Notes about people, places and things

Aces and eights, that specific hand, in poker, has become known as “dead mans hand”. The reason for that expression is former marshal James Bulter “Wild Bill” Hickok was holding that hand when he was shot and killed in Deadwood, Dakota Territory on August 2, 1876. Wild Bill was already a legend before arriving in deadwood. An article in Harper’s magazine in 1867, by George Nichols, had highlighted his daring adventures as a Union spy during the civil war, Indian scout for the army, detective, gambler, gun fighter and marshal. Hickok had also toured throughout the East Coast with the famous Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West show. Many frontier folks knew Hickok when he was the town marshal of roaring Abilene, Kansas in 1871. After Wild Bill was buried, his sister gave his gun to a family friend named Pat Garrett. That gun was used again five years later when Sheriff Garrett tracked down and killed an escaped prisoner by the name of William H. Bonney, also known as “ Billy the Kid.”