Okla-homey
7/21/2008, 06:49 AM
through the heart with a shot from Hickock's .36 caliber Colt "Navy" revolver -- which is pretty remarkable, even by today's standards
July 21, 1865: Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4448/wildbillhickoknd9.jpg
143 years ago today, in what may be the first true western showdown, James Butler Hickock, a/k/a Wild Bill Hickok, shoots Dave Tutt dead in the market square of Springfield, Missouri.
In 1855 Hickok, then 18, had a fight with Charles Hudson which resulted in both falling into a canal. Mistakenly thinking he had killed Hudson, Hickok fled his home state of Illinois. Hickock's folks were abolitionists and had provided aid to escaped slaves on their southern Illinois farm.
Thus, when Hickock got out Kansas, he aligned with General Jim Lane's vigilante Free State Army ("The Red Legs"). There, Hickock met then 12 year old William Cody, later to be known as "Buffalo Bill", who at that time was a scout for the Jayhawker forces. Due to his "sweeping nose and protruding upper lip", Hickok was nicknamed "Duck Bill" by his Kansas pals.
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8561/wildbillhickok500et9.jpg
In 1861, after growing a mustache, and not without some encouragement from himself, he was to become known by the nickname he is most famous for, "Wild Bill". After the war ended, he stayed out in Kansas and frequented the gambling houses on both sides of the border. He dabbled in buffalo hunting with his friend Buffalo Bill, as well as stage coach driving.
Hollywood movies and dime novels to the contrary, the classic western showdown--also called a walkdown--happened only rarely in the American West. Rather than coolly confronting each other on a dusty street in a deadly game of quick draw, most men began shooting at each other in drunken brawls or spontaneous arguments. Ambushes and cowardly attacks were far more common than noble showdowns.
Nonetheless, southern emigrants brought to the West a crude form of the "code duello," a highly formalized means of solving disputes between gentlemen with swords or guns that had its origins in European chivalry. By the second half of the 19th century, few Americans still fought duels to solve their problems. Yet, the concept of the duel surely influenced the informal western code of what constituted a legitimate-and legal-gun battle.
Above all, the western code required that a man resort to his revolver only in defense of his honor or life, and only if his opponent was also armed. Likewise, a western jury was unlikely to convict a man in a shooting provided witnesses testified that his opponent had been the aggressor.
The best-known example of a true western duel occurred on this day in 1865. Wild Bill Hickok, a skilled gunman with a formidable reputation, was eking out a living as a professional gambler in Springfield, Missouri. He quarreled with Dave Tutt, a former Confederate soldier, but it is unclear what caused the dispute. Some people say it was over a card game while others say they fought over a woman. Whatever the cause, the two men agreed to a duel.
The showdown took place the following day with crowd of onlookers watching as Hickok and Tutt confronted each other from opposite sides of the town square.
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3938/wildcartridgeboxrg2.jpg
When Tutt was about 75 yards away, Hickok shouted, "Don't come any closer, Dave." Tutt nervously drew his revolver and fired a shot that went wild. Hickok, by contrast, remained cool. He steadied his own revolver in his left hand and shot Tutt dead with a bullet through the heart.
Having adhered to the code of the West, Hickok was acquitted of homicide charges. Eleven years later, however, Hickok died in a fashion far more typical of the violence of the day: a young gunslinger named Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head while he played cards in a saloon in Deadwood, SD on Aug. 2, 1876.
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8498/wildsd12816za3.gif
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3733/wildhickokgravema9.jpg
Hickock's grave marker in Deadwood.
Legend says that the hand Hickok was holding at the time of his death was two pair – black aces and black eights. The hand would forever be known as the "dead man’s hand."
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/60/wild2162772043fa2669c67ym8.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/8894/wildbillplaquewx0.jpg
July 21, 1865: Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4448/wildbillhickoknd9.jpg
143 years ago today, in what may be the first true western showdown, James Butler Hickock, a/k/a Wild Bill Hickok, shoots Dave Tutt dead in the market square of Springfield, Missouri.
In 1855 Hickok, then 18, had a fight with Charles Hudson which resulted in both falling into a canal. Mistakenly thinking he had killed Hudson, Hickok fled his home state of Illinois. Hickock's folks were abolitionists and had provided aid to escaped slaves on their southern Illinois farm.
Thus, when Hickock got out Kansas, he aligned with General Jim Lane's vigilante Free State Army ("The Red Legs"). There, Hickock met then 12 year old William Cody, later to be known as "Buffalo Bill", who at that time was a scout for the Jayhawker forces. Due to his "sweeping nose and protruding upper lip", Hickok was nicknamed "Duck Bill" by his Kansas pals.
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8561/wildbillhickok500et9.jpg
In 1861, after growing a mustache, and not without some encouragement from himself, he was to become known by the nickname he is most famous for, "Wild Bill". After the war ended, he stayed out in Kansas and frequented the gambling houses on both sides of the border. He dabbled in buffalo hunting with his friend Buffalo Bill, as well as stage coach driving.
Hollywood movies and dime novels to the contrary, the classic western showdown--also called a walkdown--happened only rarely in the American West. Rather than coolly confronting each other on a dusty street in a deadly game of quick draw, most men began shooting at each other in drunken brawls or spontaneous arguments. Ambushes and cowardly attacks were far more common than noble showdowns.
Nonetheless, southern emigrants brought to the West a crude form of the "code duello," a highly formalized means of solving disputes between gentlemen with swords or guns that had its origins in European chivalry. By the second half of the 19th century, few Americans still fought duels to solve their problems. Yet, the concept of the duel surely influenced the informal western code of what constituted a legitimate-and legal-gun battle.
Above all, the western code required that a man resort to his revolver only in defense of his honor or life, and only if his opponent was also armed. Likewise, a western jury was unlikely to convict a man in a shooting provided witnesses testified that his opponent had been the aggressor.
The best-known example of a true western duel occurred on this day in 1865. Wild Bill Hickok, a skilled gunman with a formidable reputation, was eking out a living as a professional gambler in Springfield, Missouri. He quarreled with Dave Tutt, a former Confederate soldier, but it is unclear what caused the dispute. Some people say it was over a card game while others say they fought over a woman. Whatever the cause, the two men agreed to a duel.
The showdown took place the following day with crowd of onlookers watching as Hickok and Tutt confronted each other from opposite sides of the town square.
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3938/wildcartridgeboxrg2.jpg
When Tutt was about 75 yards away, Hickok shouted, "Don't come any closer, Dave." Tutt nervously drew his revolver and fired a shot that went wild. Hickok, by contrast, remained cool. He steadied his own revolver in his left hand and shot Tutt dead with a bullet through the heart.
Having adhered to the code of the West, Hickok was acquitted of homicide charges. Eleven years later, however, Hickok died in a fashion far more typical of the violence of the day: a young gunslinger named Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head while he played cards in a saloon in Deadwood, SD on Aug. 2, 1876.
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8498/wildsd12816za3.gif
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3733/wildhickokgravema9.jpg
Hickock's grave marker in Deadwood.
Legend says that the hand Hickok was holding at the time of his death was two pair – black aces and black eights. The hand would forever be known as the "dead man’s hand."
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/60/wild2162772043fa2669c67ym8.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/8894/wildbillplaquewx0.jpg