Wild Bill Hickok: The Man and His Myth

by Joseph G. Rosa

James Butler Hickok was alternately labeled courageous, affable, and self-confident; cowardly, cold-blooded, and drunken; a fine specimen of physical manhood; an overdressed dandy with perfumed hair; an unequaled marksman; a poor shot. Born in Illinois in 1837, he was shot dead in Deadwood only 39 years later. By then both famous and infamous, he was widely known as "Wild Bill."
Excavating the reality behind the myth, Joseph Rosa delves into the exploits and ego that defined Hickok and shows how the man was overtaken by his own legend. Rosa exposes a controversial and charismatic man - army and Indian scout, wagonmaster, courier, frontiersman, gunfighter, lawman, prospector, addicted gambler, and short-time actor - who was elevated from regional fame to national notoriety by inadvertently being in the right place at the right time.
Culminating four decades of research by one of the top authorities on Wild West legends, this is a highly entertaining account of the larger-than-life character whose reported accomplishments - both real and imaginary - frequently brought him unwanted publicity. Setting the record straight, Rosa exposes some of the deliberate lies that vested Hickok with a "man-killer" reputation he didn't deserve. In the process, Rosa reveals a great deal about how myths were initiated and perpetuated to glorify the nineteenth-century frontier.

Genres: Biography, Westerns

300 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Joseph G. Rosa was a historian of the Wild West, author, and the chief biographer of Wild Bill Hickok as well as several other figures of this period.

Reviews

[Sean McLachlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild Bill Hickok is one of those Old West icons whose real personality has been shrouded in generations of fiction. The reality, as is often the case, is far more interesting. Hickok was a scout, Indian fighter, Civil War spy, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, actor, and much more.

In this book Joseph Rosa, the leading authority on Wild Bill, tries to separate the man from his myth and nail down just how various untruths and exaggerations about him got started. What really launched his fame was his 1865 shootout with David Tutt, one of the few standup, Western-style gunfights that really happened. The national magazine Harper's sent a hack out to Missouri to interview Hickok, and the result was a blood and thunder tale in the dime novel tradition. The article is reproduced in full in this book.

While Rosa does a good job separating fact from fiction, this book is terribly organized. It jumps around in time and place and never gives a full overview of the man's life, instead looking at a few key incidents. Even these aren't in chronological order. This makes the book confusing and frustrating.

For those looking for a standard biography, I recommend Rosa's earlier book, They Called Him Wild Bill. While written 30 years earlier and not as fully researched, it's much more readable.

[Steven jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author seems well read, and the book well researched. The author offers the reader conflicting versions of events in Wild Bill's life. Although the author does not always provide a final conclusion, my impression was that Wild Bill led an extraordinary life, was courageous, an excellent gunfighter, scout, spy, and lawman with a penchant for gambling. The reader also learns a bit about Bill's family. I got an impression of Wild Bill, and that is an accomplishment. However, there are few definitive conclusions drawn, and the story is not alway chronological so it did not read as a straightforward biography. The book seemed more like a companion piece, or an addendum to previous biography--which it likely is as the author has written other books about Wild Bill. The conflicting but non definitive viewpoints of events style was both good and bad, so I have mixed feelings. Still, I liked the book, was glad I read it, and think the author made a significant contribution by creating it.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know less about this man than when I started. This bookk de-bunks all the tales and leaves just a minor, somewhat unremarkable man in it's wake.