Blue sky oblique view red bricks 'Saloon ', where Wild Bill Hickok was killed, Main Street, Deadwood, South Dakota, USA
James Butler Hickok was born 27 May 1852 at Troy Grove, Illinois. He was the 4th of six children born to William Alonzo and Polly (Butler) Hickok. He was an Indian Scout in 1858, stage-coach driver 1859, guide and scout for the Union Army 1861, scout for George Armstrong Custer 1867-68, Marshall of Hays City, Kansas, in 1869 and Marshall of Abilene, Texas, in 1871. Hickok married Mrs Agnes Lake Thatcher, 5 March 1876, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, then headed for the Black Hills, during the goldrush. On 2 August 1876 he was murdered by Jack McCall (being shot in the back of the head) during a poker game at 'Saloon ' in Deadwood's Main Street. McCall may have been hired by gamblers who feared Wild Bill would be hired by the townspeople as the Deadwood Marshall. Hickok was being called 'Bill' by the mid-1850s and possibly picked up the 'Wild Bill' nickname for his daring ways of living and fighting during the Civil War period. The Second Building, seen here, dates to 1898. A clothing store moved out in 1903, after which it became a beer hall and later the Eagle Inn. Deadwood historians agree the saloon where Wild Bill was killed is in the general area, probably across the road, but definitely not in this building, despite the claims over the doorway, historical enactments inside and the reputed chair in which Wild Bill was sitting, when shot. A big fire in 1879 destroyed Deadwood's original wooden buildings and no records survive of the actual location of 'Saloon '.
Size: 3056px × 4592px
Location: 'Saloon ', Main Street, Deadwood, South Dakota, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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