Wild Bill Hickok: His Lawman Days
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
I've been talking about the life and times of Wild Bill Hickok of
American Old West fame and we left off on the last post with him
riding as a scout for the Army in 1867.
When that job ended he was approached by the city of Hays City,
Kansas to be their town Sheriff and he accepted that job.
Now Hays City was a young cow town located about a mile from Fort
Hays which was an Army station so there were alot of soldiers in town
mixing it up with cowboys coming off the end of the cattle drive to the
railroad there and ready to raise some trouble.
Then add to that the tough, hardened buffalo hunters coming in from
weeks on the open prairie looking to get rowdy and you can get the
picture of what the place was like.
A young Hays City store: 1880
Now guys, the town at that time was basically a row of buildings and
here's the breakdown at that time: 1 clothing store, 1 grocery store,
22 saloons and 3 dance halls! lol.
The locals said they didn't think anything of having one or two dead
men on the streets almost every morning. Some were soldiers from
the fort and there was no law but the law of the six shooter.
Saloon keeping was the most profitable business, next was gambling
and prostitution. Newspapers called it the Sodom of the Plains.
The town had hired many sheriffs but they had either quit in short
order or ended up ambushed and killed by outlaws so the place was a
real mess to say the least!
Wild Bill knew what he was getting into, he himself said of the
territory: "there is no Sunday West of Junction City, no law West of
Hays City, and no God West of Carson City" Carson City is in
Nevada so the Western territories were dangerous places in other
words.
Wild Bill was hired for about $200 per month and went to work. By
this time his reputation was well established and people gave him
alot of respect even if they didn't like him. I already wrote posts
about his time as sheriff in Hays City and Abilene so I won't go into
details at this time. But he was in town for only a few months.
In that time the town settled down and people followed the law
which was set down for the most part. A few didn't and they died.
By the time of his last shooting it had caused many to question his
methods so he left and went to Abilene, Kansas where he was
hired again, this time for $250 per month.
Early Abilene about 1870:
His time in Abilene again resulted in quite a few deaths but the
peace was restored, people were following his law and violence
dropped off almost completely, he literally cleaned up the town single
handedly.
The last shooting ended with the death of a Texan named Coe who
Wild Bill didn't get along with and they had a history of
disagreements and arguments between the two. It was in the heat of
the last confrontation between them that one of Wild Bill's deputies
was shot by Bill himself.
Wild Bill and Coe were at a face off when Coe took out his pistol and
Wild Bill drew both of his and fired. Now the next part is very strange
but dozens of eye witness accounts all say the same thing.
At the moment that Wild Bill drew his pistols and fired, his deputy
came running around the corner and ran right between Coe and Wild
Bill exctly as Wild Bill fired!
The deputy was hit with both bullets and as soon as he was passed
him Wild Bill fired again striking Coe with 2 bullets to the stomach.
The deputy died on the spot. He was going to be going back home to
visit his ailing wife in Kansas City that night. Instead his body was
shipped to her the next day. Wild Bill felt terrible about it and paid
for all funeral expenses.
Later on he said that incident was the greatest regret of his life.
The shooting caused alot of controversy and the towns people
decided they were going to end the cattle drives from Texas
because Coe was a Texan and many in Texas swore revenge on
Wild Bill.
Well, the town was cleaned up by this time and with no more
cattle drives coming to town they felt like they didn't need some-
one of Wild Bill's capabilities so the fired him and hired a new guy
at one-third the cost, $50 per month!
Actually it was common practice to do it this way, it was a dirty way
to treat the men who put their lives on the line but it seemed like
good business to the city officials. Things haven't changed a whole
lot have they? lol.
Wild Bill was only in Abilene for about another month after the last
shooting. There was a great deal of disgruntled people, it was
rumored that more Texans were coming to town to take him out
and he started carrying a shotgun in addition to his pistols.
He was cool but on edge and people gave him a wide birth
especially after the last shooting.
Thanks for reading folks, the next post I will continue with Wild Bill's
story.
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
You come home from the garbage dump with more than you went
with! lol. God bless you all!
howdy sir mepatriot! well Abilene was the first crazy wild cow town in Kansas because it had the railroad come there first and I don't know specifically if it was the worst or worse than the others but it was pretty bad because of a lack of law enforcement.
I mean they would literally have groups of cowboys riding into town shooting their guns not only into the air but shooting out doors and windows! I mean it was nuts. So that part when you see scenes like that in the movies really did happen! lol. One of the few acts that actually did happen in the way that they were shown by Hollywood.
You probably have a great nick name for Hollywood to don't you? I really like some of the nick names that you come up with! like Monsatan! lol.
Anyway yes I don't read many accounts of it being common place to find dead bodies on the boardwalk every morning in the other cow towns but I'm sure it happened. Those people came looking for trouble. You had the rough, tough, buffalo hunters coming off the plains after weeks of hunting, flushed with cash after selling the hides. Then you had the soldiers from nearby forts coming in there on leave. Then you had the cowboys hitting town after months out on the trail and they were always ready to raise hell. Then you had the local tough guy ruffians who just loved to steal from people, get drunk and fight. Then you had the hardened trappers and scouts who would come in out of the wilderness from months of being out there and ready for a good time. Then you had the professional gamblers like Doc Holliday who would have to kill people if they got mad after losing and wanted to fight.
Then if that wasn't bad enough, everyone drank whiskey and I don't know what kind it was or how strong it was but it must have been like 190 proof at least, at least the first shots were, then they probably gave them watered down whiskey to keep them there longer and to increase their profits! lol.
Then to make it worse you had all these dance hall girls and lounge girls hanging around and many a fight was over the girl of course!
And with everyone armed and drunk and full of pride it was a deadly combination.
Of course when the towns hired the Lawmen usually the first thing they did was to institute a gun ban so as soon as someone hit town they would have to go and turn in their guns at the sheriff's or some other building and that immediately eliminated a great deal of deaths.
It's interesting to note that in Dodge City there were really two distinct sections of town divided by the railroad tracks which ran through the center of town.
Now on one side of the tracks were strict gun laws with the more respectable saloons and such like the Long Branch and nice barber shops and bath shops and such. Shaves were 25 cents and I think baths were 50 cents. But anyway, then on the other side of the tracks it was anything goes man! No gun laws, all the prostitution houses were on that side and the really rough bars and joints and the law wasn't even enforced on that side if I remember correctly! haha. I think that section of town was just left alone and was full of low life and scum. lol. Not the kind of place that you wanted to visit often or spend time there at night but I guess it did give license to go visit your favorite cat house with no consequences!
sounds like he had a lonely life though , always on the edge , keep posting its great to read about him x
howdy there winchestergirl! no he didn't have a lonely life because just in the way that men respected and liked him..the women ALSO liked him. ALOT! lol.
And many threw themselves at him. He was a very striking figure especially for back then, tall..over 6 ft, unusual in dress and style, and was what many think was handsome. And of course he made good money and was very famous! what more could a woman want? lol.
so my next posts about him will be about the women in his life but I doubt if I'll get one of those out today.
oh right , you know I can't wait for your next post , do you think you could write a book about the wild west ? you tell it well you know x
howdy winchestergirl! haha..well thank you I think you'll like the next post about Wild Bill...but as far as writing a book, I don't think I'm a colorful enough writer to write a book.
well maybe you can think about it , something could inspire you x
Great story mate. Literally, it gives the real picture of old western cities. I felt like he shouldn't have killed his deputy! But I learn that killing others was not that big a deal in those days!
howdy sir sathyasanker! well sir I believe and all the witnesses believed that the deputy should not have run between them and that it was an accident so it's just one of those unpreventable tragedies.
Killing innocent people was a big deal but killing outlaws and murderers was justice in that time period in the Old West.
thanks so much for reading and commenting!
This Wild Bill was sort of like a real-life John Wayne, not to be confused with Batman Bruce Wayne, and also I love Clint Eastwood, and Davy Crocket, my dad's friend was called Wild Bill, and that reminds me of that video game which I like, Red Dead Redemption. Speaking of the Wild West, you know Steemit is like the Wild Wild West starring Will Smith. This week, my reputation score was pulled from a 55, like you, down to 51 cuz a guy downvoted my comments where I pointed out a Dtube flaw even as Dlive leaves Steemit. People were talking about how great Dtube was because Dlive was leaving. Yeah, this is drama or whatever. I decided to let people know that older Dtube videos are discontinued, that they cannot be played, that they are like removed, banned, deleted, automatically, if they don't earn enough rewards, money, after some weeks. So, that was my week in the current wild west, haha. Upvoted.
oh Oatmeal! I'm so sorry this happened to you and it's totally senseless! well this IS like the wild west then, sometimes innocent people get wacked.
But it sounds like what that guy did was wrong, I thought this platform was about giving information and opinions.
thank you sir for reading and commenting.
oh, I've never seen that Will Smith movie, is it any good? taken from the tv series starring Robert Conrad?
Yeah, that Will Smith Wild West film came out in 1999 and Will Smith turned down being Neo in the Matrix that same year and went to do that movie which is kind of fun but more for kids as it is a little silly.
oh really? ha! wow and the matrix went on to be a major franchise film and the Wild West film did little to not much. very interesting, I bet he regrets that decision, or maybe not, he's had so many hits anyway. just some of Hancock last night, pretty wild movie.
Man you should do movie reviews for new movies coming out!
Accidents happen don't they janton and to get caught in the middle of a shoot out is just bad luck. Isn't it funny - Wild Bill was hired to clean up the town and when done he was fired. Some people have short memories and a lack of appreciation. I believe Wild Bill aka James was a good man.
howdy there this fine Sunday angiemitchell! I hope ya'll are having a good day down there. yes Ma'am from everything I've read about Wild Bill he was a very good man at his core, he hated injustice and bullies and repeatedly risked his life for the innocent and to uphold the law.
He was also very strong willed and had a super strong character even though in person they said he was quiet and respectful which led some outlaws or ruffians to believe he was weak but those men usually ended up dead! lol. because he was ruthless once he was riled up.
thanks so much for commenting and reading.
"Well, the town was cleaned up by this time and with no more
cattle drives coming to town they felt like they didn't need some-
one of Wild Bill's capabilities so the fired him and hired a new guy at one-third the cost, $50 per month!
Actually it was common practice to do it this way, it was a dirty way to treat the men who put their lives on the line but it seemed like good business to the city officials. Things haven't changed a whole lot have they?"
I guess something don't ever change! This seems to be just standard business practice since who knows when. Probably started the day after currency was introduced.
Oh My Gosh!!!!!!! I am soooo a redneck!
ha! you're a redneck because of the garbage dump thing? lol. well I think many of us could fall into that trap, I mean have you seen some of the nice stuff that people throw away? lol.
aaand the mustache kept growing and growing... maybe he ate lots of green food! 😂
hahaha! lots of green food..yes it makes me wonder what the diet was like back then, not very good I don't think. The only thing they talk about is beans and whiskey! lol.
and the mortality age was something like 45 or 50 years old if I remember right so I don't think they were eating their salads! If they even grew any back then, that would make an interesting post though since so many are interesting in eating healthy on steemit.
Wisky and beans sounds good to me! 😅
ahhaha! yes well beans sound good but whiskey is a little strong for me and I'm sure they didn't have the smooth, expensive kind on the frontier! I'm just guessing though maybe they had it for the wealthy people.
Fired when his services is no more needed. Sounds familiar, don't you think? lol
howdy this fine Sunday sir Vincent! it's probably Sunday night there, I hope it was a good day for you. Yes this seems to be the universal way of doing business doesn't it? not much loyalty but all about money.
which is a shame because Wild Bill was extremely loyal to people who treated him with respect and for his friends he would put his life on the line to protect them. A man of honor in other words, much like sir Vincent!
Indeed! Civilization has come a long way, but human character traits hasn't change much.
I like it when people say nice things about me - even though I know that they are only teasing. :-)
howdy today sir Vincent! oh but how do you know I'm teasing? lol. From what I can tell about you that is a true statement. But I agree that humans haven't changed unfortunately.
Love learning these bits of history from you!
well howdy there melinda010100! thank you so much for your support, I think it's important to learn how much of our West was settled and what it took to do that and it shows that when there is lawlessness evil flourishes.
And I sure appreciate all the exciting, beautiful and educational posts that you post, you enrich us all!
Lol almost admire the man
howdy there empress! almost?
he had faults but by all accounts he was genuinely kind hearted, loyal, brave, and dedicated to protecting the citizens but was hell on evil. What part of him would you not admire? well except the drinking and gambling. lol.