James Butler Hickok aka Wild Bill Hickok is one of those American historical characters whose legends grow and their deeds get embellished by each passing decade. Other names that comes to mind in this context include Billy the Kid and Jesse James – as any discerning reader will see in a flash the three have one thing in common and that is the Wild West.
Wild Bill Hickok led the kind of adventurous life that most of us dream about and only a select few working for Travel and Living or Discovery can actually manage to emulate. Wild Bill started his career as a stagecoach driver and then became a lawyer. He also found time to get involved in shootouts that are still remembered while making a name for himself as a scout, marksman, and professional gambler.
If historians are to be believed Hickok was quite happy promoting the “Wild Bill” moniker and article writers had a field day writing about the hundreds of men that Hickok killed in duels. However, it can be claimed with reasonable accuracy that one Hickok duel with a man, Davis Tutt, was the first recorded one of the “quick draw” type. Wild Bill Hickok had a long-standing friendship with Buffalo Bill Cody.
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