The Coolidge examiner., 1934-08-03

" ~how many q later player holding
~ Y that sinister combination. in some
~ lighted cheerful room. must have felt
M n a prickilng of bis scalp as II an icy
~ breeze famed his hands. or some
dark. cold presence. suddenly In the
room. stood mocking SO his shoulder"
For more than hall = century that sinister
combination has been known as the Dead Mans
Hand" Il was the hand % cards which the
famous Wild Blu Hlckok was holding when he
was assssslnnted 10 Dcadwood. & D. on August
.. 'ls51. and that event Is a landmark In the
history % The American frontier
Ills death marked not onl7 the Joss Of a
brave and gentle man. bat also the passing of
n great epic" writes a recent hozrapher of
this celebrated frontersman. ~Wild Bill. the
greatest scout % the Plains. the cool and fear
less marshal % border bad towns the marvel
Gus raarksmau. the terror % dcspeTadoes and
bad men' was gone. And with him was gone
the most vital need Tor man of his type The
days % wiid FREQ frontier lie wcre numbered
Already courts and schools and libraries and
factories were 50 near by that one more
eager forward move would put them and the
rich llfe they brought into the place ~ saloon
and gambling hail and dance resort. Wild Bln.
and the period IN which be lived. both had
played their part
The mau who wrote those words was the late
-
sas State Historical society when be died In
1880 be left behind him the manuscrlp, os an
unpublished biography of Hlckok based upon
- years % research. During that time he had
an unusual opportunity 20 obtain. evaluate and
interpret authentic material relating 10 the lie
and character % HIckok. Associated wlth him
IN hss work was his daughter Mrs Edith Con
nelley Clft. and upon his death Z, fell 20 her
lot e. edit her fathers manuscript and round
fNF. -. sTss.
vas the book ~wIid Bul and His Era-The life
aod Adventures of James Butler Hlekok- lis
sued last year by the Press of the Pioneers
New York publishing arm directed by Rufus
Rockwell Wilson which is doing an invaluable
work In preserving n variety of pioneer hisfo-
rioal rccordsl and 10 the opinion of those hes;
able 70 judge the result this latest biography IL
n sane. convincing poTtraIture of Wild Bin as
b. was
Like many another Wild West hero. Wild Bill
Hlckok has been the central figure In many
tall tale which was either entirely fictitious ln
the nrst place or had only slight basis of fact
but which, By constant repetition. has come 20 be
regarded as fact. Therefore one of the values
OF Connelley's book Is that u dlspels many OF
these legends and myths which have clustered
around the name os Wild Blll and substitutes
for them statements which can he accepted with
the confidence that they represent the truth
truth about n man who had such n colorful and
varied career as Hlckok had
Among these legends Is the story o. how James
Butler HIckok came 10 be known as sWlld BIZ |
and there have been as many variations on this
theme as there have been on most OF the other
events In his llfe According 20 ConneIley. the
true story Is this: In 1861 Hlckok. already wide
Is noted as skillful government scout and
guide was placed In charge Of a wagon train
mN.Ha
army supplies from Fort Leayenworth 10 seda
la. Ne. In route a party 81 20 guerrillas al.
tackled the train not far from Independence
Mo. and the guards. outnumbered four 10 one
made no attempt TO defend the train. bu, re-
treated az once.
HIckok as master OF the train. was riding or
horseback ahead OF H. When the guerrillas
called upon him TO surrender he replied: Come
and take me-" and spurred his horse toward
Independence. In the running eight which FOL
lowed he killed several OF his pursuers bat
escaped without a scratch. Reporting the loss
OF the train TO the Union troops there. he was
told that they could not help him. but that he
would have 20 20 on 10 Kansas City and report
the loss to the commander at that place
While In Independence he went into n saloon
owned by friend OF his and learned that the
bartender was besiegcd In nearby house By
mob OF teamsters and other rowdies because he
had wounded one OF their number during
fight HIckok Immediately drew two pistols and
offered 30 fight the entire party but his challenge
was not taken up. Then he ordered the crowd
10 dlsperse. saying: "If you do not there will be
more dead around here than the town can
bury" whereupon the rufiians departed hastily
The citizens OF the town gathered In the town
square after they had left to express their appre
clailon to the man who had delivered them from
their brief reign OF terror and during the meet
ing a woman cried out: "Good for you Wild
Bill" Who she was and why she called him
'Wid Bin" instead OF wild jim" Hiekok never
knew. He went on 10 Kansas City secured the
aid OF detachment OF soldiers and, returning
10 the scene OF the attack the wagon train
recaptu-ed the unlnjured wagons and some OF
the mules. When he arrived AT Sedalls he found
that the story OF his encounter In independence
had preceded him and everywhere he was hailed
as "wIld BILL" name which stuck TO him TO
the day OF his death.
A great many OF the legends that have grown
up around the name OF Wild Bill have had 10
do with his almost uncanny skin with the six
shooter but Connelley's patient research has re
suited In the confirmation OF most of these sto-
ries. even those which seem nearly unbelievable
rather than In dispelling the legend
Like so many other stories about Wild Bill