Not a Good Intro to Wild Bill But Devotees Will Like It

books:

	• Wild Bill Hickok Gunfighter: An Account of Hickok's Gunfights Joseph G. Rosa University of Oklahoma Press, 2003 - 216 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not a Good Intro to Wild Bill But Devotees Will Like It

If you're looking for one book on Wild Bill's life, this is not it. Instead, read Rosa's _They Called Him Wild Bill_. This book has nothing on Hickok's Civil War experience, no evaluation of the tales of his shooting prowess, no account of his days on the plains or on the stage.

It is a detailed look at the five documented gunfights -- and death -- of Hickok. Rosa reconstructs each with contemporary records, presents diagrams and timelines, and looks at the weapons each party used. He also looks at how Hickok wore his guns and the provenance of several guns claimed to have been carried by Wild Bill.

For hardcore Wild Bill devotees, there is some new information uncovered by Rosa since _They Called Him Wild Bill_.

The illustrations are both plentiful and useful.

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Let the Fact Become the Legend

Rosa is unquestionably the leading expert on Hickok. This book details Wild Bill's various "gunfights," in all their sad or sordid detail. As usual, the truth is much less spectacular than the fiction. For those unfamiliar with how the old six-shooters worked (or didn't work), this book is an excellent primer. Included is Bill's last "gunfight," his pathetic murder in a sad little saloon in the notorious town of Deadwood.

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Great book for history buffs

If you are interested in light reading strictly for entertainment this is not the book. If you are looking for accurate information on the guns "Wild Bill" used and documented information on his exploits, this one is hard to beat. You should probably read "They Called Him Wild Bill", same author, before reading this.

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The Real Story of Wild Bill Hickok's Gun Fights

I've always been interested in Wild Bill Hickok and many of the other gunfighters who were immortalized by the western novels, newspapers and the motion picture/ television media when I was a boy. Late in life I learned that William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody was my fifth cousin and that my grandmother had actually spent time with him when she was a child. That information caused me to start researching Buffalo Bill. James Butler Hickok was young "Buffalo Bill's" mentor and guardian when the preteen Cody was beginning his career working on wagon freight trains and as a Pony Express rider. Hickok and the Cody family remained lifelong friends. I mention this fact only to tip off the reader to this reviewer's favorable bias toward Hickok.
The part of Joseph G. Rosa's account of Hickok's gunfights that most interested me was the killing of Davis Tutt in the public square of my hometown of Springfield, Missouri. Rosa does an excellent job of telling the story of that infamous gunfight, which was "one of the few stand-up, face-to-face, duel-type gunfights of the gun fighting era."(1851-1900) "It was a fair fight where both participants retained their honor." Rosa goes into great detail quoting all the eyewitness accounts of the time. He describes the long-time friendship of the two men that began when both were scouts during the Civil War--Hickok for the Union and Tutt for the Confederacy. He describes the gambling quarrel the two men had the day before the gunfight when Tutt left with Wild Bill's watch to hold until an old disputed debt was settled. Hickok was attempting to avoid a gunfight with his long-time friend. Numerous people witnessed the fight and the details of the trial were described. Hickok was found to have fought in self-defense and went on to become a legend of the old west including many appearances in his friend Buffalo Bill's world famous "Wild West Show." Cody coined that term.
Hickok loved to drink, gamble, brawl with his fists as well as weapons and wasn't tame enough to be suited for show business or the big city so he returned to the Wild West frontier. He was involved in several famous gunfights and Rosa does his usual thorough job of trying to separate the fact from the myth. Each of his most famous gunfights is described in great detail with charts showing, mapping, the various locations and the action that took place. The book talks about the various weapons used by Hickok in great detail along with a series of pictures of experts showing how Hickok drew his guns from their unusual butt facing frontward hostlers. The author makes the discussions of the various weapons interesting even for the non-gun enthusiast. As Buffalo Bill reported in his own autobiography, Hickok didn't speak often, but when he did, people listened and obeyed. The sections about Hickok's murder in Deadwood, S.D. and the acquittal of his killer Jack McCall are the most famous incidents in the gunfighter's life. How he was later retried and hanged is also an interesting story reported in detail in this volume. Hickok's burials (his gravesite was moved) and his march into legend is also a fascinating story. Hickok is buried in section 1, lot 71 of Mount Moriah Cemetery. Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary) is buried in lot 70. This is an excellent, easy to read book about one of America's most famous and colorful characters of the Wild West. The book's author makes the various scenes almost come to life for the reader. He has written several other hard-to-put-down books about Hickok.

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Sixguns a blazin, lead a flyin.............

Rosa has written a great popular historical survey of Hickok's various gunfights starting with the Rock Creek incident and ending with his assassination in Deadwood. Rosa even provides photos of reenactors demonstrating Hickok's various modes of carry for his pistols and how he variously drew them from the holster. There is a lengthy discussion concerning the weapons Hickok carried, and Rosa discusses various contraversies surrounding some of the gunfights. Rosa is to be thanked for writing about Hickok because prior to his first work on Hickok there was a paucity of serious scholarship on the man. "Gunfighter history" historically has suffered from sloppy writing and sloppy scholarship. Rosa's writing is the polar opposite. And his judgements and conclusions are well-reasoned and judicious. He has methodically researched most aspects of Hickok's life,and this book is the result of his inquiry into the martial aspect of that life. Although,Rosa should have discussed how Hickok acquired his interest in firearms, and pistols in particular,in his formative years if at all possible. And how did Hickok attain such tremendous skill with his pistols? Did he shoot alot in his youth? These questions are not addressed, but it does not detract much from the overall quality of this work. On the contrary,the only reason the scholarship on Hickok is reliable and good is because of Rosa,and he should be heartily commended. If anyone has a serious interest in Hickok they will want to read this book. Although,if one has not read Rosa's biography of Hickok-"They Called Him Wild Bill"-they should read that first then read this work.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1876) was a Civil War spy and scout, Indian fighter, gambler, and peace officer. He was also one of the greatest gunfighters in the West. His peers referred to his reflexes as "phenomenal" and to his skill with a pistol as "miraculous." In "Wild Bill Hickok, Gunfighter," Joseph G. Rosa, the world?s foremost authority on Hickok, provides an informative examination of Hickok?s many gunfights.

Rosa describes the types of guns used by Hickok and illustrates his use of the plains? style of "quick draw," as well as examining other elements of the Hickok legend. He even reconsiders the infamous "dead man?s hand" allegedly held by Hickok when he was shot to death at age thirty-nine while playing poker. Numerous photographs and drawings accompany Rosa?s down-to-earth text.

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