Wild Bill Hickok, American Folk Hero

Wild Bill Hickok, American Folk Hero

James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 - August 2, 1876), known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk character of the American Old West. Although some of his exploits as reported at the time were fictionalized, his skills as a gunfighter and gambler, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his enduring fame. Born and raised on a farm in rural Illinois, Hickok went west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, first working as a stagecoach driver, then as a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought (and spied) for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor, and professional gambler. Hickok was involved in several notable shootouts. He was shot from behind and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota) by an unsuccessful gambler. The card hand he held at the time of his death (aces and eights) has come to be known as the "Dead Man's Hand". Photographed by Jeremiah Gurney

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2700 x 4397 px | 34.0 MB

22.9 x 37.2 cm | 9.0 x 14.7 in (300 dpi)