HICKOK, Wild Bill

(1837–1876)

   James Butler Hickok was one of the most colorful lawmen in the old West, celebrated in numerous Western films. The real Wild Bill knew how to develop an image and a persona as well as any of the film stars who later played his part. Nearly every fan of cinema Westerns knows the Hickok image: the long flowing hair over the shoulders, the handlebar mustache, the frock coat, the oversized Ned Buntline specials low slung in his gun belt. Hickok was a town-taming lawman, first taming Abilene, Kansas, at the height of the cattle boom, then moving down to Dodge City. Hickok was a showman himself, actually teaming up with Buffalo Bill Cody in a touring theatrical company for a while. Calamity Jane is usually associated with Wild Bill in most versions of the story. His death in Deadwood, South Dakota, on August 2, 1876, is one of the most famous in Western lore. He was sitting in a saloon playing poker, holding aces and eights—the dead man’s hand—when Jack McCall walked up behind him, placed a gun to his head, and fired. Many film versions of Wild Bill’s life have been produced through the years. Perhaps the most notable is The Plainsman (1936) with Gary Cooper as Wild Bill.