August 22, 2025 • 30 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Wild Bill Hickok’s life was built on bold choices and bigger risks. As a U.S. Marshal and sheriff, he kept order in towns others had given up on, earning a name as one of the fastest guns in the West. He walked into danger more than once, and just as easily stepped into a card game or a saloon when the work was done. By the time he sat at his last poker game in Deadwood, Hickok had already become an icon of the Old West. Our American Stories regular contributor, Roger McGrath, shares the story.
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Episode Transcript
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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 gun slinger. Here to tell the real story of
wild Bill is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Holloman 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):
While 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 at even the hand of cards
he was holding when shot to death in a dead
(01:05):
Wood saloon in 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 Bill
(01:26):
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 Troy 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.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
That begins to define him as a man.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
James helps the family, which also 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
(02:56):
a voracious reader and consumes 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
(03:17):
Illinois and other northern states who want to prohibit slavery there,
and Southerners, mostly from Missouri and Arkansas, who want to
establish slavery in the new territory. Hiccock, who continues as
abolitionist ways, joins Jim Lean's Free State Army to battle
with the Free Staters called the Border Ruffians, who have
(03:40):
crossed into Kansas from Missouri to attack anti slavery settlers.
Kansas becomes Bleeding in Kansas, a prelude to this civil war.
In eighteen fifty eight, Hiccock 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
(04:02):
six foot one and hunder eighty pounds, 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.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Quickness that astonish witnesses. He serves as.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Constable for a year and then goes 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
(04:44):
to collect a.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Debt from the company.
Speaker 2 (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 a and willman, he will come inside
and drag them boothout. Here's Old West historians Paul Lutton
and Marshall Trimble.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The station was owned by a tough local character who
had Southern symphonies 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 the people at.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
The station, so there was animosity between David mccantless, and
while Bill Hiccock and mccantless was a bully.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Hiccock's distaste for bullis 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 Meeg's and Waddell
and Hiccock 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.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Said wild Bill.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And if you ever again lay a hand on that boy,
little Billy there, I'll give you.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Such a pounding that you won't get old over it
for a month of Sundays.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
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 4 (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.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
He was a defender of the downtrodden.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
He was a defender of those who wouldn't defend himself,
and all this added to his horror.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Originally from the mountains of North Carolina, McCanless is large
and powerful, and some weeks earlier had easily thrown Hiccock
to the ground in 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, Hickcock
fires a rifle a bullet pierces McCandless's heart and he
(07:59):
has blown back Courts, falling to the ground dead two
members of the mcanless gang. They now run to the station.
Oris 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.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
And shoot him to death with a shotgun.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Six years later, a fanciful article appears in Harper's magazine
describing how Hitcock single handedly fought and defeated David mccannison
his ten man gang of border Ruffians. He becomes a
national hero overnight. Here's Old West historian Marcus Huff.
Speaker 7 (08:53):
Harper's 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. You're to continue with the tale is Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Hiccock 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.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That will make him famous.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Hiccock next leads a Union wagon train from Fort Levenworth,
Kansas to Sedalia, Missouri. Confederate guerrillas attacked the wagon train
and Hiccock barely escapes being captured. It's about this time
he earns his nicknamed wild Bill legend says he stops
a bartender from being lynched after a saloon brawl in Independence, Missouri.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
A woman in the crowd.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Applauses action and yells, good for you, Wild Mill.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Here's Old West's historian Chris iNTS.
Speaker 8 (11:16):
Bill Hiccock 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 rattlesnake.
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 in Field, Missouri. Hickcock finds himself losing heavily
in a poker game to Davis Tutt, a former Confederate
soldier turned professional gambler who's commonly known as Dave. Hickcock
gives Tut a valuable watch as collateral.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
For his gambling debts. Here's Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
He warns Todd he does not want to see him
walking around with that watch.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
So what does Tot do?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
The next day?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
He walks around with the watch.
Speaker 6 (12:26):
What happens next has been the basis for countless legends
about Old West gunfights.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
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
gun Smoke, and Western films such as High Noon. At
a distance of about seventy five yards, Hickcock stops and
(12:54):
calls out, Dave, here, I am. They draw their guns
and fire Simon Taneously, Hickock's round drills Tut in the heart.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Tut calls out, boys, I'm killed, and drops to the
ground dead.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
When newspapers publish reports of the shootout, it's the first.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Time the name wild Bill is used in print.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Hickock's legend as a gunfighter skyrockets. After a coroner's jury
declares that Dave Tutt had died at the hands of
James Butler Hitcock, wild Bill is arrested on a charge
of manslaughter. He posts bail and pleads not guilty at
an initial court hearing. In the trial, Hiccock's attorney argues
(13:51):
self defense. The prosecutor argues Hitcock could have avoided the fight.
The jury is out only ten minutes, and here's a
verdict of not guilty. In eighteen sixty six, Hickock is
summoned to Fort Riley, Kansas by a Civil.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
War friend, Captain R. B.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Owen, who recommends Hickock for an appointment as a US
Deputy Marshal.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Hiccock becomes a Deputy Marshal and spends a year hunting.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Horse thieves, counterfeiters, deserters, and other such miscreants. He also
does some duty as an army scout, as while Hiccock
is at Fort Riley that he reconnects with William Cody,
soon to be known as Buffalo Bill. Cody is serving
as a government detective and army scout. On January one,
(14:39):
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 Michigan Volunteers, George Custer. Custer
is now a lieutenant colonel in the Regulars and commander
of the famous Seventh Cavalry. Custer calls Hickock his best
(14:59):
scout and says he is the consummate plainsman Guster's wife,
the fetching Libby. Custer later said of Hitcock physically, he
was a delight to 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
(15:20):
as he moved seemed perfectly in keeping with the man,
the country, and the.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Time in which he lived.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Hiccock can ride trail and track, and he's not only
a crack shot, but also extraordinary 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.
(15:52):
It's another thing to shoot at 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 some truth in this,
(16:15):
because as a scout he fights and kills Indians and
will continue to do so through eighteen sixty eight and
will into eighteen sixty nine. He has several close calls.
In one fight, a Cheyenne warrior drives a lance into
Hiccock's thigh. But fame often has a lot of sharp
edges and has to be handled carefully. There's always the
(16:35):
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.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
One writer referred to it.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
As the sodom of the plains here, Marcus Huff and
historian David Eisenbach hay.
Speaker 7 (17:04):
City was a hotbed of youthful indiscretion. It was a
cattle town railhead, yet a lot of guys coming there
to spend their money. It was fairly lawless until Hiccock
came around.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
Once you acquire this international fame, which he did of
being the cricket shock. 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 shareff 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.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
A month later, Hitcock.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Puts two bullets into the head of Sam Strawn under
similar circumstances. Hiccock's quick to shoot policy loses him our
re election bid. November eighteen sixty nine, Hickock remains in
Hayes City, again trying his luck as a gambler. He's
drinking in one of the saloons when two troopers of
(18:12):
Custer's seventh Cavalry suddenly accosts the legendary gunslinger. In the
ensuing struggle, one of the troopers presses a gun to
Hitcock's ear and pulls the trigger, but the Remington forty
four fails to fire. Hickock's quote Navy thirty eight does
fire and the soldier is mortally wounded. Hicock wounds the
(18:36):
second soldier for the shot to the knee Hiccock then
springs to his feet and smashes through a 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 Hickock. And just as Hickock would do,
he ends up in Bloody Kansas. And of course this
is where the struggle and the fight over slavery reach
it 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, Hiccock becomes City Marshal of Abilene, Kansas.
Abilene is the first of famous Kansas cattle towns. Here's
Paul Hutton Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Ebiene had a reputation as being the roughest of all
the cattle towns. It was end of trail for the
herds coming north from Texas.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Everyone's fueled on alcohol, of course.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
And somebody has to keep the peace, and that's while
Bill Hiccock.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
So this is an interesting moment in American history where
a burgeoning society recognizes that it needs to remove the
unsavory elements. But how do you do that? Well, you
need to find someone who has one foot in both worlds,
who can travel in both circles.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Most of the cowboys so 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.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
They intend to have fun.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Union veteran Hiccock is at odds with them. It's a
highly volatile situation with great potential for violence. Confederate veteran
and Texan Phil Coe is a giant of a man.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
For his era, six foot four and two hundred and
twenty five pounds.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
He has problems with Hiccock from the day he arrives
in Apley, 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 side.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Of the building.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
A drying of 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 October night in eighteen seventy one, Cohen
several of his Texas friends are drinking in the Alamos Saloon.
(21:52):
Their rivalry spells into the street and Co draws his
gun and fires into the air. Sound of the gun
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.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Just stray Hick, I.
Speaker 8 (22:13):
Don't care what you're shooting at.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Phil Alas says, no guns in town.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
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 hitting the stomach and collapses. A
second later. Hiccock catches movement out of the corner of
his eye and spins and fires twice more, the bullets
(22:42):
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 several days and dies two
months later. Abilene's city council relieves Hiccock of his duties,
(23:06):
and he again returns to gambling. Hiccock drifts across the
West for the better part of a year. It's said
he drinks too much and wins too little. It's a
here Buffalo Bill finds him in September eighteen seventy three.
Buffalo Bill hires his old friend to perform in Cody's
theatrical productions Scouts of the Planes and Buffalo Bill King
(23:31):
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 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.
(23:54):
He spends much of his time in the railroad down
Shy and Wyoming, and it's here in February eighteen seventy
six that he marries Agnes Lake. Hiccock honeymoon's with Agnes
in her hometown at Cincinnati, but he then heads west
the newest mining mom down Deadwood in the Black Hills
of Dakota Territory. Two years earlier, it was General Custer
(24:18):
on a special expedition who discovered gold in the Black Hills.
Hiccock arrives in Deadwood in July eighteen seventy six and
bumps into many.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Of his old friends. Mining's not for.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Him, though, and he spends most of his time gambling
in saloons.
Speaker 8 (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. And in this scene you
find Wilbo Hitcock your call.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Shortly after noon on August second, eighteen seventy six, as
Americas 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 a chair
against the wall, to exchange seats with him. Rich only
(25:30):
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 ribbon Hitcock for his excessive caution.
(25:51):
A drifter named Jack McCall enters the saloon. He draws
no attention. It been in the number ten only the
night before, losing all the money he had on him
in a card game to Hitcock and others hit some rasks.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Take it easy.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Here have some breakfast on making copy. Here again is
Marshall tremble and Chris ends.
Speaker 8 (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 6 (26:19):
Come in.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Well, 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 3 (26:33):
McCall is just.
Speaker 8 (26:34):
A punk looking for a way to start a fight
with wild Bill Hiccock, and that's precisely.
Speaker 9 (26:42):
What he does.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
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.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
On the hand. Those are Hiccock's last words.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
There's the explosion of a revolver and McCall yells, damn.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
You didn't take good Jack.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
McCall is drunk. 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 6 (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 outlives his close friend George
Custer by less than two months. Custer had earlier fallen
hit the Battle of a Little Bit. Captain Jack Crawford
recalls of his friend Hitcock he was loyal in his friendship,
generous to a fault, and invariably espoused the cause of
(28:11):
the weaker against the stronger in a quarrel. Hiccock 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 up here
(28:31):
in behalf of McCall, saying he's a quiet, peaceable man
that Hiccock had earlier threatened to kill. Hiccock is 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. McCall leaves for Cheyenne
(28:55):
in Laramie City, he doesn't go far enough. The first
try 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
this time tried in yankedon to go to territory. This
(29:19):
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 Hangler and a special thanks to
Roger McGrath. He's the author of Gunfightershiliman 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
(29:54):
wild Bill, And my goodness, I'd love to see his resume.
Stop here a stop there, always d 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 gun slinger. Here to tell the real story of
wild Bill is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Holloman 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):
While 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 at even the hand of cards
he was holding when shot to death in a dead
(01:05):
Wood saloon in 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 Bill
(01:26):
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 Troy 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.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
That begins to define him as a man.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
James helps the family, which also 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
(02:56):
a voracious reader and consumes 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
(03:17):
Illinois and other northern states who want to prohibit slavery there,
and Southerners, mostly from Missouri and Arkansas, who want to
establish slavery in the new territory. Hiccock, who continues as
abolitionist ways, joins Jim Lean's Free State Army to battle
with the Free Staters called the Border Ruffians, who have
(03:40):
crossed into Kansas from Missouri to attack anti slavery settlers.
Kansas becomes Bleeding in Kansas, a prelude to this civil war.
In eighteen fifty eight, Hiccock 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
(04:02):
six foot one and hunder eighty pounds, 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.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Quickness that astonish witnesses. He serves as.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Constable for a year and then goes 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
(04:44):
to collect a.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Debt from the company.
Speaker 2 (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 a and willman, he will come inside
and drag them boothout. Here's Old West historians Paul Lutton
and Marshall Trimble.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
The station was owned by a tough local character who
had Southern symphonies 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 the people at.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
The station, so there was animosity between David mccantless, and
while Bill Hiccock and mccantless was a bully.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Hiccock's distaste for bullis 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 Meeg's and Waddell
and Hiccock 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.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Said wild Bill.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And if you ever again lay a hand on that boy,
little Billy there, I'll give you.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Such a pounding that you won't get old over it
for a month of Sundays.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
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 4 (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.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
He was a defender of the downtrodden.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
He was a defender of those who wouldn't defend himself,
and all this added to his horror.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Originally from the mountains of North Carolina, McCanless is large
and powerful, and some weeks earlier had easily thrown Hiccock
to the ground in 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, Hickcock
fires a rifle a bullet pierces McCandless's heart and he
(07:59):
has blown back Courts, falling to the ground dead two
members of the mcanless gang. They now run to the station.
Oris 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.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
And shoot him to death with a shotgun.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Six years later, a fanciful article appears in Harper's magazine
describing how Hitcock single handedly fought and defeated David mccannison
his ten man gang of border Ruffians. He becomes a
national hero overnight. Here's Old West historian Marcus Huff.
Speaker 7 (08:53):
Harper's 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. You're to continue with the tale is Roger McGrath.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Hiccock 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.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That will make him famous.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Hiccock next leads a Union wagon train from Fort Levenworth,
Kansas to Sedalia, Missouri. Confederate guerrillas attacked the wagon train
and Hiccock barely escapes being captured. It's about this time
he earns his nicknamed wild Bill legend says he stops
a bartender from being lynched after a saloon brawl in Independence, Missouri.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
A woman in the crowd.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Applauses action and yells, good for you, Wild Mill.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Here's Old West's historian Chris iNTS.
Speaker 8 (11:16):
Bill Hiccock 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 rattlesnake.
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 in Field, Missouri. Hickcock finds himself losing heavily
in a poker game to Davis Tutt, a former Confederate
soldier turned professional gambler who's commonly known as Dave. Hickcock
gives Tut a valuable watch as collateral.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
For his gambling debts. Here's Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
He warns Todd he does not want to see him
walking around with that watch.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
So what does Tot do?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
The next day?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
He walks around with the watch.
Speaker 6 (12:26):
What happens next has been the basis for countless legends
about Old West gunfights.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
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
gun Smoke, and Western films such as High Noon. At
a distance of about seventy five yards, Hickcock stops and
(12:54):
calls out, Dave, here, I am. They draw their guns
and fire Simon Taneously, Hickock's round drills Tut in the heart.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Tut calls out, boys, I'm killed, and drops to the
ground dead.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
When newspapers publish reports of the shootout, it's the first.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Time the name wild Bill is used in print.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Hickock's legend as a gunfighter skyrockets. After a coroner's jury
declares that Dave Tutt had died at the hands of
James Butler Hitcock, wild Bill is arrested on a charge
of manslaughter. He posts bail and pleads not guilty at
an initial court hearing. In the trial, Hiccock's attorney argues
(13:51):
self defense. The prosecutor argues Hitcock could have avoided the fight.
The jury is out only ten minutes, and here's a
verdict of not guilty. In eighteen sixty six, Hickock is
summoned to Fort Riley, Kansas by a Civil.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
War friend, Captain R. B.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Owen, who recommends Hickock for an appointment as a US
Deputy Marshal.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Hiccock becomes a Deputy Marshal and spends a year hunting.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Horse thieves, counterfeiters, deserters, and other such miscreants. He also
does some duty as an army scout, as while Hiccock
is at Fort Riley that he reconnects with William Cody,
soon to be known as Buffalo Bill. Cody is serving
as a government detective and army scout. On January one,
(14:39):
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 Michigan Volunteers, George Custer. Custer
is now a lieutenant colonel in the Regulars and commander
of the famous Seventh Cavalry. Custer calls Hickock his best
(14:59):
scout and says he is the consummate plainsman Guster's wife,
the fetching Libby. Custer later said of Hitcock physically, he
was a delight to 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
(15:20):
as he moved seemed perfectly in keeping with the man,
the country, and the.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Time in which he lived.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Hiccock can ride trail and track, and he's not only
a crack shot, but also extraordinary 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.
(15:52):
It's another thing to shoot at 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 some truth in this,
(16:15):
because as a scout he fights and kills Indians and
will continue to do so through eighteen sixty eight and
will into eighteen sixty nine. He has several close calls.
In one fight, a Cheyenne warrior drives a lance into
Hiccock's thigh. But fame often has a lot of sharp
edges and has to be handled carefully. There's always the
(16:35):
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.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
One writer referred to it.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
As the sodom of the plains here, Marcus Huff and
historian David Eisenbach hay.
Speaker 7 (17:04):
City was a hotbed of youthful indiscretion. It was a
cattle town railhead, yet a lot of guys coming there
to spend their money. It was fairly lawless until Hiccock
came around.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
Once you acquire this international fame, which he did of
being the cricket shock. 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 shareff 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.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
A month later, Hitcock.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Puts two bullets into the head of Sam Strawn under
similar circumstances. Hiccock's quick to shoot policy loses him our
re election bid. November eighteen sixty nine, Hickock remains in
Hayes City, again trying his luck as a gambler. He's
drinking in one of the saloons when two troopers of
(18:12):
Custer's seventh Cavalry suddenly accosts the legendary gunslinger. In the
ensuing struggle, one of the troopers presses a gun to
Hitcock's ear and pulls the trigger, but the Remington forty
four fails to fire. Hickock's quote Navy thirty eight does
fire and the soldier is mortally wounded. Hicock wounds the
(18:36):
second soldier for the shot to the knee Hiccock then
springs to his feet and smashes through a 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 Hickock. And just as Hickock would do,
he ends up in Bloody Kansas. And of course this
is where the struggle and the fight over slavery reach
it 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, Hiccock becomes City Marshal of Abilene, Kansas.
Abilene is the first of famous Kansas cattle towns. Here's
Paul Hutton Andrew Nelson.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Ebiene had a reputation as being the roughest of all
the cattle towns. It was end of trail for the
herds coming north from Texas.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Everyone's fueled on alcohol, of course.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
And somebody has to keep the peace, and that's while
Bill Hiccock.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
So this is an interesting moment in American history where
a burgeoning society recognizes that it needs to remove the
unsavory elements. But how do you do that? Well, you
need to find someone who has one foot in both worlds,
who can travel in both circles.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Most of the cowboys so 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.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
They intend to have fun.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Union veteran Hiccock is at odds with them. It's a
highly volatile situation with great potential for violence. Confederate veteran
and Texan Phil Coe is a giant of a man.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
For his era, six foot four and two hundred and
twenty five pounds.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
He has problems with Hiccock from the day he arrives
in Apley, 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 side.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Of the building.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
A drying of 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 October night in eighteen seventy one, Cohen
several of his Texas friends are drinking in the Alamos Saloon.
(21:52):
Their rivalry spells into the street and Co draws his
gun and fires into the air. Sound of the gun
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.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Just stray Hick, I.
Speaker 8 (22:13):
Don't care what you're shooting at.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Phil Alas says, no guns in town.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
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 hitting the stomach and collapses. A
second later. Hiccock catches movement out of the corner of
his eye and spins and fires twice more, the bullets
(22:42):
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 several days and dies two
months later. Abilene's city council relieves Hiccock of his duties,
(23:06):
and he again returns to gambling. Hiccock drifts across the
West for the better part of a year. It's said
he drinks too much and wins too little. It's a
here Buffalo Bill finds him in September eighteen seventy three.
Buffalo Bill hires his old friend to perform in Cody's
theatrical productions Scouts of the Planes and Buffalo Bill King
(23:31):
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 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.
(23:54):
He spends much of his time in the railroad down
Shy and Wyoming, and it's here in February eighteen seventy
six that he marries Agnes Lake. Hiccock honeymoon's with Agnes
in her hometown at Cincinnati, but he then heads west
the newest mining mom down Deadwood in the Black Hills
of Dakota Territory. Two years earlier, it was General Custer
(24:18):
on a special expedition who discovered gold in the Black Hills.
Hiccock arrives in Deadwood in July eighteen seventy six and
bumps into many.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Of his old friends. Mining's not for.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Him, though, and he spends most of his time gambling
in saloons.
Speaker 8 (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. And in this scene you
find Wilbo Hitcock your call.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Shortly after noon on August second, eighteen seventy six, as
Americas 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 a chair
against the wall, to exchange seats with him. Rich only
(25:30):
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 ribbon Hitcock for his excessive caution.
(25:51):
A drifter named Jack McCall enters the saloon. He draws
no attention. It been in the number ten only the
night before, losing all the money he had on him
in a card game to Hitcock and others hit some rasks.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Take it easy.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Here have some breakfast on making copy. Here again is
Marshall tremble and Chris ends.
Speaker 8 (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 6 (26:19):
Come in.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Well, 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 3 (26:33):
McCall is just.
Speaker 8 (26:34):
A punk looking for a way to start a fight
with wild Bill Hiccock, and that's precisely.
Speaker 9 (26:42):
What he does.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
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.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
On the hand. Those are Hiccock's last words.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
There's the explosion of a revolver and McCall yells, damn.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
You didn't take good Jack.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
McCall is drunk. 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 6 (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 outlives his close friend George
Custer by less than two months. Custer had earlier fallen
hit the Battle of a Little Bit. Captain Jack Crawford
recalls of his friend Hitcock he was loyal in his friendship,
generous to a fault, and invariably espoused the cause of
(28:11):
the weaker against the stronger in a quarrel. Hiccock 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 up here
(28:31):
in behalf of McCall, saying he's a quiet, peaceable man
that Hiccock had earlier threatened to kill. Hiccock is 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. McCall leaves for Cheyenne
(28:55):
in Laramie City, he doesn't go far enough. The first
try 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
this time tried in yankedon to go to territory. This
(29:19):
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 Hangler and a special thanks to
Roger McGrath. He's the author of Gunfightershiliman 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
(29:54):
wild Bill, And my goodness, I'd love to see his resume.
Stop here a stop there, always d 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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