HALSEY ENTERPRISE SUPPLEMENT
H A L S E Y , O R E G O N , J U L Y IO, 1924
James Butler Hickock
Known ns “ Wild Bill,’’ He Killed and
W as Killed.
|N
thia issue our story, •• p . , G ravel,” brings the
»“ oaoçemjnt of the assassination of W ild Bill Hikock.
April 12 of this year Henry Ford's weekly paper, the
I earborn Independent, published an authentic account
W I4hn H.’ a‘ h
J * raeS B u ,l* r Hickook. wh.ch was
W ild Bill ■ real name, and of the “ W ild B ill-M cC and-
less fight, of which many versions have been current,
some of them wilder than Hickoek’s nickname. We
quote below from the article in the Iu d eDendent, which
was w ritten by Walter Noel Burns after interviews
with survivors of the scenes described and careful in-
yestigation of the facts. Through the courtesy ot the
Independent we reproduce its illustrations :
T h . oblatory runs this w ay; Ten members of the
McCandlass gang,’ bound on a horse-stealing foray,
swooped down on the relay
station of the Overland Stage
comyaiiy at “ Rock Springs,
Kansas," at the oubreak of
the civil war. They were led
by I 11 BUI McCandlass,” horse
thief and murderer, terror of
the border. W .ld B ill was
alone. He emptied his rifle
and s x-shooter and then
fought on with his bowie
knife. Soma stories sav he
k ille l ten men; some eight.
None credit h’m with having
killed loss than seven.
The faots are : O ly three
men were killed
They were
Dave McCanlee, James Woods
and James Gordon.
Wild
Bill killed McCanles—there
is no doubt of that. He shot
Woods and Gordon. It is
probable Wood diod from the
wound W ild B ill give h m,
though this is not certain. G "r down, the remainder to lie paid in
d >n, according to reliable evidence, monthly installments.
Holliday
was Killed by a shot, from another placed Horace Wellman as agent
man.
and Wellman was to deliver the
The fight did not occur at monthly payments.
"R o c k Springs, Kansas.** usually
When the first payment came
located in the stories “ fifty miles due Wellman told MeCanl e> tbe
west of Topeka,’ nor iri Kansas at money had not come from o impa ny
all. but at Rook Creek, Nebraska. headquarters. McCanles was sus.
‘ •B ill McCandlass ” of tradition picious, but waited another month.
becomes David Colbert McCanles Wellman failed to pay the second
of fact, neither horse thief, mur­ installment. At 4 o’clock July 12,
derer nor criminal.
1801, McCanlaa met Welmsn at
McCania« sold Hie E lkhorn sta­ the smith door of the cabin.
tion to Ben H o llid a v , [Does the
*’ I ’ll get your money in time.
name sound f-im ilie r to vou. Ore­ M »o .”
said W ellm an,
“ but 1-
gonians?] owner of the Overland haven’t been able to get it yet.”
stage compinv. He received a sum
” You’re a lia r,”
McCanlee
I
I hurled at him, 11 and a thief i
boot.”
Mrs. W'ellmau crowded to th
door as her husband retreatei
into the house and she volley«
vituperation upon the lowerini
giant before her,
'M v business," said McCan
les, contemptuously, “ is with
men, not with a woman.”
Wild Bill Hickock thereupor
brushed Mrs. Wellman aside and
confronted McCanlee
‘ • l a m a m an,” he said.
*’ I ’Ye come to have thie out
with W ellm an,” McCanlaa said.
*' Thia ain’t no affair of yours.
You send Wellman out here so I
can settle with him or I ’ll come in
and get h im .”
W ild Bill stepped back into tbe
house as if to romplv. As W ell­
man did not appear, Mt Can les
walktd inside. He was just in
time to see W ild Bill disappearing
behind a nlanket which curtained
off the east end of the house as a
bedroom.
” Come out from behind that