Research Paper On Wild Bill Hickok

Wild Bill Hickok

Should the world trust an outlaw to be a marshal? Wild Bill Hickok was able to change the way he thought from being a cold blooded killer. He was significant enough to be considered one of the top one hundred Americans in history according to the Smithsonian.

Wild Bill Hickok was born on May 27, 1837 in Troy Grove, Illinois. He was the son of William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok (Fishwick). Before being called Wild Bill Hickok, his original name was James Butler Hickok. The way Wild Bill conducted himself in his later years was a direct correlation for what he did when he was a young boy. “Hickok was by all accounts a master marksman from an early age,” those skills served him throughout his life according to biography.com.

Hickok landed a decent job working for a high end express company. The station that he was going to be working at was in Rock Creek, Nebraska. There were plenty of gangs and outlaws that ran out in the west with one of them being the McCanles gang. “There Hickok was and fellow employees killed David McCanles and his two companions,” according to (Fishwick). This incident lead to the trial of course which the employees and Wild Bill were tried with murder. The employees with the company said that they were using self-defense which you could get away with back then and all the men including Hickok were acquitted. The McCanles gang had a total of nine people in it and it is said to believe that Hickok plus employees killed them

While in the army, he was made a spy and an army scout. “As a scout in 1868, he saved 34 men in an Indian siege in Colorado Territory,” this story added to his legacy according to Sifakis. It was the siege event and other events with Indians, that, “Hickok is glorified as an Indian fighter,” according to Miles. Hickok was very good shooting with his rifle. Sifakis states that Hickok was able to, “knock off 50 confederate soldiers with 50 bullets fired from a new-fangled rifle.” The way Hickok conducted himself during the war was a clear indication of what was to come considering that he was an excellent marksman during his time in the war. Sifakis also states that Hickok, “was a master of the art of back-shooting.” All of these shooting accomplishments started to add up.

Word about Hickok was spreading and he “demonstrated he did have the great shooting ability by gunning down Dave Tutt in a face-to-face dual at a distance of seventy-five yards,” according to Sifakis. According to Biography.com, “The event haunted Hickok for the rest of his life.” This gun battle was one of great stories about Hickok,” but Biography.com states, “Tutt reached for his pistol but Hickok was first to draw his weapon, and shot Tutt at approximately 75