badbobby Loc: texas

Wild Bill Hickok
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For the American football player and industrialist, see Bill Hickok (American football). For other uses of "Wild Bill", see Wild Bill (disambiguation).
"Wild Bill" Hickok

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, photograph date unknown
Born
James Butler Hickok
May 27, 1837
Homer, LaSalle County, Illinois (present-day Troy Grove)
Died
August 2, 1876 (aged 39)
Deadwood, Lawrence County, Dakota Territory (present-day Deadwood, South Dakota)
Cause of death
Murder by shooting
Resting place
Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, Dakota Territory
Other names
James B. Hickok, J.B. Hickok, Shanghai Bill, William Hickok, William Haycock
Occupation
farmer, vigilante, drover, teamster, wagon master, stagecoach driver, soldier, spy, scout, detective, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, showman, performer, actor
Parent(s)
William Alonzo Hickok and Polly Butler
Signature

James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his work across the frontier as a drover, wagon master, soldier, spy, scout, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, showman, and actor. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales that he told about his life. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation, along with his own stories.
Hickok was born and raised on a farm in northern Illinois at a time when lawlessness and vigilante activity were rampant because of the influence of the "Banditti of the Prairie". Hickok was drawn to this ruffian lifestyle and headed west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, working as a stagecoach driver and later 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. Over the course of his life, he was involved in several notable shoot-outs.
In 1876, Hickok was shot from behind and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota) by Jack McCall, an unsuccessful gambler. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as the dead man's hand: two pairs, aces and eights.
Hickok remains a popular figure in frontier history. Many historic sites and monuments commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and television. He is chiefly portrayed as a protagonist, though historical accounts of his actions are often controversial and most of his career was exaggerated by both himself and various mythmakers. While Hickok claimed to have killed numerous named and unnamed gunmen in his lifetime, according to Joseph G. Rosa, Hickok’s biographer and the foremost authority on Wild Bill, Hickok killed only six or seven men in gunfights.[1][2]

only six or seven?
that seems like a good number to me

Richard Rowland

Many of the famous frontier personalities were more hype than factual. Doc Holiday's story is also a much-hyped myth. One report: The only gunfight Doc was ever involved in was when he was with the Erps at OK corral. One genuine frontier personality, if one can believe what they read, was Kit Carson.

badbobby Loc: texas

every time I have Aces and Eights in a poker hand
I think of Mr Hickok

Richard Rowland

Perhaps, badbob, you should be packin' when at the card table. I suggest a shootin' iron holstered in one of these Doc Holiday styles. I intend to have one of these made for my Colt 45 single action, sixshooter. However, while this one is plain leather, I intend to fancy mine up a bit with floral design.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP4vX7TN6bM

badbobby Loc: texas

interesting holsters Richard.My Dad was a young cowboy and said he had met William Bonney(Billy the Kid)
he said Billy just stuck his sixshooter in his belt.He said
that most all of the old time gunslingers didn't have gun holsters.Instead they kept them stuck under their belts
dunno if that is true or not
,as Dad was prone to embellish his stories somewhat