockets, they intend to have fun.
Union veteran Hiccock is at odds with them. It's a
highly volatile situation with great potential for violence. Confederate veteran
(21:04):
and Texan Phil Coe is a giant of a man
for his era, six foot four and two hundred and
twenty five pounds. He has problems with Hiccock from the
day he arrives in Appley, mostly over the way he
co operates his saloon, The bulls Head Tavern go had
upset the town with a saloon advertisement painted on the
(21:27):
side of the building. A drying up a bull with
a massive erect fallis while Bill painted over it and
Coe swore revenge. Problems further escalate when Hitcock and Co
begin to court the same woman. On an October night
in eighteen seventy one, coh and several of his Texas
(21:49):
friends are drinking in the Alamos Saloon. Their rivalry spells
into the street and Co draws his gun and fires
into the air. Sound of the on fire brings Hiccock
on the run, and he demands to know who fired
the shot. Co says he fired at a stray dog
who tried to bite him. Just straight, h I don't
(22:13):
care what you're shooting at. Bill. A law says, no
guns in town. Hiccock demands Coe's gun. Co either hesitates
to comply or refuses, depending on the witness, and Hiccock
immediately draws both pistols and fires. Coe is hit in
the stomach and collapses. A second later, Hiccock catches movement
(22:36):
out of the corner of his eye and spins and
fires twice more, the bullets tearing to Mike Williams, Hiccock's
own deputy, who is rushing to Hitcock's aid. Williams dies
on the spot. The death haunts Hiccock for the rest
of his life. Meanwhile, Co in terrible pain, struggles for
(22:57):
several days and dies two months later. Abilene's city council
relieves Hiccock of his duties, and he again returns to gambling.
Hiccock drifts across the West for the better part of
a year. It said he drinks too much and wins
too little. It's a here. Buffalo Bill finds him in
(23:20):
September eighteen seventy three. Buffalo Bill hirres his old friend
to perform and Cody's theatrical productions Scouts of the Planes
and Buffalo Bill, King of the border Men. Hiccock is
well paid, but he hates appearing on stage and often
stammers or forgets his lines. He's embarrassed by the histrionic
(23:42):
melodrama and false heroics. He is a man of action,
not words. He quits in March eighteen seventy four. Back
to the High Planes goes Hitcock. He spends much of
his time in the railroad down to shy and Wyoming,
and it's here in February eighteen seventy six. Then he
marries Agnes Lake Hickcock. Honeymoon's with Agnes in her hometown
(24:06):
at Cincinnati, but he then heads west the newest mining
moondown Deadwood, in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. Two
years earlier, it was General Custer on a special expedition
who discovered gold in the Black Hills. Hiccock arrives in
Deadwood in July eighteen seventy six and bumps into many
(24:28):
of his old friends. Mining's not for him, though, and
he spends most of his time gambling in saloons.
Speaker 7 (24:37):
I don't think you could have found any place more
vile than Deadwood, South Dakota. It just was a place
that had no law. He had people stealing from one another,
He had people jumping one another. There are people that
are being killed in a very violent way who had
(24:59):
all of this going on on. And in this scene
you find Wilbo Hitcock.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
You're called shortly after noon on August second, eighteen seventy six,
as America is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary Kitcock strolls
into the number ten saloon and joins a poker game
in progress. Hiccock asks Charles Rich, who is seated in
(25:26):
a chair against the wall, to exchange seats with him.
Rich only laughs and tells wild Bill not to worry,
nobody is gunning for him. A few minutes later, Hiccock
repeats the request, and this time all the poker players,
Carl Mann, William Massey, and Charles Rich begin ribbing Hitcock
(25:46):
for his excessive caution. A drifter named Jack McCall enters
a saloon. He draws no attention. It'd been in the
number ten only the night before, losing all money had
on him in a card game to Hitcock and others.
Hit some rash, take it easy.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Here, have some breakfast on me.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Here again is Marshall, Tremble and Chris Ens.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
McCall's offended that Hitcock has given him money to go
and get something neat and calm down, but McCall isn't
having any of it.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Man will Bill, Hiccock and Jack McCall were gambling one night.
He was a drifter, the ne'er do well loser. The
guy's got a chip on his shoulder of some kind.
Speaker 7 (26:33):
McCall is just a punk looking for a way to
start a fight with wild Bill Hiccock, and that's precisely
what he does.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Now. McCall moves along the bar until he's behind Hitcock. Well,
Bill's attention is on Massie, a former steamboat captain on
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Hitcock is losing heavily to Massi,
and Hitcock remarks, the old duffer, he broke me on
the hand. Those are Hiccock's last words. There's the explosion
(27:07):
of a revolver and McCall yells, damn you take good Jack.
McCall is drunk.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
He's somebody who's looking for a way of fast fame.
McCall comes in and before Hiccock knows it, takes his
gun and shoots him in the back of the hat.
Hiccock face down on the table and he's dead.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
After Hiccock dies with aces and eights in his hand,
that hand becomes a powerful symbol in Western literature and
film that writers and filmmakers use to signal that death
is at hand.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Thirty nine year old Hiccock out lives his close friend
George Custer by less than two months. Custer had earlier
fallen hit the Battle of the Little Born. Captain Jack
Crawford recalls of his friend Hiccock he was loyal in
his friendship, generous to a fault, and invariably espoused the
(28:11):
cause of the weaker against the stronger in a quarrel.
Pickcock is buried in Deadwood's cemetery with the inscription wild
Bill killed by the assassin Jack McCall. McCall is tried
in Deadwood's Miner's Court. A surprising number of character witnesses
(28:31):
up here in behalf of McCall, saying he's a quiet,
peaceable man that Hitcock had earlier threatened to kill. Hiccock
has called one of the premier gunfighters at the frontier,
who is quick to shoot without giving an opponent a chance.
The jury finds the defendant not guilty. TheCall leaves for
(28:55):
Cheyenne in Laramie City, he doesn't go far enough. The
first is declared not binding because Deadwood is technically on
the Sioux Reservation and the Deadwoods Miners Court and its
proceedings are therefore extra legal. McCall is arrested again, and
(29:15):
this time tried in Yankedon to go to territory. This
time he's found guilty of murder and hanged. McCall becomes
a footnote in history, wild Bill becomes a legend.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
And a terrific job on the production. Editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to
Roger McGrath. He's the author of Gunfighters, Holiman and Vigilantes
Violence on the Frontier. He has appeared on numerous History
Channel documentaries. He's a regular contributor for us here at
Our American Stories and what a story, what a life
lived by wild Bill, And my goodness, I'd love to
(29:57):
see his resume stop here or stop there, Always anger,
always defending the indefensible, and wild Bill Well he becomes
a legend and was a legend. The story of wild
Bill Hiccock here on Our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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