James Butler Hickok May 27, — August 2, , better known as " Wild Bill " Hickok , was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout , lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights.
He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation.
Hickok was born and raised on a farm in northern Illinois at a time when lawlessness and vigilante activity were rampant because of the influence of the " Banditti of the Prairie ".
Drawn to this criminal lifestyle, he headed west at age 18 as a fugitive from justice, working as a stagecoach driver and later as a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought and spied for the Union Army during the American Civil War and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman , actor, and professional gambler. He was involved in several notable shootouts during the course of his life. The hand of cards that he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as the dead man's hand : two pairs; black aces and eights.
Hickok remains a popular figure of frontier history. Many historic sites and monuments commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and television. He is chiefly portrayed as a protagonist , although historical accounts of his actions are often controversial, and much of his career is known to have been exaggerated both by himself and by contemporary mythmakers.
