did wild bill hickok have children
In 1871 he took over as the marshal of the tough cow town of Abilene, Kansas. Hickok moved to Leavenworth in the Kansas Territory, where he joined Jim Lane's Free State Army (also known as the Jayhawkers), an antislavery vigilante group active in the new territory during the Bleeding Kansas era. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok.Late in her life, she appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.She is said to have exhibited compassion to others . Hickok left his new bride a few months later, joining Charlie Utter's wagon train to seek his fortune in the gold fields of South Dakota. A young drifter named Jack McCall walked in and approached Hickok from behind. On August 2, 1876, during a poker game in a saloon that found him with his back uncharacteristically to the door, Hickok was shot in the back of his head by Jack McCall, who may have been hired to kill him. The episode correctly relates Hickok's vision problems late in his life, and also includes his murderer, Jack McCall, in a highly fictionalized role. The trial did not last more than fifteen minutes.[23]. [46]:4558[48] A newspaper reported, "A man was killed in his bed at a hotel in Abilene, Monday night, by a desperado called 'Arkansas'. [citation needed], Buffalo Bill claimed that he encountered Hickok disguised as a Confederate officer in Missouri in 1864. She claims to have known James Hickok, known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, and she is thought to have traveled with him for several years. One of the workers, Joseph McLintock, wrote a detailed description of the reinterment. She was Maude Weir, born in 1881. That belief came from the fertile imaginations of othersespecially Jean McCormick, who claimed to be the daughter of the legendary pair. ", DeMattos, Jack (1980). Wild Bill had learned of the scheme and cornered Coe, had his two pistols drawn on Coe. ", Nichols, George Ward (1867). 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. Later historians, however, have presented a radically different portrayal of the events at Rock Creek. The first was Bill Mulvey, who was rampaging through town, drunk, shooting out mirrors and whisky bottles behind bars. Jane claimed that James Butler Hickok was the father of her child Jean . 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). McCormick had a lot of written proof too, which was largely believed by those who met her. Hickok never fought in another gun battle. Just weeks later, on her deathbed in Terry, South Dakota, Jane confessed that she and Jessie were now estranged and declined to say where her daughter was living. Best Known For: Wild Bill Hickok was an American frontiersman, army scout and lawman who helped bring order to the frontier West. McCanles also acted as the stations manager before the company replaced him with Horace Wellman, and McCanles had reputedly ridiculed Hickok during his convalescence from his injuries. In June, Hickok mustered out and went to Springfield, where he gambled. The bear attacked, crushing Hickok with its body. But Coe "reckoned without his host". Hardin was in town under his assumed name Wesley Clemmons, but was better known to the townspeople by the alias "Little Arkansas". Both parents were reputed to be unsavory, involved in petty crimes and often financially destitute. "[27], While in Springfield, Hickok and a local gambler named Davis Tutt had several disagreements over unpaid gambling debts and their common affection for the same women. 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. "Doc" Howard, who had known Hickok, stated that Hickok had left Buffalo Bill's Wild West Exhibition "because the lights affected his eyes, so he had to give it up". James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 - August 2, 1876), also known as "Wild Bill" Hickok was a legendary figure in the old west. The two men faced each other sideways for a duel. Circa 1890. This was claimed after he was killed during a poker game on Aug. 2, 1876. 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. 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. "[citation needed]. 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. Quay House, The Ambury, "J.B. Hickok, Deputy U.S. McCall was executed for the murder . 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. Hardin alleged that when his cousin, Mannen Clements, was jailed for the killing of two cowhands (Joe and Dolph Shadden) in July 1871, Hickokat Hardin's requestarranged for his escape. But by January 1903 she was back with her mother once more, a fact verified by the Belle Fourche Bee in South Dakota. The cemetery was moved in 1881, and when McCall's body was exhumed, the noose was found still around his neck.[69]. [c] However, if they felt the threat of danger was real and imminent, he instructed they could apply the unwritten law of the "fair fight" and acquit. 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. In one show, he shot the spotlight when it focused on him. 10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. Wild Bill Hickok was one of the early "Heroes of the West." He had built a reputation as an extraordinary gunfighter with a sense of fairness and justice. ", 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. Shes all Ive got to live fer; shes my only comfort [sic]. Fox described Jessie as neatly dressed but shy and embarrassed. Yet she had a bright face, and her manners were very good for one whose opportunities had been so few.. [19] According to Hickok's account, he found the road blocked by a cinnamon bear and its two cubs. . Bath He is now at Yankton, D.T. Im glad shes come [home from school] while youre here, Jane told Fox, fer I want you to see her. McCall was found guilty and sentenced to death. A legend during his life and considered one of the American west's premier gunfighters James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok was born May 27, 1837, in Troy . 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. On September 4, Hickok was wounded in the foot while rescuing several cattlemen in the Bijou Creek basin who had been surrounded by Indians. [31], Several weeks later, an interview Hickok gave to Colonel George Ward Nichols, a journalist who subsequently became known as the creator of the Hickok legend,[32] was published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine. Hickok was arrested for murder, tried, and acquitted. [13][14] He was also known before 1861 among Jayhawkers as "Shanghai Bill" because of his height and slim build. Brink, were tried for killing McCanles, but were found to have acted in self-defense. According to Joseph G. Rosa, Hickok's biographer and the foremost authority on Wild Bill, Hickok killed only six or seven men in gunfights. McLintock used a cane to tap the body, face, and head, finding no soft tissue anywhere. [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. No other woman in the American west possesses a more enigmatic legacy than Martha Calamity Jane Canary. Hickok may have been acting sheriff before he was elected; a newspaper reported that he arrested offenders on August 18, and the commander of Fort Hays wrote a letter to the assistant adjutant general on August 21 in which he praised Hickok for his work in apprehending deserters. 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. Although the show brought Hickok some much-needed income, he was unhappy, began drinking heavily, and returned to the West in March 1874. He was sentenced to death on January 3, 1877 and on March 1, 1877 he was executed by hanging. 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 . Mulvey angrily declared that he had come to town to kill Hickok. [43], On April 15, 1871, Hickok became marshal of Abilene, Kansas. ", Rosa, Joseph G. (1979). What happened to Wild Bill Hickok's pistols? In fact, William Hickok (senior) was so opposed to slavery that it's been reported that the Hickok house was a station for the Underground Railroad, where black slaves stopped for refuge on their journey north to freedom. The way Wild Bill conducted himself in his later years was a direct correlation for what he did when he was a young boy. The incident helped contribute to the overall failure of the show. In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was suffering from glaucoma. 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. She has been labeled a scout, freighter, and gambler, a drunken dance hall queen and prostitute. McCanles reportedly threatened Wellman, and either Wellman or Hickok, who was hiding behind a curtain, killed McCanles. Hickok ran as an Independent; but lost to his deputy, Peter Lanihan, who ran as a Democrat. Hickok chased and wounded the fleeing Gordon, who was then fatally shot by someone else (according to some by Doc Brinks, another Pony Express employee). Classmate Mary Connolly remembered Jessie, saying, we all played hopscotch and jumped rope on the playground. But mother and daughter eventually left town again. Jean McCormick was the daughter of Jane "Calamity Jane" Cannary and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok. [67], After bragging about killing Hickok, McCall was rearrested. 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. The bullet emerged through his right cheek and struck another player, riverboat Captain William Massie, in the left wrist. She was born in Missouri and spent most of her life on the country's western border. A monument has been built there. [25][26]:136 Hickok had not been paid for some time, and was hired as a scout by General John B. Sanborn by early 1865. "[46] Hoping to intimidate Hickok, Coe allegedly stated that he could "kill a crow on the wing". Charlie Utter, Hickok's friend and companion, claimed Hickok's body and placed a notice in the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer, which read: Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2, 1876, from the effects of a pistol shot, J. Nick McGlashan had two children, Lennyn Annette Richardson of Unalaska (7) and Kane Wilder Hammond of Port Townsend, WA (1). The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok was a 1950s TV series starring Guy Madison and Andy Devine. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation. [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. Hickok was killed August 2, 1876, at the age of 39, and Calamity Jane died of illness on August 1, 1903, at age 51; both died in South Dakota.. During his life, Hickok was a soldier, scout, stagecoach driver, lawman, gunfighter, showman, marksman, gambler, and more. Against the bloody backdrop of the uniquely volatile point in history, both killers earned a reputation for viciousness. To be entitled to acquittal on the ground of self-defense, he must have been anxious to avoid a conflict, and must have used all reasonable means to avoid it. [3] [4] James was the fourth of six children. "Wild Bill. Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 - August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. Hickoks father moved his family from Vermont to Maine to Homer (now Troy Grove), Illinois. [12], While in Nebraska, Hickok was derisively referred to by one man as "Duck Bill" for his long nose and protruding lips. He was the son of William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok (Fishwick). Burke she had enrolled Jessie in the school. When a seat opened up at the table, a drunk man named Jack McCall sat down to play. How Did Wild Bill Hickok Die? 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. This, in turn, was destroyed by souvenir hunters and replaced in 1902 by a life-sized sandstone sculpture of Hickok. He is said to have wrestled a bear As the scene unfolded, McCanles entered the station, and, from behind the curtain that divided it in two, either Hickok or Wellman shot McCanles. On July 21, 1865, frontier legend Wild Bill Hickok gunned down gambler Davis Tutt in what is often called the first "Wild West" showdown. On July 21, 1865, the two men faced off in Springfield's town square, standing sideways before drawing and firing their weapons. Several sources, including Jessie, verify the child was born on October 28. Hickok managed to fire another shot, wounding the bear's paw. . Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. At Castle City, Montana in 1893, when Jane was running a restaurant, she had with her the daughter of one of her soldier friends in Texas who probably was Jessie. They arrived in Topeka on April 2. and that Deft. Playing cards with his back to the door, Hickok had no clue that he was about to be murdered. [citation needed], From 1871 until his death in 1876, Hickok had vision problems. Russell, Majors and Waddell had not kept up with their payments for the station, and the gun-brandishing McCanles had come to demand his money from Wellman, who insisted that he did not have it and refused to relinquish the property to McCanles, as did his wife. Wild Bill Hickok begins to establish his reputation as a gunfighter after he shoots three men during a shootout in Nebraska. A later film (1953) and subsequent stage musical, both titled Calamity Jane, also portray a romance between Calamity Jane and Hickok. [21][22] Hickok, Wellman, and another employee, J.W. In quick succession, Hickok was said to have then killed five members of McCanless gang and knocked out another before three more gang members threw him down on a bed, only to be bested in hand-to-hand combat by the knife-wielding Hickok. At Bridger, Montana, Jane moved in with a cowboy named Robert Dorsett. 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. "Wild Bill and the Timber Thieves. Wild Bill Hickok's iconic status is rooted in a shootout in July 1861 in what came to be known as the McCanles Massacre in Rock Creek, Nebraska. In 1899, Dorsett took Jessie to live with his mother in Lewiston. He was born James Butler Hickok on 27 May 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. Doc Holliday did have a bad cough, as suggested in this episode, from his tuberculosis. We drove on to Beatrice and at the trial, his plea was self-defense; no one appeared against him, and he was cleared. The story continued that McCanles invaded the Wellmans cabin and prepared to shoot Hickok, who acted faster and shot McCanles in the chest. When Varnes could not be found, McCall then implicated Tim Brady in the plot. [ home from school ] while youre here, Jane moved in with a cowboy named Dorsett... On 27 May 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois who helped bring order to the frontier West not last than... 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