On July 17, 1870, in Hays City at Paddy Welch’s saloon a couple of drunken troopers from Custer’s 7th Cavalry jumped Hic…
Tag: Wild Bill Hickok
Calamity Jane: The Devil in Buckskins The summer of 1876 remains the legendary wild woman of the West’s defining season.
The year 1876 proved the turning point in Calamity Jane Canary’s career. It began with two quick trips to the Black Hill…
More Than a Sidekick Charlie Utter blazed his own trail in the West.
Charlie Utter (right in photo) is best known as a sidekick to Wild Bill Hickok, but he had quite the life beyond that. B…
Love, Luck, and Lead A new biography on Wild Bill Hickok, plus Darren L. Ivey’s second volume on Texas Ranger history, a showdown on Old West myths and a Chisholm Trail history.
In the pantheon of Old West publishing history, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok is a biographical anomaly. Compared to h…
The Tragedy of Texas Jack Texas Jack Omohundro and Giuseppina Morlacchi’s doomed romance
Texas Jack could have been the person about whom the phrase “tall, dark and handsome” was coined. And Giuseppina Morlacc…
The Blindness of Wild Bill There are several theories on the eye problems of Hickok.
In the last years of his life, Wild Bill Hickok had eye problems. His eyesight was fading, he was sensitive to light, a…
Is Hard Knocks: A Life Story of the Vanishing West by Harry Young Accurate?
I’ve been reading Hard Knocks: A Life Story of the Vanishing West by Harry Young, the bartender who allegedly served “Wi…
Don’t Look Back Did Hickok use a ruse to shoot a hardcase?
It’s part of Wild Bill Hickok’s legend. The acting Ellis County (KS) sheriff was trying to corral Bill Mulvey, who was …
Don’t Take a Beer Mug to a Gunfight Sam Strawhun learned a hard lesson from Wild Bill.
Sam Strawhun and his pals had been wreaking havoc on John Bitter’s Saloon in Hays City, KS, early in the morning of Sept…
A Not So Heroic End A Medal of Honor winner takes on Wild Bill Hickok.
John Kile was a hero who came to a bad end. As a corporal in the 5th Cavalry, Kile won the Congressional Medal of Honor…