Wild Bill and the Englishman

Any Old West history enthusiast who fancies learning about famed gunfighter James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok must have heard of Joseph G. Rosa. Inspired by the character portrayed in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Plainsman, Rosa became the biographer of Hickok—a remarkable feat considering Rosa was an Englishman who conducted much of his research via international letters (remember those?) from the 1950s through 1970s. Just as impressive: Rosa was not a trained historian. He spent much of his