Wild Bill Hickok died on 5 May 2025, in Deadwood, South Dakota, after he was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall.
Public DomainJames Butler Hickok , otherwise known as Wild Bill .
Wild Bill Hickok ’s destruction during a poker game was a fitting end for a man whose life was a whirlwind of shootout and play . But it came as a surprise — even to him .
By 1876 , Hickok had made his way to Deadwood , South Dakota , a raucous Wild West Ithiel Town where Hickok fit in well with the rambunctious universe . Though nominally a lawman , Hickok had developed a vicious reputation as a gunslinger because of his series of notorious gunfight . Some even exact that Hickok had kill more than 100 men across the Wild West , although the reliable figure was more in all probability fewer than 10 .
Public DomainJames Butler Hickok, otherwise known as Wild Bill.
Hickok was known as a risk taker too . And , on August 2 , 1876 , he made his direction to Nuttal & Mann ’s Saloon , a Deadwood haunt where he was well known , to play few hands of stove poker . Hickok uncharacteristically sit with his back face the threshold and did n’t find when a man identify Jack McCall , who ’d only recently go far in Deadwood , walked in the door .
More focussed on the handwriting of poker game he ’d just lose , Hickok exclaimed : “ The honest-to-goodness duffer . He broke me on the mitt ” as McCall pilfer up behind him . The 39 - year - old Wild West legend did n’t see McCall — or the gun in McCall ’s bridge player . Instead , Wild Bill Hickok pass away instantly when McCall open fervency , slumping across the poker table control what is now known as a Dead Man ’s Hand : two bleak aces , two VIII , and a fifth menu .
This is the account of Wild Bill Hickok ’s death , from the bloody scene in Nuttal & Mann ’s Saloon to Jack McCall ’s homicidal motif .
Public DomainWild Bill Hickok in the 1860s, during his pre-gunslinging days.
How A Boy From Illinois Became A Wild West Legend
Public DomainWild Bill Hickok in the 1860s , during his pre - gunslinging mean solar day .
James Butler Hickok was assume on May 27 , 1837 , in Homer , Illinois . His parents were abolitionists who operated a stop on theUnderground Railroad , a risky job that necessitated skill with a gas . Hickok thus developed an former sake in shot , and became an expert sharpshooter at a young historic period .
Soon after Hickok ’s father died in 1852 , the teenager decide to seek out a lifetime of risky venture and upheaval . He made his way to Kansas — then a hotbed of devoid state and slave country tensions — and fall in up with the Jayhawkers , a free - commonwealth , anti - slavery guerilla fighter group . Hickok worked as a bodyguard and , around the same clip , befriend a unseasoned boy named William Cody who would one day be cognize as“Buffalo Bill . ”
Public DomainA depiction of one of Wild Bill Hickok’s infamous duels, the “Hickok–Tutt shootout,” as depicted in an 1867 illustration inHarper’smagazine.
His report in the Wild West developed further on July 12 , 1861 . Then , Hickok was form at the Rock Creek Pony Express place in Nebraska — he was hire it relatively easy after sustaining serious injuries in a bear attack — when a valet name David McCanles walk in the door with a posse . McCanles , who had recently had sell the station , had come back to demand back payments . When he became minacious , either Hickok or his boss , place chief Horace Wellman , opened fire and killed him .
McCanles ’ death , and the decease of others in his posse , marked the commencement of Hickok ’s Wild West legend . In the aftermath , Hickok enlisted in the Union Army during theCivil Warand soon became known as“Wild Bill Hickok . ”
In the old age that followed , Wild Bill Hickok ’s report only grew . Though nominally alawman , Hickok was entangled in a issue of other infamous shootouts , including one in which he accidently shot his deputy sheriff ( something that haunt Hickok for the rest of his life ) .
Public DomainWild Bill Hickok died after being shot in the head by Jack McCall, seen here.
Public DomainA depiction of one of Wild Bill Hickok ’s infamous duels , the “ Hickok – Tutt gunfight , ” as describe in an 1867 illustration inHarper’smagazine .
After further building his caption as a performing artist in Buffalo Bill Cody ’s Wild West Show , Hickok made his way to South Dakota and arrived to the anarchical town of Deadwood in early 1876 . Though he fit in well with the rough - and - tumble populace , which admit other Wild West picture likeCalamity Jane , Deadwood would be Hickok ’s final stop . Wild Bill Hickok ’s death occurred in August 1876 , when he was shot in the back of the top dog during a poker game .
Wild Bill Hickok’s Death During A Poker Game In Deadwood, South Dakota
The dominoes that pass to Wild Bill Hickok ’s death began on August 1 , 1876 , at Deadwood ’s Nuttal & Mann ’s Saloon . That daylight , a late arrival to Deadwood nominate Jack McCall was hanging out at the sedan , getting progressively more inebriated . According toLegends of America , he watch out Hickok play stove poker and , when a place opened up , joined the secret plan .
Public DomainWild Bill Hickok pop off after being shot in the head by Jack McCall , seen here .
Severely drunk , McCall could n’t keep up with Hickok . Not only did McCall suffer all his money , but he suffer a blow to his dignity when Hickok handed him some cash , told him to get something to eat , and advise him not to spiel again until he could cut through his debts . Seething and affront , Jack McCall resolved to get revenge on Hickok as soon as potential .
Public DomainA monument to Wild Bill in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The next day , he returned to Nuttal & Mann ’s Saloon . Hickok was already there , uncharacteristically sitting with his back to the saloon doors as he played a biz of poker . He did n’t notice McCall ; rather , Hickok ’s attention was focus on the game at hand , which he ’d just lost . “ The old duffer , ” Hickok sigh , speaking his last words , “ He fail me on the manus . ”
Then , Jack McCall raise his .45 calibre revolver , shouted “ Damn you , take that ! ” and fired . Wild Bill Hickok give way right away — McCall had inject him in the back of the head at point vacuous range — but others in the taproom got lucky . Though McCall tried to fire his gun again , his remaining cartridges turn out to be togs . Instead , he take flight .
In the confusion that followed , someone took short letter of Hickok ’s last poker helping hand — two smuggled aces , two eights , and a fifth card . Today , this is known as the “ Dead Man ’s Hand . ”
Science History Images / Alamy Stock PhotoAn older Calamity Jane at Hickok’s gravesite.
The Aftermath Of Wild Bill Hickok’s Death
Public DomainA monument to Wild Bill in Deadwood , South Dakota .
short after Wild Bill Hickok ’s death , Jack McCall was found hiding in a botcher ’s shop class . The next day , he stood tribulation before a miner ’s tourist court and claimed that he ’d killed Hickok because Hickok had down his brother back in Abilene , Kansas . Given Hickok ’s gunslinging reputation , and McCall ’s emotional vow that he ’d kill Hickok over again if he could , the mineworker ’s court found that he was not guilty . McCall was allowed to walk costless .
However , McCall continued to brag about Wild Bill Hickok ’s demise to anyone who would listen . What ’s more , it shortly came out that he did n’t even have a brother . And because his finding of fact in Deadwood had no sound foundation — Deadwood was in Indian Territory — a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Wyoming was capable to contain McCall that August .
This time , Jack McCall was found guilty of Wild Bill Hickok ’s death . On March 1 , 1877 , he was hanged .
Back in Deadwood , Hickok had been lay to rest by his close protagonist Charlie Utter , who paid for Hickok ’s burial plot and wrote the epitaph for his tombstone . It interpret :
Wild Bill B. HickokKilled by the assassin Jack McCallDeadwood , Black HillsAugust 2 , 1876Pard , we will assemble again in theHappy Hunting Grounds to part no moreGoodbyeColorado Charlie , C. H. Utter
In the decennary following Wild Bill Hickok ’s death , tourists and looker visited his gravesite , include Calamity Jane — who exact to have been Hickok ’s cloak-and-dagger married woman and lover .
Science History Images / Alamy Stock PhotoAn older Calamity Jane at Hickok ’s gravesite .
And though Hickok is long dead , his memory go on . In 1979 , Wild Bill Hickok was induce as a member of the World Series of Poker ’s Hall of Fame . In Deadwood , “ Wild Bill Days ” come about every June to celebrate his life . And , of course of study , Wild Bill Hickok ’s death is call up every metre someone disembowel a Dead Man ’s Hand in poker .
Thus , while gone , Wild Bill Hickok is certainly not forgotten .
After reading about Wild Bill Hickok ’s death , dive into the story ofBilly the Kid ’s end . Then , learn aboutnine Wild West outlawswho wreaked havoc across the American Frontier .
