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Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier's First Gunfighter
The definitive true story of Wild Bill, the first lawman of the Wild West, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dodge City.In July 1865, "Wild Bill" Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in Springfield, MO—the first quick-draw duel on the frontier. Thus began the reputation that made him a marked man to every gunslinger in the Wild West.James Butler Hickock was known across the frontier as a soldier, Union spy, scout, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, showman, and actor. He crossed paths with General Custer and Buffalo Bill Cody, as well as Ben Thompson and other young toughs gunning for the sheriff with the quickest draw west of the Mississippi.Wild Bill also fell in love—multiple times—before marrying the true love of his life, Agnes Lake, the impresario of a traveling circus. He would be buried however, next to fabled frontierswoman Calamity Jane.Even before his death, Wild Bill became a legend, with fiction sometimes supplanting fact in the stories that surfaced. Once, in a bar in Nebraska, he was confronted by four men, three of whom he killed in the ensuing gunfight. A famous Harper’s Magazine article credited Hickok with slaying 10 men that day; by the 1870s, his career-long kill count was up to 100. The legend of Wild Bill has only grown since his death in 1876, when cowardly Jack McCall famously put a bullet through the back of his head during a card game. Bestselling author Tom Clavin has sifted through years of western lore to bring Hickock fully to life in this rip-roaring, spellbinding true story.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 5, 2019
652 people are currently reading
3411 people want to read
About the author
Tom Clavin
44 books509 followersTom Clavin is the author/coauthor of eleven books. His most recent is That Old Black Magic: Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and the Golden Age of Las Vegas.
His articles have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Men's Journal, Parade, Reader's Digest, and others.
He was a contributing reporter for the New York Times for fifteen years.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 327 reviews
May 4, 2020
”Tall, lithe, and free in every motion, he rode and walked as if every muscle was perfection, and the careless swing of his body as he moved seemed perfectly in keeping with the man, the country, the time in which he lived. I do not recall anything finer in the way of physical perfection than Wild Bill when he swung himself lightly from his saddle, and with graceful, swaying step, squarely set his shoulders and well poised head, approached our tent for orders.”---Elizabeth “Libby” Custer
Libby published that description in 1890, many years after her husband George Armstrong Custer had been killed at the Little Big Horn, but goodness sakes alive, I felt jealous, and I’m not even her husband. I did have a crush on her, an historical crush, when I was a teenager. (Is that some form of necrophotophilia?) I wasn’t alone. Most men who met her remarked on the attractiveness of Mrs. George Armstrong Custer. For the rest of her life, she denied, never too vehemently, that she had had a prairie fling with Wild Bill Hickok.
Hickok and Custer, both legends, made even more so by their violent deaths, seemed destined to be tied together to the bitter end.
”It may seem no more than an odd coincidence that within six weeks of each other in 1876, and with the nations’ centennial in between, the American West had lost its two most famous and legendary figures in George Armstrong Custer and Wild Bill Hickok, and both still only in their thirties. WIth the former, a rousing victory at Little Bighorn could have catapulted him to the White House that fall, or possibly no later than 1880, when James Garfield, another young Civil War general, was elected.”
Wild Bill Hickok, like many of the legendary names of the American West such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Kit Carson, Bat Masterson, and Buffalo Bill Cody, was made famous by the fabricated stories concocted by pulp dime store novelists. The East Coast could not get enough of the exploits of these Western gunslingers and explorers. It was pure escapism from their boring, reasonably safe lives.
Because of these stories that were mostly springing from the imaginations of writers or were tall tales blown completely out of proportion from the reality of what really happened, it was a huge task for a writer like Tom Clavin to separate fiction from fact. Wild Bill Hickok’s life was larger than any ten men’s lives, without needing to enhance it.
Wild Bill Hickok not only looked the part, but lived the part of a legend.
When he got word that several men were waiting for him at train stops in Hays City and Abilene who harbored grudges from his days as a lawman, he telegraphed a message to the newspapers. ”’I shall pass through your prairie-dog villages on Tuesday. I wear my hair long as usual.’ When Hickok’s train pulled into those stations, no adversaires awaited. Instead, when he appeared, his long hair flowing out of his black sombrero, crowds who had gathered in anticipation of a showdown saluted him with cheers.”
Basically he was saying, come and get me you sons-of-bitches.
Growing up in Kansas, I heard and read all kinds of stories about Wild Bill Hickok. Most were of the dime novel variety, but I was pleasantly surprised that some were based on real events and were retold by Clavin in this book. It was like reacquainting myself with an old friend.
There were many shocking revelations, but one that erased and rewrote a lot of history in my mind was the true nature of his relationship with Calamity Jane. I also found it interesting that, after many years of being a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” type guy, he was absolutely smitten by the circus performer Agnes Thatcher Lake, who eventually became his wife and was a good decade older than him. She must have had that something something.
Wild Bill was a man of principle, and it showed in how he dealt with people, even those who were working against him. Clavin used a quote from the novel by Glendon Swarthout that inspired the movie by the same name, The Shootist , to express Wild Bill’s personal philosophy. “I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”
Hickok suffered from deteriorating eyesight in his late thirties, which was truly a dangerous and potentially tragic circumstance. If word had leaked out to his enemies or those men trying to make a name for themselves, he’d have been under constant threat of violence. He needed to retire into peaceful contemplation, but he enjoyed gambling and being around the saloon life. As he dithered in Deadwood, eventually meeting his end there, it became obvious that he was worried about returning to his wife and potentially forever leaving this life behind.
Hickok really made a name for himself as a lawman by bringing the wild cow towns of Hays City and Abilene under control, not without bloodshed, but certainly with the intent of making those cities safe for everyone. He may have done too good a job bringing things under control in Abilene, which eventually cost him his position.
I’ve never heard a story where Hickok held a prejudice against a man for the color of his skin, which was unusual in the 19th century. His Daddy provided a safe haven for those travelling on the Underground Railroad in Hickok’s childhood home in Illinois. Those abolitionist roots stayed with Wild Bill and brought him to Kansas during the bloody fighting between the Jayhawkers and the Border Ruffians. There is a part of me that wishes Wild Bill Hickok had been in Lawrence, Kansas, when Quantrill’s Raiders burned that town to the ground in 1863, but then I have to remember he was just one man, although it always seemed like he was much more than that. He was busy at the time, operating clandestinely behind the Confederate lines and bringing information back to the Union forces, quite possibly one of the most dangerous assignments in any war.
From the time he left Illinois until the time he left this world for good, Wild Bill Hickok was always right in the middle of where history was being made. You will enjoy reading about his exploits and will be impressed with the man who emerges from behind the legend. He was truly a man among men. A man who actually deserves the epitaph...legend.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Libby published that description in 1890, many years after her husband George Armstrong Custer had been killed at the Little Big Horn, but goodness sakes alive, I felt jealous, and I’m not even her husband. I did have a crush on her, an historical crush, when I was a teenager. (Is that some form of necrophotophilia?) I wasn’t alone. Most men who met her remarked on the attractiveness of Mrs. George Armstrong Custer. For the rest of her life, she denied, never too vehemently, that she had had a prairie fling with Wild Bill Hickok.
Hickok and Custer, both legends, made even more so by their violent deaths, seemed destined to be tied together to the bitter end.
”It may seem no more than an odd coincidence that within six weeks of each other in 1876, and with the nations’ centennial in between, the American West had lost its two most famous and legendary figures in George Armstrong Custer and Wild Bill Hickok, and both still only in their thirties. WIth the former, a rousing victory at Little Bighorn could have catapulted him to the White House that fall, or possibly no later than 1880, when James Garfield, another young Civil War general, was elected.”
Wild Bill Hickok, like many of the legendary names of the American West such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Kit Carson, Bat Masterson, and Buffalo Bill Cody, was made famous by the fabricated stories concocted by pulp dime store novelists. The East Coast could not get enough of the exploits of these Western gunslingers and explorers. It was pure escapism from their boring, reasonably safe lives.
Because of these stories that were mostly springing from the imaginations of writers or were tall tales blown completely out of proportion from the reality of what really happened, it was a huge task for a writer like Tom Clavin to separate fiction from fact. Wild Bill Hickok’s life was larger than any ten men’s lives, without needing to enhance it.
Wild Bill Hickok not only looked the part, but lived the part of a legend.
When he got word that several men were waiting for him at train stops in Hays City and Abilene who harbored grudges from his days as a lawman, he telegraphed a message to the newspapers. ”’I shall pass through your prairie-dog villages on Tuesday. I wear my hair long as usual.’ When Hickok’s train pulled into those stations, no adversaires awaited. Instead, when he appeared, his long hair flowing out of his black sombrero, crowds who had gathered in anticipation of a showdown saluted him with cheers.”
Basically he was saying, come and get me you sons-of-bitches.
Growing up in Kansas, I heard and read all kinds of stories about Wild Bill Hickok. Most were of the dime novel variety, but I was pleasantly surprised that some were based on real events and were retold by Clavin in this book. It was like reacquainting myself with an old friend.
There were many shocking revelations, but one that erased and rewrote a lot of history in my mind was the true nature of his relationship with Calamity Jane. I also found it interesting that, after many years of being a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” type guy, he was absolutely smitten by the circus performer Agnes Thatcher Lake, who eventually became his wife and was a good decade older than him. She must have had that something something.
Wild Bill was a man of principle, and it showed in how he dealt with people, even those who were working against him. Clavin used a quote from the novel by Glendon Swarthout that inspired the movie by the same name, The Shootist , to express Wild Bill’s personal philosophy. “I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”
Hickok suffered from deteriorating eyesight in his late thirties, which was truly a dangerous and potentially tragic circumstance. If word had leaked out to his enemies or those men trying to make a name for themselves, he’d have been under constant threat of violence. He needed to retire into peaceful contemplation, but he enjoyed gambling and being around the saloon life. As he dithered in Deadwood, eventually meeting his end there, it became obvious that he was worried about returning to his wife and potentially forever leaving this life behind.
Hickok really made a name for himself as a lawman by bringing the wild cow towns of Hays City and Abilene under control, not without bloodshed, but certainly with the intent of making those cities safe for everyone. He may have done too good a job bringing things under control in Abilene, which eventually cost him his position.
I’ve never heard a story where Hickok held a prejudice against a man for the color of his skin, which was unusual in the 19th century. His Daddy provided a safe haven for those travelling on the Underground Railroad in Hickok’s childhood home in Illinois. Those abolitionist roots stayed with Wild Bill and brought him to Kansas during the bloody fighting between the Jayhawkers and the Border Ruffians. There is a part of me that wishes Wild Bill Hickok had been in Lawrence, Kansas, when Quantrill’s Raiders burned that town to the ground in 1863, but then I have to remember he was just one man, although it always seemed like he was much more than that. He was busy at the time, operating clandestinely behind the Confederate lines and bringing information back to the Union forces, quite possibly one of the most dangerous assignments in any war.
From the time he left Illinois until the time he left this world for good, Wild Bill Hickok was always right in the middle of where history was being made. You will enjoy reading about his exploits and will be impressed with the man who emerges from behind the legend. He was truly a man among men. A man who actually deserves the epitaph...legend.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
September 3, 2025
Man, this was a hard book to pin down. It's technically split into three parts, but to me, it seemed like two. The first half of the book was barely about Wild Bill at all, while the second half was more focused on the legend himself. I genuinely struggled to finish reading it, but in fairness to the author, I think that was rather my fault than his. I was fighting against the flow, trying to wrangle it back to where I thought it was supposed to be--focused on Wild Bill. However, at some point, I realized it would be much easier to float along and just follow the tangents. After all, they always came back to where I expected them to.
The second half was a lot more memorable than the first. The beginning was about his early life, and had a lot of characters that were one-offs--*spooky voice, weird lighting, and creepy hand movements* never to return--similar to his commanding officer in the military, or more than a few guys he got into fistfights with at various saloons. The last half had more recurring characters--his friends, Buffalo Bill Cody and California Joe, among others. With the author increasingly focused on Wild Bill and his compadres, the info was able to sink in better.
I did learn a lot about him though, and in the end, isn't that why we read non-fiction in the first place? I think the author could've trimmed up this book by at least 50 pages--not giving us so much background info about people who weren't Wild Bill, or those personally close to him would've done it--but I still came away with a lot of knowledge I didn't have before. Of course, the other people do deserve to be remembered, and a part of me is glad they were included for that reason, but unfortunately, my brain won't retain all that extra info; I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, let alone all those names and dates. I also struggled with the amount of conjecture this had for a nonfiction book. While I feel like speculation has its place here and there, it was a little overdone here. Maybe with some clever rewording, it would've come across better.
Overall this book is good for a research project, if you want to know more about the enigma that is Wild Bill, or if you really love the Wild West and that piece of American history. However, I would not recommend it as leisurely reading, if that is what you are looking for.
The second half was a lot more memorable than the first. The beginning was about his early life, and had a lot of characters that were one-offs--*spooky voice, weird lighting, and creepy hand movements* never to return--similar to his commanding officer in the military, or more than a few guys he got into fistfights with at various saloons. The last half had more recurring characters--his friends, Buffalo Bill Cody and California Joe, among others. With the author increasingly focused on Wild Bill and his compadres, the info was able to sink in better.
I did learn a lot about him though, and in the end, isn't that why we read non-fiction in the first place? I think the author could've trimmed up this book by at least 50 pages--not giving us so much background info about people who weren't Wild Bill, or those personally close to him would've done it--but I still came away with a lot of knowledge I didn't have before. Of course, the other people do deserve to be remembered, and a part of me is glad they were included for that reason, but unfortunately, my brain won't retain all that extra info; I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, let alone all those names and dates. I also struggled with the amount of conjecture this had for a nonfiction book. While I feel like speculation has its place here and there, it was a little overdone here. Maybe with some clever rewording, it would've come across better.
Overall this book is good for a research project, if you want to know more about the enigma that is Wild Bill, or if you really love the Wild West and that piece of American history. However, I would not recommend it as leisurely reading, if that is what you are looking for.
November 28, 2021
"Hickok offered [lawbreakers] three courses of action. One was to head over to the train station and board the first eastbound that arrived. The second was to take the first westbound train out of the city. The third was to 'go north in the morning.' The cemetery was to the north, and the miscreant knew that if he hadn't left town by then, Wild Bill would come gunning for him. No surprise that the railroad business in Hays City increased, and the marshal's office saved money on bullets." -- page 138
As an admirer of author Clavin's bio on Gil Hodges (a mainstay on the old Brooklyn Dodgers team, and a hero in their '55 World Series victory), I couldn't wait to tear into one of his more recent books on the life and death of gunfighter James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok. Well, I did not enjoy this quite as much - possibly because the Hodges book benefited from many first-hand interviews with family / friends / teammates, while Hickok was understandably based solely on (admittedly very thorough) research - but it was still a worthwhile read, especially to separate the 'fact from fiction' sheen that tends to cover the almost-mythic but actual figures populating the U.S. western frontier in the mid- to late 1800's. What also made it sort of enjoyable was that someone nicknamed 'Wild Bill' was, by most accounts and for the most part, an honorable or upstanding guy in that untamed era - he was no fan of bullies and would defend those being pushed around, he did not shoot / kill in anger or cold bold during his occasional tenures as a lawman in some very violent towns, he was responsible in his liquor intake, and (very unusual for that time period) would bathe daily and would take care in his grooming / clothing habits. On top of all that he also was a Civil War combat veteran, a scout in the U.S. Army, an exceptional sharpshooter, a mostly successful gambler, and starred in a traveling Wild West performance show with friend 'Buffalo Bill' Cody. This man knew how to live a prolific life before his untimely murder at just 39 years old in the aptly named Deadwood, South Dakota.
As an admirer of author Clavin's bio on Gil Hodges (a mainstay on the old Brooklyn Dodgers team, and a hero in their '55 World Series victory), I couldn't wait to tear into one of his more recent books on the life and death of gunfighter James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok. Well, I did not enjoy this quite as much - possibly because the Hodges book benefited from many first-hand interviews with family / friends / teammates, while Hickok was understandably based solely on (admittedly very thorough) research - but it was still a worthwhile read, especially to separate the 'fact from fiction' sheen that tends to cover the almost-mythic but actual figures populating the U.S. western frontier in the mid- to late 1800's. What also made it sort of enjoyable was that someone nicknamed 'Wild Bill' was, by most accounts and for the most part, an honorable or upstanding guy in that untamed era - he was no fan of bullies and would defend those being pushed around, he did not shoot / kill in anger or cold bold during his occasional tenures as a lawman in some very violent towns, he was responsible in his liquor intake, and (very unusual for that time period) would bathe daily and would take care in his grooming / clothing habits. On top of all that he also was a Civil War combat veteran, a scout in the U.S. Army, an exceptional sharpshooter, a mostly successful gambler, and starred in a traveling Wild West performance show with friend 'Buffalo Bill' Cody. This man knew how to live a prolific life before his untimely murder at just 39 years old in the aptly named Deadwood, South Dakota.
May 9, 2023
“But perhaps I may yet die with my boots on.”
I grew up loving the kid’s book versions of legends of the American West. So when I saw this biography of Wild Bill Hickok, I thought, “Why not?” It had been years since I thought of the man, and reading this text brought many of the memories of him that had faded in my mind back to the forefront. It took me about 40 pages to get into this book, and suddenly I was engaged. The more I read the more I liked. The book grows on the reader.
In WILD BILL: THE TRUE STORY OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER’S FIRST GUNFIGHTER Tom Clavin gives almost as much attention to the people whose lives intersected with Wild Bill’s as he does to his titular subject. This book is about a person, but also about a period and its people. And they were fascinating people! I loved this organization/structure choice for the text.
Quotes:
• "He had risen to the heights of both reputation and fabrication…and now the slow, inexorable descent began. Like a Hamlet or Macbeth or any other of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes, there would be no escaping his fate.”
• “That I have killed men I admit, but never unless in absolute self-defense, or in the performance of an official duty.”
• “When a man believes the bullet isn’t molded that is going to kill him, what in hell has he got to be afraid of?”
One aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the exploration of the relationship between Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. They had an intriguing and long term friendship that I was not aware of.
A quibble with the text is its lack of a Notes section. I’m not sure that everything I read in this text was true. Mr. Clavin talks freely about some of the false legends surrounding Wild Bill, but I wonder if some of them did not creep in to what he claims as fact. Who knows? But a Notes (and more robust Bibliography) would have made me feel better about it.
In short, I’m glad I picked up WILD BILL. I enjoyed the read much more than I was anticipating, and I will read more of Mr. Clavin’s work.
I grew up loving the kid’s book versions of legends of the American West. So when I saw this biography of Wild Bill Hickok, I thought, “Why not?” It had been years since I thought of the man, and reading this text brought many of the memories of him that had faded in my mind back to the forefront. It took me about 40 pages to get into this book, and suddenly I was engaged. The more I read the more I liked. The book grows on the reader.
In WILD BILL: THE TRUE STORY OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER’S FIRST GUNFIGHTER Tom Clavin gives almost as much attention to the people whose lives intersected with Wild Bill’s as he does to his titular subject. This book is about a person, but also about a period and its people. And they were fascinating people! I loved this organization/structure choice for the text.
Quotes:
• "He had risen to the heights of both reputation and fabrication…and now the slow, inexorable descent began. Like a Hamlet or Macbeth or any other of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes, there would be no escaping his fate.”
• “That I have killed men I admit, but never unless in absolute self-defense, or in the performance of an official duty.”
• “When a man believes the bullet isn’t molded that is going to kill him, what in hell has he got to be afraid of?”
One aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the exploration of the relationship between Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. They had an intriguing and long term friendship that I was not aware of.
A quibble with the text is its lack of a Notes section. I’m not sure that everything I read in this text was true. Mr. Clavin talks freely about some of the false legends surrounding Wild Bill, but I wonder if some of them did not creep in to what he claims as fact. Who knows? But a Notes (and more robust Bibliography) would have made me feel better about it.
In short, I’m glad I picked up WILD BILL. I enjoyed the read much more than I was anticipating, and I will read more of Mr. Clavin’s work.
January 11, 2019
Armed with contributing facts and figures based on countless hours of research, the author helped clearly debunk many of the outrageous myths that surrounded the larger-than-life figure, James Butler Hickok, the notorious, Wild Bill. Easy-to-follow, the main character became well-drawn as the storyline moved, chronologically, through his daring adventures. Springing more to life with every passing page, engrossing details were presented that added luster to his already admired persona.
One fact, however, that certainly carried a general consensus by all was the eagle-eyed, expertise that Wild Bill demonstrated time and again with his six shooters; he was in a class all to himself. According to all reliable witnesses, he was lightning fast on the draw with either hand and an extraordinary shot. A lawman of the Wild West, it was a deadly combination that any would-be criminal would not want to find themselves in front of the business end of one of his pistols. A legend in his own time, he was renowned for being a gunslinger, scout, spy, showman and gambler.
The inherent power of the mind and its direct influence over the body was a contributing factor for the turning point in Wild Bill's life. It arrived with an unfortunate day when he mistakenly gunned down fellow peace officer and friend, Mike Williams. From that day forward, he was never the same. Every waking moment, he was haunted with that troubling memory. It was only shortly thereafter; his general health and well-being began to rapidly decline. In about a year hence, by age thirty-nine, he was a mere shell of his former self.
Based on documented history, it could therefore be concluded that the killing of the Marshal produced a life-altering impact on Hickok's state of health both physically and mentally. In defiance to his dynamic personality, it was the kryptonite responsible for his ultimate demise - self-doubt.
From beginning to end, this well-written narrative held me captive. For anyone in need of wanting to satisfy their curiosity about one of America's leading frontiersman, this absorbing novel would be the one of choice.
I offer my thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
One fact, however, that certainly carried a general consensus by all was the eagle-eyed, expertise that Wild Bill demonstrated time and again with his six shooters; he was in a class all to himself. According to all reliable witnesses, he was lightning fast on the draw with either hand and an extraordinary shot. A lawman of the Wild West, it was a deadly combination that any would-be criminal would not want to find themselves in front of the business end of one of his pistols. A legend in his own time, he was renowned for being a gunslinger, scout, spy, showman and gambler.
The inherent power of the mind and its direct influence over the body was a contributing factor for the turning point in Wild Bill's life. It arrived with an unfortunate day when he mistakenly gunned down fellow peace officer and friend, Mike Williams. From that day forward, he was never the same. Every waking moment, he was haunted with that troubling memory. It was only shortly thereafter; his general health and well-being began to rapidly decline. In about a year hence, by age thirty-nine, he was a mere shell of his former self.
Based on documented history, it could therefore be concluded that the killing of the Marshal produced a life-altering impact on Hickok's state of health both physically and mentally. In defiance to his dynamic personality, it was the kryptonite responsible for his ultimate demise - self-doubt.
From beginning to end, this well-written narrative held me captive. For anyone in need of wanting to satisfy their curiosity about one of America's leading frontiersman, this absorbing novel would be the one of choice.
I offer my thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
January 8, 2019
I enjoyed this book on Wild Bill Hickok very much as an updated biography. Tom Clavin does a great job of sorting between hype and facts to get to what is more likely in the real story of James Butler Hickok and his exploits. Apparently, there had been a sibling named Bill that hadn’t survived, and James and his brother Lorenzo both were fond of calling themselves ‘Bill’ at times. When James went out on his own away from the family, the name stuck, along with various descriptors like Wild Bill or Shanghai Bill.
The book does a good job of telling about his short but exciting and event-filled life as a farmer, gunslinger, and lawman. After serving in the Civil War, Hickok made his way to Springfield, Missouri and was enjoying a spell of gambling. He’d met and become friends for a time with Davis Tutt another gambler, but the friendship soured. .Hickok was in a duel where he shot and killed Tutt in July 1865, displaying his lightning-fast quick-draw set his reputation. Unfortunately, it also made him a target for every wannabe gunslinger in the West who thought he was faster and wanted to prove it My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Tom Clavin, and the publisher for my fair review.
Also on my BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
The book does a good job of telling about his short but exciting and event-filled life as a farmer, gunslinger, and lawman. After serving in the Civil War, Hickok made his way to Springfield, Missouri and was enjoying a spell of gambling. He’d met and become friends for a time with Davis Tutt another gambler, but the friendship soured. .Hickok was in a duel where he shot and killed Tutt in July 1865, displaying his lightning-fast quick-draw set his reputation. Unfortunately, it also made him a target for every wannabe gunslinger in the West who thought he was faster and wanted to prove it My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Tom Clavin, and the publisher for my fair review.
Also on my BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
September 27, 2024
1876
The year was one of the most significant in the history of the United States:
* The nation celebrated its centennial year;
* March 7: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his invention of what he called a telephone;
*June 9: Mark Twain published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer;
* June 25: Wild Bill Hickok’s friend, George Armstrong Custer, and his immediate command, was wiped out in the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana Territory;
* August 2: A week later, Wild Bill was assassinated by Jack McCall in a Deadwood saloon in the Black Hills of Dakota;
* September 7: Three members of the James-Younger gang were killed in an attempted hold-up of the bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The three Younger brothers, all seriously wounded, were taken into custody, stood trial, and went to prison. Only two outlaws escaped: Frank and Jesse James.
*Heinz Tomato Ketchup was introduced;
*Anheuser-Busch first marketed Budweiser beer;
* And the Republicans stole a presidential election (You can look it up.).
JAMES BUTLER HICKOK
Hickok was born in Illinois in 1837 and died at age thirty-nine in Deadwood when Jack McCall shot and killed him.
He served as town marshal in two Kansas cow towns: Hays and Abilene. At some point he was tagged with the “Wild Bill” moniker, but the jury is out on who tagged him with it and when it occurred.
What is known is that his notoriety began in July 1865 in Springfield, Missouri when he shot and killed Davis Tutt in the first walk down duel on the frontier. The two men had been friends but they had a falling out over a watch – or money – or a woman – or all three.
It was that shoot-out that accounts for Tom Clalvin’s subtitle for the book: The True Story of the American Frontier’s First Gunfighter. I am always somewhat dubious of the claim when the word “true” appears in the title of a work of history. In the case of this book I would say that it is “Mostly the True Story.” As mentioned before, nobody even knows for sure why and how he was called “Wild Bill.”
DEAD MAN’S HAND
Another example is the so-called “Dead Man’s Hand” that Hickok was holding when he was assassinated in a Deadwood saloon by a “small and nondescript man” named Jack McCall. A writer by the name of Frank Wilstach wrote a book titled Wild Bill Hickok: The Prince of Pistoleers that was published in 1926. It led to the popular conception (or perhaps misconception) that Hickok’s last poker hand was a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights.
The book was a figment of Wilstach’s imagination and is not only “not mostly true,” it is “mostly false.” The truth is that no contemporary source recorded the exact cards he held when he was killed. However, Clavin tells us that it was aces and eights without any qualification that that might have been otherwise.
I realize that I am guilty of nitpicking and that Clavin, a fine writer, is always worth reading. One just has to remember that when it comes to reading about the legends of the Old West, one must consider one’s sources. Come to think of it, that’s always a good idea.
By the way, Jack McCall claimed that Hickok killed his brother and that he was avenging his death. It was a poor alibi because McCall had three sisters, but no brother. He was tried and convicted and died at the end of a rope.
Mount Moriah
In 1879, three years after his death, Hickok was moved from his original burial site to Mount Moriah Cemetery, which is located on the top of a hill overlooking Deadwood Gulch where most of the town is located.
Buried next to him is one Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane. The legend that she and Wild Bill were lovers is another product of the fertile imagination of Frank Wilstach.
The year was one of the most significant in the history of the United States:
* The nation celebrated its centennial year;
* March 7: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his invention of what he called a telephone;
*June 9: Mark Twain published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer;
* June 25: Wild Bill Hickok’s friend, George Armstrong Custer, and his immediate command, was wiped out in the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana Territory;
* August 2: A week later, Wild Bill was assassinated by Jack McCall in a Deadwood saloon in the Black Hills of Dakota;
* September 7: Three members of the James-Younger gang were killed in an attempted hold-up of the bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The three Younger brothers, all seriously wounded, were taken into custody, stood trial, and went to prison. Only two outlaws escaped: Frank and Jesse James.
*Heinz Tomato Ketchup was introduced;
*Anheuser-Busch first marketed Budweiser beer;
* And the Republicans stole a presidential election (You can look it up.).
JAMES BUTLER HICKOK
Hickok was born in Illinois in 1837 and died at age thirty-nine in Deadwood when Jack McCall shot and killed him.
He served as town marshal in two Kansas cow towns: Hays and Abilene. At some point he was tagged with the “Wild Bill” moniker, but the jury is out on who tagged him with it and when it occurred.
What is known is that his notoriety began in July 1865 in Springfield, Missouri when he shot and killed Davis Tutt in the first walk down duel on the frontier. The two men had been friends but they had a falling out over a watch – or money – or a woman – or all three.
It was that shoot-out that accounts for Tom Clalvin’s subtitle for the book: The True Story of the American Frontier’s First Gunfighter. I am always somewhat dubious of the claim when the word “true” appears in the title of a work of history. In the case of this book I would say that it is “Mostly the True Story.” As mentioned before, nobody even knows for sure why and how he was called “Wild Bill.”
DEAD MAN’S HAND
Another example is the so-called “Dead Man’s Hand” that Hickok was holding when he was assassinated in a Deadwood saloon by a “small and nondescript man” named Jack McCall. A writer by the name of Frank Wilstach wrote a book titled Wild Bill Hickok: The Prince of Pistoleers that was published in 1926. It led to the popular conception (or perhaps misconception) that Hickok’s last poker hand was a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights.
The book was a figment of Wilstach’s imagination and is not only “not mostly true,” it is “mostly false.” The truth is that no contemporary source recorded the exact cards he held when he was killed. However, Clavin tells us that it was aces and eights without any qualification that that might have been otherwise.
I realize that I am guilty of nitpicking and that Clavin, a fine writer, is always worth reading. One just has to remember that when it comes to reading about the legends of the Old West, one must consider one’s sources. Come to think of it, that’s always a good idea.
By the way, Jack McCall claimed that Hickok killed his brother and that he was avenging his death. It was a poor alibi because McCall had three sisters, but no brother. He was tried and convicted and died at the end of a rope.
Mount Moriah
In 1879, three years after his death, Hickok was moved from his original burial site to Mount Moriah Cemetery, which is located on the top of a hill overlooking Deadwood Gulch where most of the town is located.
Buried next to him is one Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane. The legend that she and Wild Bill were lovers is another product of the fertile imagination of Frank Wilstach.
February 2, 2019
The Old West generated many tall tales about legendary characters...Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Kit Carson...all larger than life. Their stories are a mix of truth and exaggeration...and I love every single tale! But my favorite by far is Wild Bill Hickok.
Lawman. Gunfighter. Gambler. Showman. He did it all. And his legendary death at a card-table just made his story more spectacular.
I read Tom Clavin's bestselling book on Dodge City when it came out. And loved it. When I saw he was writing a book on Wild Bill, I knew I had to read it. The true story....the real Wild Bill....James Butler Hickok. Yay!
I read this book a little bit at time, not only to savor the experience but to give myself time to let the facts and information settle into my brain. I can binge read fiction....but non fiction about people I find interesting I have to slow down and mosey my way through it. I'm glad I took my time. This book has a lot of information in it...some that I already knew and a lot that was new to me. Clavin separates fact from legend...and presents Hickok as a person, not an exaggerated Old West character. A man...not a tale bigger than life.
Awesome read! As soon as I finished my review copy, I preordered the physical book for my husband. He loves the Old West with a capital L. LOVES it. He has Clavin's earlier book on Dodge City on his western bookshelf...along with Louis L'amour books and framed photos of Marshall Dillon and Festus Haggen. Old West fiction and truth side-by-side, as it has always been.
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
Lawman. Gunfighter. Gambler. Showman. He did it all. And his legendary death at a card-table just made his story more spectacular.
I read Tom Clavin's bestselling book on Dodge City when it came out. And loved it. When I saw he was writing a book on Wild Bill, I knew I had to read it. The true story....the real Wild Bill....James Butler Hickok. Yay!
I read this book a little bit at time, not only to savor the experience but to give myself time to let the facts and information settle into my brain. I can binge read fiction....but non fiction about people I find interesting I have to slow down and mosey my way through it. I'm glad I took my time. This book has a lot of information in it...some that I already knew and a lot that was new to me. Clavin separates fact from legend...and presents Hickok as a person, not an exaggerated Old West character. A man...not a tale bigger than life.
Awesome read! As soon as I finished my review copy, I preordered the physical book for my husband. He loves the Old West with a capital L. LOVES it. He has Clavin's earlier book on Dodge City on his western bookshelf...along with Louis L'amour books and framed photos of Marshall Dillon and Festus Haggen. Old West fiction and truth side-by-side, as it has always been.
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
May 10, 2020
This is the definitive biography of one of the West's most iconic figures, James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill." A spy and scout for the Union during the Civil War, he was a lawman, gunfighter, and gambler on the Western frontier. As far as I can tell, Clavin has done his research and tried to sort out the facts from the myth. It's well-written and certainly kept me engaged in following the story of Wild Bill.
As the first great gunfighter of the West, he became a marked man as other men wanted to challenge him to get the reputation as the man who killed Wild Bill. It's a story that I couldn't help but feel would end badly. And I think it's no spoiler to add that Bill's life did end badly--killed at the gambling table in Deadwood...I think everyone knows about that tragic ending... ?
As the first great gunfighter of the West, he became a marked man as other men wanted to challenge him to get the reputation as the man who killed Wild Bill. It's a story that I couldn't help but feel would end badly. And I think it's no spoiler to add that Bill's life did end badly--killed at the gambling table in Deadwood...I think everyone knows about that tragic ending... ?
February 17, 2019
I don't know how much research Tom Clavin did for this trainwreck, but it certainly couldn't have been much. Despite being initially very engaging, Clavin plays way too fast and loose with the facts for me to be comfortable with. Among his more unforgivable errors are claiming that Hickok, whose career took place predominantly in the late 1860s and early 1870s, carried double-action .44 Colt revolvers. Any historian wanting their book on a figure as well-known as Wild Bill to be taken seriously should know that the first double-action Colt revolver wasn't minted until 1877, one year after Hickok was assassinated.
Secondly, despite including a ton of events that can't be proven, such as Hickok's romance with Susannah Moore, the Jefferson County, Nebraska gunfight, and various other tall-tales about Hickok's firearm prowess, Clavin completely leaves out one of the most famous and well-documented events of Hickok's life: his July 1870 brawl/gunfight with two 7th Cavalry troopers, Jeremy Lonergan and John Kyle. Even the mostly BS 1995 Walter Hill film "Wild Bill" made sure to include that. It'd be like writing a biography of Freddy Mercury and forgetting to mention the Live Aid concert.
I think what upsets me the most about this book is that despite these errors, the book is very well-written. Clavin certainly knows how to tell a story, but life is too short to spend time on a book that displays this amount of piss-poor scholarship.
If you want solid biographical material on Hickok check out anything written by Joseph G. Rosa, but especially his 1974 biography, "They Called Him Wild Bill." Bob Boze Bell's 2017 "The Illustrated Life and Times of Wild Bill Hickok" is also fun if you want a breezy, accessible, but still factual accounting of Hickok's life. As far as fiction goes, check out Pete Dexter's phenomenal 1986 novel, "Deadwood." Hell, just for Esses and Gees, read "The White Buffalo" by Richard Sale. At least it isn't claiming to be the final say on the matter.
Do actual historical accounts a favor and leave Tom Clavin's factual dumpster fire on the new release shelf.
Secondly, despite including a ton of events that can't be proven, such as Hickok's romance with Susannah Moore, the Jefferson County, Nebraska gunfight, and various other tall-tales about Hickok's firearm prowess, Clavin completely leaves out one of the most famous and well-documented events of Hickok's life: his July 1870 brawl/gunfight with two 7th Cavalry troopers, Jeremy Lonergan and John Kyle. Even the mostly BS 1995 Walter Hill film "Wild Bill" made sure to include that. It'd be like writing a biography of Freddy Mercury and forgetting to mention the Live Aid concert.
I think what upsets me the most about this book is that despite these errors, the book is very well-written. Clavin certainly knows how to tell a story, but life is too short to spend time on a book that displays this amount of piss-poor scholarship.
If you want solid biographical material on Hickok check out anything written by Joseph G. Rosa, but especially his 1974 biography, "They Called Him Wild Bill." Bob Boze Bell's 2017 "The Illustrated Life and Times of Wild Bill Hickok" is also fun if you want a breezy, accessible, but still factual accounting of Hickok's life. As far as fiction goes, check out Pete Dexter's phenomenal 1986 novel, "Deadwood." Hell, just for Esses and Gees, read "The White Buffalo" by Richard Sale. At least it isn't claiming to be the final say on the matter.
Do actual historical accounts a favor and leave Tom Clavin's factual dumpster fire on the new release shelf.
December 2, 2025
Ok - 3.5 stars. I listened to the audiobook for this one. A fun, true story of the the Wild West and the frontier. I looked for this book after finishing another Clavin book a few weeks ago and the new Deadwood book that came out over the summer. A good read. I liked the beginning, the middle read like a cheap dime store novel. Fun, but lacked some meat! I loved the conclusion as the gun slinger (Wild Bill Hickcok)made his way to Deadwood.
Of course- that’s where he met his end. A true story of the American west! Recommend if you like westerners and easy to read history. Great interview with the author at the end of this library checkout.
Of course- that’s where he met his end. A true story of the American west! Recommend if you like westerners and easy to read history. Great interview with the author at the end of this library checkout.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2019
*3-3.5 stars.
A few years back, I saw a one-man performance by Walt Willey entitled Wild Bill: An Evening with John Butler Hickok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg6jo... ) and learned that Hickok was born and raised in Troy Grove, IL in LaSalle County, not far from where we are currently living. Walt Willey himself is from nearby Ottawa, IL. Troy Grove is still a small rural town but shows its pride in its most famous son with a memorial: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio....
He was born in 1837 and died in 1876 so his lifespan is an interesting slice of American history, encompassing the Civil War and explorations into the west. He was a frontier plainsman in every sense of the word and got the reputation of a gunslinger, quick on the trigger. "A more picturesque sight than Hickok on horseback could not be imagined."
This biography was well-researched and written with an eye to disproving some of the old myths about the man. One thing I found fascinating was that back then, the west was Kansas, Hickok's adopted state. And how quickly the wild west became civilized, leaving no place for free-living men like Wild Bill.
I received an arc of this new biography from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
A few years back, I saw a one-man performance by Walt Willey entitled Wild Bill: An Evening with John Butler Hickok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg6jo... ) and learned that Hickok was born and raised in Troy Grove, IL in LaSalle County, not far from where we are currently living. Walt Willey himself is from nearby Ottawa, IL. Troy Grove is still a small rural town but shows its pride in its most famous son with a memorial: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio....
He was born in 1837 and died in 1876 so his lifespan is an interesting slice of American history, encompassing the Civil War and explorations into the west. He was a frontier plainsman in every sense of the word and got the reputation of a gunslinger, quick on the trigger. "A more picturesque sight than Hickok on horseback could not be imagined."
This biography was well-researched and written with an eye to disproving some of the old myths about the man. One thing I found fascinating was that back then, the west was Kansas, Hickok's adopted state. And how quickly the wild west became civilized, leaving no place for free-living men like Wild Bill.
I received an arc of this new biography from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
February 5, 2020
I really liked this historical account of Wild Bill Hickok. It was interesting to find out his ancestry, and to read about some of his exploits in the west. Overall a really good story about an iconic western gunfighter.
March 7, 2019
This was a fascinating book that I enjoyed more than I expected. I learned quite a lot, both about Wild Bill, his peers and the geography whose borders shifted with the politics of the day. It's a great read for any Western history buff!
March 28, 2024
3.5*
This was ok. Boring in some parts. The chapter on Calamity Jane was interesting. As was the final chapter telling of Wild Bills death and the epilogue. Photos at the back of the book were interesting too
This was ok. Boring in some parts. The chapter on Calamity Jane was interesting. As was the final chapter telling of Wild Bills death and the epilogue. Photos at the back of the book were interesting too
September 14, 2019
A great biography of one of the iconic figures of the American West. Tom Clavin found his job was made harder by the fact that mythologizing James Butler Hickok started during the man's own lifetime, with a good deal of help from Wild Bill himself. Fascinating characters weave in and out, some expected - Buffalo Bill Cody, George Custer - others less so (Henry Morton Stanley! "Wild Bill, I presume."). Clavin is a good, solid researcher with a nose for accuracy, so he carefully unpicks the legends while having a good time doing so. One would not expect a story like this to be poignant, but it is: Hickok outlived his time, found himself superannuated as a lawman, and, worse, began losing his vision. Wild Bill drifted into aimlessness -and finally into legend, with a poker hand of 2 aces, 2 eights, and a queen in his hand.
March 4, 2019
Tom Clavin delivers a good yarn about a man so covered in legend and tall tales I’m surprised this book isn’t 500 pages long. This was a quick, entertaining read about the man and his times.
Read my review here: https://wildmoobooks.com/2019/03/04/r...
Read my review here: https://wildmoobooks.com/2019/03/04/r...
August 15, 2024
Another outstanding read by Clavin. He did a great job of separating the truth from myth. Hickock lived a fascinating life as a real icon of the Wild West.
January 19, 2019
Not since Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser have I read a book on the Old West that grips me as much as Wild Bill by Tom Clavin. Wild Bill (whose real name was James) is a historical character whose story is fascinating and ultimately tragic in much the same way as Princess Diana's. For one thing, it is impossible not to like Bill Hickok. He was too chivalrous not to like, even love, as so many men and women seem to have, both close-up and at a distance. Hickok favored justice and the underdog. He cared about those in need of help. Hickok was astonishing for his courage and God's grace upon him during the Civil War. (Advice: Read slowly. Your jaw will drop.)
Clavin's measured and analytical (without being negative) approach to this biography makes reading it a joy. It seems he wisely wants to avoid the fate of Nichols, the journalist who wrote the 1867 piece in Harper's New Monthly on Wild Bill Hickok that made the young sharpshooter an overnight national hero. (Writers and cowboys share the experience of the rough ride, even if one is more psychological.) Clavin tells how that one story changed the lives of both writer and subject.
Another element that makes Clavin's book valuable is his sensitive descriptions of people whom Hickok knew or who impacted the change of the West for good or ill. Clavin has a great sense of the right touch. He fuels the reader's interest with sensitively drawn depictions (starting with the prologue) of people like Davis Tutt (friend turned foe of Hickok), James Chisholm, half Scottish and half Cherokee, a kind man who spoke 14 native American dialects, Calamity Jane (whom Old West TV fans will remember from the phenomenal series Deadwood created by David Milch)--there is a great story of Jane and a loan--General Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody and an assortment of unsavory newcomers. The reader will be glad to know about them all. Setting the stage and explaining the co-players is so important. We want to grasp Hickok by the place and people of his, after all.
The way towns are described gives great pause. The ones we live in today are no way what they once were. Clavin pulls the reader back to a past full of drama and tragedy today hidden by malls and modern streets. Kansas readers of this biography may appear downtown with startled expressions.
I appreciated learning from Clavin that although Hickok tried to live up to the image created (perhaps disastrously) by Nichols, he was true to himself in ways that helped shape society--in my opinion, for the better. (How do we continue to tolerate, or for that matter, produce, creatures like McCall?) I really do not want to give too much away.
I got the sense that Hickok did what he did because of his values. As I was reading, I could not get the comparison with Princess Diana out of my head: both she and Hickok were beautiful, talented, graceful human beings with flaws because they were human. They were daring, loved and hunted. They touched the people of their time and they paid the price for their gifts. Thank you, Tom Clavin. You have done a marvelous job in painting a haunting and moving picture of Wild Bill Hickok and the America he lived in. Thank you, as well #NetGalley and #St. Martin's Press. This will not be the first book I purchase hardback after reading the ebook version.
Clavin's measured and analytical (without being negative) approach to this biography makes reading it a joy. It seems he wisely wants to avoid the fate of Nichols, the journalist who wrote the 1867 piece in Harper's New Monthly on Wild Bill Hickok that made the young sharpshooter an overnight national hero. (Writers and cowboys share the experience of the rough ride, even if one is more psychological.) Clavin tells how that one story changed the lives of both writer and subject.
Another element that makes Clavin's book valuable is his sensitive descriptions of people whom Hickok knew or who impacted the change of the West for good or ill. Clavin has a great sense of the right touch. He fuels the reader's interest with sensitively drawn depictions (starting with the prologue) of people like Davis Tutt (friend turned foe of Hickok), James Chisholm, half Scottish and half Cherokee, a kind man who spoke 14 native American dialects, Calamity Jane (whom Old West TV fans will remember from the phenomenal series Deadwood created by David Milch)--there is a great story of Jane and a loan--General Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody and an assortment of unsavory newcomers. The reader will be glad to know about them all. Setting the stage and explaining the co-players is so important. We want to grasp Hickok by the place and people of his, after all.
The way towns are described gives great pause. The ones we live in today are no way what they once were. Clavin pulls the reader back to a past full of drama and tragedy today hidden by malls and modern streets. Kansas readers of this biography may appear downtown with startled expressions.
I appreciated learning from Clavin that although Hickok tried to live up to the image created (perhaps disastrously) by Nichols, he was true to himself in ways that helped shape society--in my opinion, for the better. (How do we continue to tolerate, or for that matter, produce, creatures like McCall?) I really do not want to give too much away.
I got the sense that Hickok did what he did because of his values. As I was reading, I could not get the comparison with Princess Diana out of my head: both she and Hickok were beautiful, talented, graceful human beings with flaws because they were human. They were daring, loved and hunted. They touched the people of their time and they paid the price for their gifts. Thank you, Tom Clavin. You have done a marvelous job in painting a haunting and moving picture of Wild Bill Hickok and the America he lived in. Thank you, as well #NetGalley and #St. Martin's Press. This will not be the first book I purchase hardback after reading the ebook version.
February 11, 2020
Tom Clavin knocks it out of the park again with another insightful book about the Wild West. This time his focus was Wild Bill Hicock, who I knew very little about. The book is entertaining, keeping with Clavin’s style where he introduces a character and gives a little history about them, which I love.
We also get more clarification about his mythical relationship with Calamity Jane, including one of the all time greatest practical jokes of all time, about them, plus we learn a little about Buffalo Bill Cody and his wild west show that Wild Bill was a part of briefly. Also we learn a lot about his one true love who was almost as famous as he was (hint, it’s not Calamity Jane)
A fantastic book and a quick read. Can’t wait for Clavin’s new book about Tombstone coming soon. Plus I would love to write a Wild Bill Screenplay based on this book, very well written, hugely interesting, and worth a read.
We also get more clarification about his mythical relationship with Calamity Jane, including one of the all time greatest practical jokes of all time, about them, plus we learn a little about Buffalo Bill Cody and his wild west show that Wild Bill was a part of briefly. Also we learn a lot about his one true love who was almost as famous as he was (hint, it’s not Calamity Jane)
A fantastic book and a quick read. Can’t wait for Clavin’s new book about Tombstone coming soon. Plus I would love to write a Wild Bill Screenplay based on this book, very well written, hugely interesting, and worth a read.
January 16, 2019
Growing up in a town where James Butler Hickock had been sheriff, I grew up with his legend. His legend, as well as Bill Cody who slaughtered the buffalo for the expansion of the railroads and General George Custer who was in charge of the fort just south of town. Around the same period, my grandmother and her family traveled in a wagon train to homestead just north of town. It was fascinating to read the history of the establishment of the town and to get a glimpse of what life must have been like. I cringed with some of the treatment of the native Americans, and the bloodshed over slavery. Life was certainly cheap in those days and guns in ready supply. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought the author brought the period to life. Many thanks to netgalley and St Martin’s for an ARC. All opinions are my own. Recommend.
April 4, 2019
A riveting and well-researched history of Wild Bill and his accompanying cast of characters including Calamity Jane, Charlie Utter, George Custer, and Buffalo Bill Cody. A page burner for anyone interested in the Wild West and its important part in the making of American history.
July 11, 2024
Well written, researched and referenced. I very much enjoyed this book.
November 25, 2021
I haven’t read Clavin’s Dodge City, but I’d heard it praised enough to take a flier on his latest book, Wild Bill, on Prime Day without previewing it. Hickok was a fascination of mine when I was younger, and who better to biograph the legendary gunfighter than the esteemed author of a western history classic?
Just about anyone else, as it turns out.
As I began reading, concerns quickly piled up. Clavin’s thesis—if it can even be called that—is that Wild Bill is an intriguing figure who has never been properly biographed. Okay, and…? What of Hickok’s enduring significance? How did he affect the developmental trajectory of the American West? That Wild Bill has fascinated people for a century and a half isn’t news. Has Clavin nothing more interesting to say for the next 290 pages? I wondered.
Far more alarming than Clavin’s non-thesis is his unbelievable lack of source citations. In the introduction, Clavin claims to have “sifted through every source [he] could get [his] hands on,” and though an extensive bibliography is included at the end, there are no footnotes or endnotes to track where Clavin found what. As I read on, I found that Clavin doesn’t even have the decency to consistently inform his readers what he’s quoting. To cite one example, on page 266 Clavin includes a direct Hickok quote but doesn’t specify who first recounted it or when and where it first appeared.
Similarly, on page 37, Clavin describes Hickock’s fight with a bear as “a legend that may well be fact…” without mentioning where the story originated. Clavin then recounts the event “as Hickok himself told it.” But where and when did Hickock tell it? And if Hickock did tell it, why does Clavin initially suppose that it may be untrue? Clavin provides no answers to these questions, and, lacking proper citation, readers are unable to double check his work for themselves.
This sort of laziness is inexcusable in any serious historical work, but it’s especially galling in Wild Bill considering Clavin accuses other Hickok biographers Frank J. Wilstach and William Connelly of “liberally including fictions… embellishments, and exaggerations” in their work (page xiii). Has there ever been such a despicable example of the pot calling the kettle black? Maybe Clavin’s work is sound, but we can’t know that without citations.
If Clavin were the sort of historian whose work is so thorough it speaks for itself, his laziness might be brushed aside, but Clavin is no such historian. In fact, the frequency with which he employs his own conjecture is another huge red flag. On page 58, for example, describing an incident in which Hickok allegedly disarmed four armed men by himself, Clavin writes that “the men must have been thoroughly surprised, hungover, or just unaccustomed to facing a man with pistols” to explain their defeat. These are three very different possible explanations, nor are they the only three viable ones, and since Clavin doesn’t favor one over the others, I’m unsure why he bothered to comment.
Another example on page 63: “Transporting prisoners and chasing deserters probably was not too riveting an occupation, so Hickok may have welcomed participating in several battles that year.” This is armchair psychologist crap. “Probably” his job was dull, and he “may have” welcomed battle? If there’s evidence that Hickok found chasing deserters boring or that he relished combat, then cite it.
On a non-encounter with Jesse and Frank James (pages 205-206): “It is not far-fetched to think that [Hickok] might have felt some responsibility to protect the people being victimized and bullied, especially with a girl being wounded. And with rumors having circulated that the James Gang had passed through Abilene the previous year with no interference from the marshal, Hickok may have felt compelled to restore his honor.” More “might have” and “may have” nonsense, and all about a confrontation that never even occurred. Indeed, the book is littered with so many speculative phrases like “may have felt,” “perhaps,” and “probably” that one starts to wonder how well Clavin actually knows his subject (see page 249 for another egregious example of this).
If Clavin’s persistent supposition isn’t enough to damn the whole book, then the poor quality of his writing certainly is. Indeed, for a writer of Clavin’s stature, whose accolades (former journalist for the New York Times, author of more than a dozen history books, and editor-in-chief for a chain of newspapers) loom large and impressive, Wild Bill is quite a mess. At times, it reads more like a rough draft than a finished product, in part due to Clavin’s fondness for idioms (page 68: Hickok and Tutt “were viewed as something like two peas in a pod.”), period slang (page 50: “He was leading a wagon train from Independence to Sedalia when Johnny Rebs attacked and captured it.”), and run-on sentences.
These failings are compounded by Clavin’s annoying overuse of elipses (page 220: “He didn’t know what to expect and was prepared for anything. . . except for what happened.”), sometimes inserting more than one in the span of just a few paragraphs (see pages 222-223 for a pile of them), and his ridiculous use of the word “bacchanal” not once but three separate times (the last is on page 127). Worst of all is Clavin’s proclivity for passive language, examples of which can be found on virtually every page.
Grammar aside, Wild Bill is also disorganized and confusing. Take this addendum to the story about Hickok disarming four men alone (page 58): “Suddenly a squad of Confederate cavalry arrived at the cabin, and a firefight began. After the Union scouts wounded three of the enemy, the remaining rebel riders took off. Hickok and another scout gave chase. His horse was shot dead, but [Susannah] Moore, who had been following them, stopped and gave Hickok her horse. Off he went again, but he and the other scouts were by then too far behind. They returned to the cabin, picking Moore up along the way. It was too dangerous to stay there, so with directions from Moore as to where the Union forces were, they rode away.” Where did the Union scouts come from? Hickok just disarmed four men by himself, which shouldn’t have been necessary if he was with other scouts. And if Susannah Moore was near enough to Hickok and his companion to lend them her horse, then why did they ride back to the cabin after giving up pursuit? Further, why is Moore directing Union scouts to the Union lines? Shouldn’t they know where to go? Everything about the story is confounding.
Another example: In the prologue, Clavin describes the Hickok/Tutt feud. According to Clavin, Hickok “went on a cold streak” at the poker table and “accepted loans from Tutt rather than be broke and idle” (page 2), which offended Hickok’s pride and, in part, led to their fatal confrontation. Later, in chapter 5, Clavin says that Tutt, angry at Hickok, lent money to other poker players hoping they’d beat Hickok, but Hickok kept winning anyway (page 69). Well, which is it? Was Hickok winning or losing? Did Tutt loan Hickok money so he could keep playing, or did he loan others money to clean Hickok out? If both events occurred, then their sequence requires clarification. As it’s written, the apparent contradiction suggests Clavin found two different accounts of the same event and stupidly included both without specifying which version is factual.
The result of Clavin’s sloppy, disorganized writing is a final product that reads more like a young college student’s first crack at writing history than a professional author’s best effort. Perhaps he hasn’t the time to fine-tune manuscripts since he’s churning out history books at such a rapid clip (seven titles released since 2014, according to his Amazon author page), but that’s only a possible explanation for his laziness, not an excuse.
Perhaps the worst of all Clavin’s sins in Wild Bill is his failure to accomplish his stated goal, which is to properly biograph Hickok for the very first time. In addition to the glaring (and elementary) offenses I’ve documented thus far, fully one third of Wild Bill’s 294 pages aren’t even about Hickok but are instead spent chronicling the lives of other individuals. Notable figures such as George Armstrong Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Calamity Jane deserve at least some additional illustration because of the important parts they played in Hickok’s life, but scores of minor characters—passing acquaintances, would-be assassins, and famous characters who Hickok encountered only once or twice—are also given the full treatment. In most cases, it’s totally unnecessary and only distracts from the author’s subject. And at this point, why give Clavin the benefit of the doubt? Let’s call it what it is: an obvious attempt to lengthen the manuscript to a more marketable length so Clavin and the publisher can cash in.
If you’re still with me after all these words, you know how this review ends. Contrary to what Clavin says in the introduction to Wild Bill, the most intriguing thing about this embarrassing book isn’t its subject but rather that Clavin actually put his name on it.
Just about anyone else, as it turns out.
As I began reading, concerns quickly piled up. Clavin’s thesis—if it can even be called that—is that Wild Bill is an intriguing figure who has never been properly biographed. Okay, and…? What of Hickok’s enduring significance? How did he affect the developmental trajectory of the American West? That Wild Bill has fascinated people for a century and a half isn’t news. Has Clavin nothing more interesting to say for the next 290 pages? I wondered.
Far more alarming than Clavin’s non-thesis is his unbelievable lack of source citations. In the introduction, Clavin claims to have “sifted through every source [he] could get [his] hands on,” and though an extensive bibliography is included at the end, there are no footnotes or endnotes to track where Clavin found what. As I read on, I found that Clavin doesn’t even have the decency to consistently inform his readers what he’s quoting. To cite one example, on page 266 Clavin includes a direct Hickok quote but doesn’t specify who first recounted it or when and where it first appeared.
Similarly, on page 37, Clavin describes Hickock’s fight with a bear as “a legend that may well be fact…” without mentioning where the story originated. Clavin then recounts the event “as Hickok himself told it.” But where and when did Hickock tell it? And if Hickock did tell it, why does Clavin initially suppose that it may be untrue? Clavin provides no answers to these questions, and, lacking proper citation, readers are unable to double check his work for themselves.
This sort of laziness is inexcusable in any serious historical work, but it’s especially galling in Wild Bill considering Clavin accuses other Hickok biographers Frank J. Wilstach and William Connelly of “liberally including fictions… embellishments, and exaggerations” in their work (page xiii). Has there ever been such a despicable example of the pot calling the kettle black? Maybe Clavin’s work is sound, but we can’t know that without citations.
If Clavin were the sort of historian whose work is so thorough it speaks for itself, his laziness might be brushed aside, but Clavin is no such historian. In fact, the frequency with which he employs his own conjecture is another huge red flag. On page 58, for example, describing an incident in which Hickok allegedly disarmed four armed men by himself, Clavin writes that “the men must have been thoroughly surprised, hungover, or just unaccustomed to facing a man with pistols” to explain their defeat. These are three very different possible explanations, nor are they the only three viable ones, and since Clavin doesn’t favor one over the others, I’m unsure why he bothered to comment.
Another example on page 63: “Transporting prisoners and chasing deserters probably was not too riveting an occupation, so Hickok may have welcomed participating in several battles that year.” This is armchair psychologist crap. “Probably” his job was dull, and he “may have” welcomed battle? If there’s evidence that Hickok found chasing deserters boring or that he relished combat, then cite it.
On a non-encounter with Jesse and Frank James (pages 205-206): “It is not far-fetched to think that [Hickok] might have felt some responsibility to protect the people being victimized and bullied, especially with a girl being wounded. And with rumors having circulated that the James Gang had passed through Abilene the previous year with no interference from the marshal, Hickok may have felt compelled to restore his honor.” More “might have” and “may have” nonsense, and all about a confrontation that never even occurred. Indeed, the book is littered with so many speculative phrases like “may have felt,” “perhaps,” and “probably” that one starts to wonder how well Clavin actually knows his subject (see page 249 for another egregious example of this).
If Clavin’s persistent supposition isn’t enough to damn the whole book, then the poor quality of his writing certainly is. Indeed, for a writer of Clavin’s stature, whose accolades (former journalist for the New York Times, author of more than a dozen history books, and editor-in-chief for a chain of newspapers) loom large and impressive, Wild Bill is quite a mess. At times, it reads more like a rough draft than a finished product, in part due to Clavin’s fondness for idioms (page 68: Hickok and Tutt “were viewed as something like two peas in a pod.”), period slang (page 50: “He was leading a wagon train from Independence to Sedalia when Johnny Rebs attacked and captured it.”), and run-on sentences.
These failings are compounded by Clavin’s annoying overuse of elipses (page 220: “He didn’t know what to expect and was prepared for anything. . . except for what happened.”), sometimes inserting more than one in the span of just a few paragraphs (see pages 222-223 for a pile of them), and his ridiculous use of the word “bacchanal” not once but three separate times (the last is on page 127). Worst of all is Clavin’s proclivity for passive language, examples of which can be found on virtually every page.
Grammar aside, Wild Bill is also disorganized and confusing. Take this addendum to the story about Hickok disarming four men alone (page 58): “Suddenly a squad of Confederate cavalry arrived at the cabin, and a firefight began. After the Union scouts wounded three of the enemy, the remaining rebel riders took off. Hickok and another scout gave chase. His horse was shot dead, but [Susannah] Moore, who had been following them, stopped and gave Hickok her horse. Off he went again, but he and the other scouts were by then too far behind. They returned to the cabin, picking Moore up along the way. It was too dangerous to stay there, so with directions from Moore as to where the Union forces were, they rode away.” Where did the Union scouts come from? Hickok just disarmed four men by himself, which shouldn’t have been necessary if he was with other scouts. And if Susannah Moore was near enough to Hickok and his companion to lend them her horse, then why did they ride back to the cabin after giving up pursuit? Further, why is Moore directing Union scouts to the Union lines? Shouldn’t they know where to go? Everything about the story is confounding.
Another example: In the prologue, Clavin describes the Hickok/Tutt feud. According to Clavin, Hickok “went on a cold streak” at the poker table and “accepted loans from Tutt rather than be broke and idle” (page 2), which offended Hickok’s pride and, in part, led to their fatal confrontation. Later, in chapter 5, Clavin says that Tutt, angry at Hickok, lent money to other poker players hoping they’d beat Hickok, but Hickok kept winning anyway (page 69). Well, which is it? Was Hickok winning or losing? Did Tutt loan Hickok money so he could keep playing, or did he loan others money to clean Hickok out? If both events occurred, then their sequence requires clarification. As it’s written, the apparent contradiction suggests Clavin found two different accounts of the same event and stupidly included both without specifying which version is factual.
The result of Clavin’s sloppy, disorganized writing is a final product that reads more like a young college student’s first crack at writing history than a professional author’s best effort. Perhaps he hasn’t the time to fine-tune manuscripts since he’s churning out history books at such a rapid clip (seven titles released since 2014, according to his Amazon author page), but that’s only a possible explanation for his laziness, not an excuse.
Perhaps the worst of all Clavin’s sins in Wild Bill is his failure to accomplish his stated goal, which is to properly biograph Hickok for the very first time. In addition to the glaring (and elementary) offenses I’ve documented thus far, fully one third of Wild Bill’s 294 pages aren’t even about Hickok but are instead spent chronicling the lives of other individuals. Notable figures such as George Armstrong Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Calamity Jane deserve at least some additional illustration because of the important parts they played in Hickok’s life, but scores of minor characters—passing acquaintances, would-be assassins, and famous characters who Hickok encountered only once or twice—are also given the full treatment. In most cases, it’s totally unnecessary and only distracts from the author’s subject. And at this point, why give Clavin the benefit of the doubt? Let’s call it what it is: an obvious attempt to lengthen the manuscript to a more marketable length so Clavin and the publisher can cash in.
If you’re still with me after all these words, you know how this review ends. Contrary to what Clavin says in the introduction to Wild Bill, the most intriguing thing about this embarrassing book isn’t its subject but rather that Clavin actually put his name on it.
November 26, 2023
Wild Bill Hickok was a rock star before there were ever rock stars. America's first wild west gunfighter, Hickok was, in many ways, America's ideal of the "old west" until Hollywood changed the perception to that of the mythological cowboy. Hickok was involved in one of the first, if not the first, and one of the most famous quick-draw gunfights in the west. He was a plainsman, an army scout, a lawman, a gambler and a pistoleer. He, along with his friend, Bill Cody, were very much foundational in the mythology of the American West.
Clavin gives us the first major biography of Hickok in a decade and it's very well researched and is very well written, as is to be expected from Clavin. It covers all the aspects of Hickok's life. His many different jobs. His loves (and those that weren't...I'm looking at you Calamity Jane). It's well written, comprehensive but still fairly concise.
It's not, however, without faults. Clavin has a habit of running down rabbit-holes that don't need exploring, particularly with folks that are only peripheral to the story. He did it in Dodge City and he does it here. In this one, though, he makes two very odd and, honestly, off-putting decisions. The first is that he goes to silly pains to try to connect Hickok with Jesse James just because they were in the same place at the same time twice, even though there is zero evidence that they ever met. At least Clavin kind of acknowledges that he's reaching with this...though there's just no excuse for it. The other is his inexplicable decision to completely omit he encounter between Hickok and 7th Cavalry troopers Lonergan and Kyle while Sheriff in Hayes, Kansas. There is ample evidence of the encounter and it's one of the more important encounters of Hickok's career.
Still, this is a very solid biography and it's readily available and without most of the apocryphal stories that permeate earlier "biographies" of Hickok.
May 22, 2023
Fascinating and a little sadder than I expected (even knowing how he met his end), this was a worthwhile read that has been on my list for a long time. Most of my exposure to this part of American history has been fictional, so it was interesting to get a more accurate take on famous figures whose stories have been romanticized in movies and television. One of the things that struck me as I read this was how many different vocations people could go through at the time. At different times of his life, Hickok was a spy for the north during the Civil War, a scout, a lawman, a gambler, and even a reluctant actor. As a fan of the TV show Deadwood, it was fun to read about the real people characters on the show were based on: Charlie Utter, Calamity Jane and others. It also tickled me to read the physical descriptions of Hickok, written by journalists and people he met, like Libbie Custer (yes, that Custer), whose description of him was so effusive she had to refute suspicions that they'd had an affair. I guess Wild Bill was a hottie.
This made me curious to read other accounts of this period and pick up bios of other famous Old West figures.
This made me curious to read other accounts of this period and pick up bios of other famous Old West figures.
December 12, 2020
It is easy to see why the myth of Wild Bill still looms large. During his life Hickok's good looks, extraordinary skills as a gunslinger and interaction with so many other famous figures of the time led to romanticized and greatly exaggerated tales. Unfortunately the fame also made him a target for those looking to make a name for themselves by being the one to out-shoot Hickok.
By the end of his eventful life Hickok was no longer a threat due to failing eyesight and the self-doubt from mistakenly killing a good friend and fellow lawman during a gun fight. He was hoping to make money gambling and settle down with his new wife (not Calamity Jane-Clavin makes it clear Hickok wanted nothing to do with her) when he was tragically assassinated by the most unlikely killer.
By the end of his eventful life Hickok was no longer a threat due to failing eyesight and the self-doubt from mistakenly killing a good friend and fellow lawman during a gun fight. He was hoping to make money gambling and settle down with his new wife (not Calamity Jane-Clavin makes it clear Hickok wanted nothing to do with her) when he was tragically assassinated by the most unlikely killer.
June 20, 2021
I basically know everything about the wild west now.
August 16, 2020
Great book 😁
Looked forward to each new chapter.
Looked forward to each new chapter.
February 2, 2024
Fun read if you're a frontier history fan :)
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