Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Wild Bill On Western Wednesday...!

So many stories and myths surround some of the folks from long ago. it's often to separate truth from fantasy. Here is a short article about Wild Bill Hickok you might find interesting.

1870
“Wild Bill” Hickok kills a soldier

A drunken brawl turns deadly when “Wild Bill” Hickok shoots two soldiers in self-defense, mortally wounding one of them.

William Hickok had earned his reputation as a gunslinger a decade earlier after shooting three men in a gunfight in Nebraska. He parlayed his standing as a sure-shooting gunman into a haphazard career in law enforcement. In 1869, he was elected interim sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. Hays City, the county seat, was a rough-and-tumble frontier town, and the citizens hoped Hickok could bring order to the chaos. Unfortunately, after Hickok had killed two men in the line of duty after just five weeks, they concluded that he was too wild for their tastes and they elected his deputy to replace him in November.

Unemployed, Hickok passed his time gambling, drinking, and occasionally working as a hunting guide. He quickly became bored and was considering taking work at the nearby Fort Hays as an army scout. On this day in 1870, Hickok had been drinking hard at Drum’s Saloon in Hays City. Five soldiers from the 7th Cavalry stationed at Fort Hays were also at the bar. They were drunk and began to exchange words with the notoriously prickly “Wild Bill.” A brawl broke out, and the soldiers threw Hickok to the floor. One trooper tried to shoot Hickok, but the gun misfired. Hickok quickly pulled his own pistols and opened fire. He wounded one private in the knee and wrist, and another in the torso. The three remaining soldiers backed off, and Hickok exited the saloon and immediately left town

A clear case of self-defense, Hickok was cleared of any wrongdoing. Yet, one of the soldiers, Private John Kile, later died of his wound and Hickok’s chances of becoming an army scout evaporated. He spent the next six years working in law enforcement, gambling, and appearing in Wild West shows. He was murdered in a Deadwood, South Dakota, saloon in 1876.

Guess you had to be pretty tough and foul tempered to make it in the old days. Probably smelled fairly ripe as well.

Coffee in the kitchen again.

7 comments:

HermitJim said...

Mamahen said...

There certainly were some colorful characters in the old west for sure. Coffee in the kitchen is not a bad thing. I'll whip up a batch of peanut butter cookies to go with our coffee this morning:))

Momlady said...

They cleaned up a lot of those characters for the Saturday morning westerns.

linda m said...

Wild Bill was one tough fellow. I was in Deadwood SD and saw where he was gunned down and his grave.

HermitJim said...

Hey Mamahen...
I do love me some peanut butter cookies, for sure! Bring 'em on.
Thanks for stopping by today!


Hey Momlady...
Some required more cleaning up than others.
Thanks for coming by this morning!


Hey Linda...
Never been to Deadwood, but I think it would be an interesting trip.
Thanks for the visit this morning!

JO said...

See I just learned another lesson here this morning. Didn't know about this run in with the soldiers.

Kitchen, coffee and peanut butter cookies sounds to good to pass up. Then off to spray the jungle that's starting to grow with all this rain.

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
Sometimes history is filled with surprises.
Thanks dear, for dropping by today!