One of Bill's best friends was none other than George Armstrong Custer and he fought along side him in many a battle. Like his friend, he had a gift of self-promotion. Much of his legend and fame from himself dictating stories to popular journalist Henry Stanley. Stanley is probably better know for his trip to Africa and his famous words "Dr Livingston, I believe?". Through the many stories Wild Bill told Stanley, his legend grew and became the stuff of dime novels so popular during the 1800s.
Legend says that Wild Bill shot over a hundred men...that is merely an invention of the press and the dime novel. The notches on his Colts (which he could shoot with either hand) were probably closer to 6-8 men. At least one was killed by accident - his deputy in Abilene, Kansas during a shootout. Wild Bill paid for his funeral and left Abilene soon afterward, never holding office again.
Surprisingly like many of the legends of the Wild West, Bill's eyesight failed him as he grew older joining the likes of Bridger, Walker and others who were nearly blind at the time of death. He was an ailing man at just 39 years of age when he was shot down by Jack McCall in Deadwood and he had trouble seeing the cards. McCall met the hangman's noose for Wild Bill's murder after being acquitted once in an miner's court.
James Butler Hickok got the name "Wild Bill" during the Civil War when he served as a scout and spy for the Union Army, pulling off many dangerous and daring jobs for which his fellow northerners gave him his legendary name.
Next time...Was Calamity Jane married to Wild Bill Hickok?
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Today in History: On March 11, 1884, gunslinger Ben Thompson dies in a San Antonio theatre where accomplices of his longtime enemies ambushed and murdered him.