Wild Bill Hickok: The True Story of Dead Man's Hand
Shots Fired West
23,378 views
The real story of Wild Bill Hickok is nothing like the one the dime novels sold. It is harder, sadder, and more honest than any movie version you have seen.
James Butler Hickok was a freight driver turned lawman turned legend, but the legend was written by a magazine journalist who never checked his sources. Behind the myth was a man who lost his eyesight, lost his purpose, and lost the one person who offered him a way out. He died in a chair with his back to the door in a town that had no law, holding a hand of cards that would become the most famous poker hand in American history. This is the true story of how the frontier built Wild Bill and then threw him away.
Further reading and sources used in researching this script:
1. Joseph G. Rosa, Wild Bill Hickok: The Man and His Myth (University Press of Kansas, 1996)
2. Joseph G. Rosa, They Called Him Wild Bill: The Life and Adventures of James Butler Hickok (University of Oklahoma Press, 1974)
3. Tom Clavin, Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier's First Gunfighter (St. Martin's Press, 2019)
4. Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, Why the West Was Wild (University of Oklahoma Press, 1963)
5. Robert K. DeArment, Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West (University of Oklahoma Press, 2003)
6. James D. McLaird, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends (South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2008)
7. Jerry Kuntz, Abilene Lawmen: The Smith and Hickok Years (Dog Ear Publishing, 2017)
8. George Ward Nichols, Wild Bill, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, February 1867
9. Robert B. Smith, Last Hurrah of the James Younger Gang (University of Oklahoma Press, 2001)
10. Watson Parker, Deadwood: The Golden Years (University of Nebraska Press, 1981)
Every script on this channel is written by a human researcher and writer. Our visuals and storyboards are developed internally with our production team. We are here to bring you well researched, educational content about the real people and real events of the American frontier. No shortcuts. No filler. Just the history the way it actually happened, told with the depth and respect it deserves.
8 Comments
Let others be wary of you because of it.
Whatever color you happen to be, this is a real example of how the world will value you: not at all, not ever, not for anything that will sustain your soul.
Wild Bill Hickok: The True Story of Dead Man's Hand
Shots Fired West
23,378 views
The real story of Wild Bill Hickok is nothing like the one the dime novels sold. It is harder, sadder, and more honest than any movie version you have seen.
James Butler Hickok was a freight driver turned lawman turned legend, but the legend was written by a magazine journalist who never checked his sources. Behind the myth was a man who lost his eyesight, lost his purpose, and lost the one person who offered him a way out. He died in a chair with his back to the door in a town that had no law, holding a hand of cards that would become the most famous poker hand in American history. This is the true story of how the frontier built Wild Bill and then threw him away.
Further reading and sources used in researching this script:
1. Joseph G. Rosa, Wild Bill Hickok: The Man and His Myth (University Press of Kansas, 1996)
2. Joseph G. Rosa, They Called Him Wild Bill: The Life and Adventures of James Butler Hickok (University of Oklahoma Press, 1974)
3. Tom Clavin, Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier's First Gunfighter (St. Martin's Press, 2019)
4. Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, Why the West Was Wild (University of Oklahoma Press, 1963)
5. Robert K. DeArment, Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West (University of Oklahoma Press, 2003)
6. James D. McLaird, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends (South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2008)
7. Jerry Kuntz, Abilene Lawmen: The Smith and Hickok Years (Dog Ear Publishing, 2017)
8. George Ward Nichols, Wild Bill, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, February 1867
9. Robert B. Smith, Last Hurrah of the James Younger Gang (University of Oklahoma Press, 2001)
10. Watson Parker, Deadwood: The Golden Years (University of Nebraska Press, 1981)
Every script on this channel is written by a human researcher and writer. Our visuals and storyboards are developed internally with our production team. We are here to bring you well researched, educational content about the real people and real events of the American frontier. No shortcuts. No filler. Just the history the way it actually happened, told with the depth and respect it deserves.