New Britain herald., 1929-07-19
WILD BILL H|CKOK
 NOT A REAL HERO
'Gentlemanly" Cowboy Shown
 As CoWardly Murderer

Fairbury, Neb., 19 July l9 tOF)- s;xtv-eieht years ago-July 12, 1881 Wild Bill Hickok committed the first killings of a bloody career that won him the name in fiction as gentleman gunman.
 Just how many he killed before b;s life was ended in 1876 at the gambling table in Deadwood' > D', is not known, but in his purported words, T suppose I have killed con- siderably over hundred So eentIamanly was Wild Bill, accord ing to some of his biographers' that he even paid the funeral expenses of several of his victims.
 Whether Wild Bill deserves thls heroic name given him In flcuoh and movie thrillers is questioned by George W. Hanson, Fairbury. Neo'' pioneer and banker, whose lnVestl- cation of Hickoks killings on July 12. 1861 reveals Wild Bill in an ul'- favorable light. The results ot ms research are on record with the Ne braska State Historical Society, at 
 Lincoln. Neb.
 Under Hansen's debunking inves' tisation, Wild Bills greatest single handed fight in America Tn "hlch he claimed he killed ten members of the notorious McCanles gang dvindles to the "Cowardly slaugh- tering" of three unarmed men David C. McCanles, James WOOL cousin of McCanles, and farmer named Gordon
 From all accounts of killings Tn which Hickok subsequently LOOK nart. I have been unable to find one single, authentic instance ln Whlch he fought a fair fight" Hansen oe- clares. ''To him no human life was sacred, He was a -blooded Kill CT without heart or conscience. Inc moment he scented a fight, he pulled his gun and shot to kill. So great was his fear of personal harm' and so quick was he to pull the trigger that on one occasion at Abilene, kas., he killed Mike Mc- Williams, his most intimate frlehd' before he recognized him."
 True Account Gathered
 The first killings of Wild BITS carer occurred at East Rock Creek Station, Nebraska Territory. SIX miles east of the present city or Fairbury. From interviews with nioneers and with William Monroe McCanles, of Kansas City, son Of one of the murdered trio and the only surviving eye witness to the slaughter, Hansen pieced together what he believes is the true story.
 Two years previous to the killings David McCanles migrated from North Carolina, where he had serV- ed as sheriff, to near Fairbury, Neb. The life of the Oregon Trail flow ed by his Rock Creek ranch and group of buildings he had erected. known as the East Rock Creek sta ton, was leased to the Central Overland and Pikes Peak Express Company, generally called the Overland Stage Company.
 Horace Wellman and his wife were placed in charge as keepers and J. ". Brink, nicknamed DOC, v was stock tender. In 1881, the Stage Company sent James B. Wild Bill' Hickok, 23 years old. from its headouarters at Leavenworth, kas.. to Rock Creek station, as assistant stock tender or stable hand-not as a peace officer as some of his bio- graphers state.
 Financial difficulties embarrassed the Stage Company and payments which were to be made to McCan- les for the East Rock Creek station could not be met The payments were to be made through Wellman. On July 1, Wellman agreed to make a trip to the river at once for SUD- plies and to collect the payments for McCanles. William Monroe McCan- les, David's 12-year- old son, was to so with him.
 Returning to the station late July 12, Wellman found David McCanles waiting. Sensing that Wellman ap- parently had been unsuccessful in collecting the money, McCanles went to the kitchen door of the station and demanded that Wellman come out. When told by Mrs, We'll man that her husband would not come, McCanless replied he would drag him out
 Wild Bill Steps In
 To the astonishment of McCanles Wild Bill then stepped to the kitchen door. McCanless walked to the other door of the cabin. Hickok stepped behind the flimsy calico curtain which separated the rooms of the cabin and as McCanless told him to come out and fight it out, he shot McCanles from his con- cealed position, using the rifle Me Canles had left at the stage station '
 Hearing the shot, Woods ani Gordon ran to the cabin. Hickok wounded Woods with two shots from a Colts revolver, and Wellman finished Woods hy crushing hls skull with heavy hoe.
 Lets kill them all," was the cry of Mr. and Mrs. Wellman, and Welt man struck his hoe at young Mon roie McCanless, who escaped. Mean