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(On This Day In History) August 2, 1876: Wild Bill Hickok Is Murdered
History.com ^ | August 2, 2007 | History.com

Posted on 08/02/2007 4:51:08 AM PDT by DogByte6RER

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Wild Bill...we hardly knew ya.

39 is just too young.

1 posted on 08/02/2007 4:51:12 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
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A few more links about Wild Bill Hickok:

http://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_names/hickok_james_butler/hickok_james_butler.html

http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3026831.html

http://www.theoutlaws.com/outlaws8.htm


2 posted on 08/02/2007 4:52:09 AM PDT by DogByte6RER ("Loose lips sink ships")
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Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Wild Bill Hickok
3 posted on 08/02/2007 4:54:00 AM PDT by DogByte6RER ("Loose lips sink ships")
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"Dead Man's Hand" Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
4 posted on 08/02/2007 4:55:01 AM PDT by DogByte6RER ("Loose lips sink ships")
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To: DogByte6RER

Looks like a woman’s hat. And no, I wouldn’t want to have to tell him that. I like my innards where they presently reside. :-)


5 posted on 08/02/2007 4:57:06 AM PDT by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll.)
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To: DogByte6RER
Thanks for posting this article. I didn't know the origin of the term "The Dead Man's Hand."


6 posted on 08/02/2007 4:59:52 AM PDT by Daffynition (The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.)
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To: DogByte6RER
The most famous gunfighter in the history of the West died with his Smith & Wesson revolver in his holster there was some discrepancy whether or not JB Hickock was toting 2 Colt Navy .36 caliber cap and ball revolvers, 2 Colt Navy richards cartridge conversion, or 2 Colt open top cartridge guns....

......but as much as I like S&W too, he was NOT carrying these when Jack McCall perforated Wild Bill's skull from behind.

7 posted on 08/02/2007 5:10:09 AM PDT by Vaquero (" an armed society is a polite society" Heinlein "MOLON LABE!" Leonidas of Sparta)
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To: theDentist

Custer wore a similar hat about a month before...


8 posted on 08/02/2007 5:11:13 AM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: DogByte6RER
Several times he was arrested for vagrancy

In view of his celebrity status, if he lived in today's world, he'd been in and out of rehab, been acquitted of murder in a sensational trial, dated Anna Nicole, and have his own reality show whose ratings soar when he cuts his hair and announces he is gay.

9 posted on 08/02/2007 5:12:38 AM PDT by battlegearboat
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To: johnny7

Hmmmm... so I surmise wearing a woman’s hat can lead to a hole-y demise.


10 posted on 08/02/2007 5:18:18 AM PDT by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll.)
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To: DogByte6RER

“On this day in 1876, Hickok was playing cards with his back to the saloon door.”

First mistake.

I loved the old stories of the west when I was a kid; Kit Carson, Custer and Wyatt Earp!


11 posted on 08/02/2007 5:18:45 AM PDT by incredulous joe ("Whoever so loveth me, loveth my hound." - St. Thomas More)
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To: DogByte6RER

Where were the Gun Control weenies when they were needed??


12 posted on 08/02/2007 5:19:00 AM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
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To: Vaquero
I never heard of Hickok carrying anything other than .36 Navy Colts.

I did hear a story of Hickok being called “Duck Bill” when he was younger due to protruding lips. He grew the mustache to hide the fact. That was later shortened to “Bill” and when he stopped a riot in one of the towns he was marshaling, someone in the crowd yelled out, “Yay, for Wild Bill”. The nickname stuck.

The aces and eights was supposed to be a two of a kind with the other card unknown. Legend has it he was being dealt the last card when he was murdered. I miss watching HBO's Deadwood but I hated the solution to the town's problems at the end of the series. It was terrible.

13 posted on 08/02/2007 5:20:44 AM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (NRA - Hunter '08)
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To: Shooter 2.5

You are correct about the ending.
I was thinking they were going to end it with the great fire that leveled the town. Instead they just buggered out.
Maybe soon a movie will come along to do a just ending.


14 posted on 08/02/2007 5:25:28 AM PDT by Joe Boucher (An enemy of Islam)
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To: Vaquero

Yup...I heard he carried Navy Colt’s... cap’n’ball as well.


15 posted on 08/02/2007 5:25:30 AM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: theDentist

Looks like a women’s hat?

You wouldn’t say that if you knew anything about male headwear of the time period. The “cowboy” hats we are all so familiar with did not exist until the 1920’s

For that matter, no gunslinger or cowboy of that period ever wore their gun holster low on the legs like we see in movies today. All gun holsters were right against the waist belt like we think of a police man’s pancake holster is today.

Imagine trying to ride a horse with your gun all the way down your leg? It would fall right out of the holster every time you sat in the saddle!

And NO cavalry soldier ever had a yellow kerchief as part of their uniform EITHER!

If you want to know anything about what REAL cowboys and western folks did, wore, or had in the REAL cowboy days (between the 1850s and 1900) IGNORE Hollywood!!!


16 posted on 08/02/2007 5:30:39 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
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To: theDentist

More than likely... it was the style for the time. Especially for celebrities in the American west.


17 posted on 08/02/2007 5:34:25 AM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: DogByte6RER

Deadwood was still a “wild” town when I visited there one night in 1970. A bunch of college buddies picked me up in my hometown of Hot Springs, SD. We drove over to Deadwood and spent the night (as best as I can remember). :-)


18 posted on 08/02/2007 5:37:49 AM PDT by marvlus
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To: Mobile Vulgus
IGNORE Hollywood!!!

That is good advice in general. There may be an exception, but I can't think of one.

19 posted on 08/02/2007 5:51:27 AM PDT by magslinger (Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors. And miss. R.A.Heinlein)
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To: Shooter 2.5

“He wanted me to tell him something pretty”

Pretty the ending wasn’t at all. But fitting.

In other news, the rumored two “special” Deadwood movies are still DOA or MIA depending on who you read.


20 posted on 08/02/2007 6:02:38 AM PDT by Portnoy (Fahrenheit 451...Today's Temperature is hotter than you think...)
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