The American West Biographies

1
The American West Biographies
Lewis Clarke
James Marshall
Joe Meek
Joseph Smith
Brigham Young
General Sheridan
Goodnight Loving
George Custer
Leland Stanford
General Sherman
Billy the Kid
Colonel Chivington
Buffalo Bill
John Wesley Hardin
Judge Roy Bean
More biographies
2
The American West Biographies
Little Crow
Chief Joseph
Black Kettle
Wovoka
Sitting Bull
Bat Masterson
Wyatt Earp
Butch Cassidy
Wild Bill Hickok
Jesse James
Calamity Jane
More biographies
3
Meriwether Lewis William Clark
WILLIAM LEWIS AND MERIWETHER CLARK LED THE CORPS
OF DISCOVERY INTO THE UNCHARTED LANDS OF THE
NORTH-AMERICAN CONTINENT FROM 1803 TO 1806. LEWIS
AND CLARK WERE SENT BY PRESIDENT JEFFERSON
FOLLOWING THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE OF 1803 WHICH
SAW THE USA BUY THE GREAT PLAINS REGION FROM
FRANCE. JEFFERSON WANTED TO KNOW WHAT WAS IN THIS
VAST NEW TERRITORY. THEIR WORK IN MAPPING THE
LANDS AND DISCOVERING ROUTES ACROSS THE WEST WAS
VITAL TO THE LATER PIONEERS OF THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY WHEN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST BEGAN
4
Joe Meek
JOSEPH MEEK LEFT HIS HOME IN THE EASTERN STATE OF
VIRGINIA TO SEEK ADVENTURE AND FORTUNE AS A YOUNG
MAN. HE WORKED IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS DURING THE
1820S AND 1830S TRAPPING FURS TO SELL. MEEK WAS
FAMOUS FOR HIS ABILITY TO TELL TALES OF HIS
ADVENTURES AT THE ANNUAL RENDEZVOUS. HE WAS THE
FIRST AMERICAN TO FIND THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. MEEK
SUFFERED AN ATTACK BY A GRIZZLY BEAR, WAS NEARLY
KILLED BY A BLACKFOOT WARRIOR AND MARRIED A NEZ
PERCE INDIAN. AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE FUR TRADE
AND THE END OF THE ERA OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN, MEEK
LED ONE OF THE FIRST WAGON TRAINS OF AMERICAN
SETTLERS ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS TO OREGON IN
1840.
5
Joseph Smith
JOSEPH SMITH FOUNDED THE MORMON CHURCH IN 1830.
HE CLAIMED THAT MORMONS WERE GODS CHOSEN PEOPLE
AND LED HIS FOLLOWERS ACROSS THE EASTERN USA
DURING THE 1840S. SMITH FIRST TOOK HIS FOLLOWERS
TO KIRTLAND, OHIO. HE THEN TOOK THEM TO
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOUR. HOSTILE LOCALS CHASED THE
MORMONS AWAY FROM EACH PLACE. FINALLY SMITH LED
THE MORMONS TO NAUVOO, ILLINOIS. SMITH DECLARED
POLYGAMY TO BE ACCEPTABLE AND ANNOUNCED HE WAS
RUNNINNG FOR PRESIDENT OF THE USA. HE THEN
SMASHED UP THE PRESSES OF A NEWSPAPER THAT
CRITICISED HIM. SMITH WAS KILLED ESCAPING FROM A
JAIL IN ILLINOIS IN 1844.
6
Brigham Young
BRIGHAM YOUNG TOOK OVER THE MORMON CHURCH AFTER
THE DEATH OF JOSEPH SMITH IN 1844. YOUNG REALISED
THAT THE MORMONS MUST LEAVE THE HOSTILE EAST AND
GO TO A PLACE WHERE THEY WOULD BE SAFE. IT WAS
YOUNGS DECISION TO LEAVE THE EAST OF THE USA AS
HE BELIEVED THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE
MORMONS TO STAY THERE. YOUNG CHOSE THE GREAT SALT
LAKE BECAUSE IT WAS IN MEXICO AND THE EXPLORERS
REPORTS STATED THAT IT WAS UNFIT FOR FARMING.
THEREFORE YOUNG KNEW THAT THE MORMONS WOULD BE
SAFE FROM AMERICANS THERE. YOUNG LED THE FIRST
MORMONS THEIR IN 1846. YOUNG ORGANISED THE
MORMONS TO BUILD THE STREETS AND HOUSES OF SALT
LAKE CITY.
7
James Marshall
JAMES MARSHALL WAS WORKING ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF
A SAWMILL ON THE BANKS OF THE AMERICAN RIVER IN
CALIFORNIA IN JANUARY 1848. WHILST EXAMINING THE
RIVER NEAR THE MILL ONE MORNING, HE SPOTTED A
NUGGET OF GOLD LYING ON A ROCK IN SIX INCHES OF
WATER. HIS DISCOVERY SET OFF THE GREATEST
GOLDRUSH IN AMERICAN HISTORY. WITHIN TWO YEARS
THERE WERE OVER 50 000 MINERS IN CALIFORNIA. THE
RESULTS OF HIS DISCOVERY BROUGHT THE EAST AND
WEST OF THE USA TOGETHER AND MADE THE FULFILMENT
OF THE AMERICANS MANIFEST DESTINY A MORE
REALISTIC PROSPECT.
8
Charles Goodnight Oliver Loving
CHARLES GOODNIGHT AND OLIVER LOVING CREATED THE
FIRST CATTLE TRAIL FROM TEXAS IN 1866. GOODNIGHT
RETURNED FROM THE CIVIL WAR IN 1866 TO FIND THAT
HIS 180 COWS HAD TURNED INTO 5000. GOODNIGHT
TEAMED UP WITH LOVING TO DRIVE THESE COWS TO THE
US ARMY BASES AND INDIAN RESERVATIONS OF NEW
MEXICO AND COLORADO. THIS ROUTE WAS KNOWN AS THE
GOODNIGHT-LVING TRAIL. THE MASSIVE PROFITS THEY
MADE LED TO OTHER CATTLEMEN DRIVING THEIR CATTLE
NORTH TO SELL TO THE GREAT CITIES OF THE EAST
STARTING THE CATTLE BOOM OF THE 1860S TO 1880S
9
Leland Stanford
LELAND STANFORD WAS ONE OF THE LEADING FIGURES IN
THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY THAT BUILT THE
WESTERN SECTION OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
CONNECTING THE EAST AND WEST OF THE USA. STANFORD
BECAME RICH SELLING EQUIPMENT TO MINERS DURING
THE 1848 GOLDRUSH. HE WENT ON TO BECOME A
POLITICIAN IN CALIFORNIA, SERVING AS STATE
GOVERNOR FROM 1861. STANFORD USED HIS POLITICAL
CONTACTS TO GET HIS COMPANY THE CONTRACT TO BUILD
THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD FOLLWING THE 1861
PACIFIC RAILROAD ACT. STANFORD ENSURED HIS
COMPANY RECEIVED MASSIVE FUNDING AND LAND GRANTS
FROM THE US GOVERNMENT FOR BUILDING THE RAILROAD.
10
General Philip Sheridan
PHILIP SHERIDAN WAS COMMNADER OF THE US ARMY IN
THE WEST DURING THE PLAINS WARS OF THE 1860S
1880S. HE WAS RUTHLESS IN HIS PURSUIT OF INDIAN
TRIBES SUCH AS THE KIOWA, COMANCHE, ARPAHO AND
CHEYENNE ACROSS THE PLAINS. SHERIDAN FORCED ALL
ONTO THE RESERVATIONS THAT THE US GOVERNMENT SET
UP TO CONTROL THE TRIBES OF THE PLAINS. IN 1868
SHERIDAN PLANNED AND EXECUTED THE RIVER WASHITA
CAMPAIGN IN WHICH CUSTER MASSACRED THE CHEYENNE
OF BLACK KETTLE. SHERIDAN PLANNED THE LITTLE
BIGHORN CAMPAIGN OF 1876, GETTING CUSTER RETURNED
TO THE 7TH CAVALRY FOR THE BATTLE.
11
General William Tecumseh Sherman
GENERAL SHERMAN WAS MADE COMMANDER OF THE US ARMY
ON THE PLAINS IN 1866. HE PURSUED A RUTHLESS
POLICY OF FORCING TRIBES ONTO RESERVATIONS.
SHERMAN WAS INVOLVED IN THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY
NEGOTIATIONS IN 1868. SHERMAN SAW THE MASSACRING
OF THE BUFFALO AS PART OF HIS TACTICS OF
DESTROYING THE STRENGTH OF THE INDIANS TRIBES ON
THE PLAINS. SHERMAN ONCE SAID WE MUST ACT WITH
VINDICTAVE EARNESTNESS AGAINST THE SIOUX, EVEN TO
THEIR EXTERMINATION, MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
SHERMAN PERSONALL REINSTATED CUSTER IN 1876 FOR
THE LITTLE BIGHORN CAMPAIGN.
12
George Custer
ARROGANT, HEROIC, FOOLHARDY AND EXCEPTIONAL - ALL
THESE ARE WORDS THAT COULD BE USED TO DESCRIBE
CUSTER. GEORGE CUSTER CAME 29TH OUT OF 29
STUDENTS IN HIS WEST POINT CLASS, BUT WENT ON TO
BECOME THE YOUNGEST EVER GENERAL IN THE US ARMY
DURING THE CIVIL WAR. CUSTER WAS NEARLY THROWN
OUT OF THE ARMY IN 1875 WHEN HE ACCUSED PRESIDENT
GRANTS BROTHER OF CORRUPTION. CALLED BACK TO
SERVICE BY GENERAL SHERMAN, HE LED THE 7TH
CAVALRY TO DEFEAT AT THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG
HORN IN 1876. CUSTERS FAILURE TO FOLLOW ORDERS
IS SEEN AS A MAIN CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF 250 OF
HIS SOLDIERS AT THE HANDS OF THE SIOUX AND
CHEYENNE WARRIORS.
13
John Wesley Hardin
JOHN WESLEY HARDIN WAS THE MOST PROLIFIC
GUNFIGHTER IN THE WEST, KILLING 29 PEOPLE. HARDIN
WAS GREATLY FEARED FOR HIS RANDOM ACTS OF
VIOLENCE AND MURDER. DESPITE THE ROMANTICISED
VIEW OF GUNFIGHTERS IN THE WEST, HARDIN ACTUALLY
SHOT MOSTLY NON-WHITE AMERICANS OUT OF HATE.
HARDIN WAS ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH HIS CRIMES DUE
TO THE GENERAL LACK OF LAW AND ORDER IN THE WEST
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SETTLEMENT ON THE GREAT
PLAINS IN THE 1860S AND 1870S. AS THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT INTRODUCED SHERIFFS AND MARSHALS, MEN
LIKE HARDIN WERE LESS COMMON.
14
Billy the Kid
BILLY THE KID IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS
GUNFIGHTERS TO COME OUT OF THE AMERICAN WEST.HE
WAS FAMOUS IN HIS OWN LIFETIME, APPEARING IN THE
DIME NOVELS PUBLISHED IN THE EASTERN CITIES OF
THE USA. HE WORKED ON A RANCH, AS WELL AS ACTING
AS A REGULATOR FOR THE ENGLISH CATTLEMAN JOHN
TUNSTALL. BILLY BECAME INFAMOUS DURING THE
LINCOLN COUNTY WAR, A BATTLE BETWEEN CATTLEMEN
IMMORTALISED IN THE FILM YOUNG GUNS. IT IS
CLAIMED THAT BILLY SHOT 21 PEOPLE BEFORE HIS OWN
DEATH AT THE HANDS OF SHERIFF PAT GARRETT AT THE
AGE OF 23.
15
Judge Roy Bean
ROY BEAN WAS NOT A REAL JUDGE. HE SIMPLY SET
HIMSELF UP AS ONE IN THE NEW SETTLEMENT OF
LANGTRY, TEXAS. SEEN AS A RESPECTABLE AND
INTELLIGENT CHARACTER HE WAS ACCEPTED BY THE
LOCAL POPUALTION AS THEIR JUDGE. THE NEW
SETTLEMENTS OF THE PLAINS LACKED OFFICIAL LAW AND
ORDER FORCES, AND SO MEN LIKE JUDGE ROY BEAN
FILLED THE GAP. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW WAS
PATCHY AND HIS DECISIONS WERE NOT ALWAYS SOUND.
ON ONE OCCASION HE FOUND A MAN ACCUSED OF THE
MURDER OF A CHINAMAN NOT GUILTY BECAUSE THERE
AINT A DAMN LAW THAT SAYS ITS ILLEGAL TO SHOOT
A CHINAMAN.
16
William Buffalo Bill Cody
WILLIAM BUFFALO BILL CODY WAS A PROLIFIC HUNTER
OF BUFFALO ON THE PLAINS IN THE 1870S. HE WAS
ALSO A DECORATED US ARMY SCOUT. HE BECAME FAMOUS
AS AN ICON OF THE WEST WHEN HIS STORY WAS TOLD IN
DIME NOVELS SOLD IN THE CITIES OF THE EASTERN
USA. BUFFALO BILL THEN SET UP HIS 'WILD WEST'
SHOW AND TOURED THE WORLD. HIS SHOW INCLUDED
DISPLAYS OF COWBOYS SKILLS, BUFFALO HUNTING AND A
RE-ENACTMENT OF CUSTERS LAST STAND. THE SIOUX
CHIEF SITTING BULL, CONQUERER OF CUSTER, EVEN
JOINED THE SHOW FOR A YEAR. BUFFALO BILL IS ONE
OF THE KEY FIGURES OF THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE WEST.
17
Colonel Chivington
JOHN CHIVINGTON WAS A METHODIST PREACHER, WHO
EARNED THE NICKNAME OF THE FIGHTING PREACHER
WHEN HE STOOD IN HIS PULPIT WITH TWO PISTOLS.
SOME OF HIS PARISHIONERS OPPOSED HIS STANCE OF
ANTI-SLAVERY AND THREATENED TO RUN HIM OUT OF
TOWN. CHIVINGTON MOVED TO DENVER, COLORADO AT THE
START OF THE CIVIL WAR IN 1861 AND BECAME A HERO
OF THE US ARMY FOLLWING HIS ACTION AT GLORIETTA
PASS IN 1862. IN 1864 HE BECAME INFAMOUS BY
LEADING THE MASSACRE OF BLACK KETTLES CHEYENNE
AT SAND CREAK IN COLORADO. CHIVINGTON LEFT ARMY
SERVICE BEFORE HE COULD BE DISCIPLINED. HE
REMAINED A HERO TO THE SETTLERS OF COLORADO UNTIL
HIS DEATH.
18
Little Crow
THE SANTEE LAKOTA (SIOUX) CHIEF LITTLE CROW LED
HIS STARVING PEOPLE IN A WAR AGAINST THE SETTLERS
OF MINNESOTA IN THE YEARS 1861 - 1862. THE WAR
WAS CAUSED BY THE APPALLING CONDITIONS ON THE
MINNESOTA RESERVATION WHERE 12 000 SANTEE SIOUX
LIVED. THE SANTEE RELIED ON THE RATIONS AND MONEY
SENT BY THE US GOVERNMENT UNDER THE 1851 FORT
LARAMIE TREATY. IN 1861 CUTWORM DESTROYED THE
SANTEES CROPS AND WHEN THE GOVERNMENT MONEY DID
NOT ARRIVE, THE INDIAN AGENT ANDREW MYRICK TOLD
THE SANTEE TO EAT GRASS OR THEIR OWN DUNG.
LITTLE CROWS WARRIORS KILLED 700 SETTLERS BEFORE
BEING DEFEATED BY THE US ARMY. 38 WARRIORS WERE
HUNG AND LITTLE CROW WAS EVENTUALLY SHOT WHILST
PICKING RASPBERRIES IN A FARMERS FIELD.
19
Wovoka
WOVOKA WAS A PAIUTE MYSTIC WHO LED THE GHOST
DANCE MOVEMENT. WOVOKA CLAIMED THAT IF THE
INDIANS TOOK PART IN THE GHOST DANCE THAT THE
WHITES WOULD BE SWALLOWED UP BY THE EARTH AND THE
DEAD INDIANS AND BUFFALO WOULD RETURN TO EARTH.
THE GHOST DANCE MOVEMENT SPREAD ACROSS THE
DESPERATE RESERVATIONS OF THE PLAINS INDIANS IN
1890. THE US ARMY AND THE INDIAN AGENTS WERE
APPLAED BY THIS RETURN TO TRADITIONAL MYSTICISM.
THE GHOST DANCE WAS ENDED BY THE BATTLE OF WOUNDE
KNEE IN DECEMBER 1890. THIS CAN BE SEEN AS A LAST
ATEMPT BY THE DEFEATED NATIVE AMERICANS TO
PRESERVE THEIR CULTURE AND RIGHTS.
20
Black Kettle
THE CHEYENNE CHIEF BLACK KETTLE WAS LEADER OF HIS
PEOPLE WHEN THEY WERE ATTACKED BY COLONEL
CHIVINGTONS COLORADO MILITIA IN 1864 AT SAND
CREEK. BLACK KETTLE WAS A LEADING PEACE CHIEF
WHOSE EFFORTS FAILED TO CONVINCE THE COLORADO
AUTHORITES TO AVOID CONFLICT. BLACK KETTLE HAD
SPENT MONTHS NEGOTIATING WITH THE COLORADO
AUTHORITIES AND THE US ARMY, AND EVEN BELIEVED
THAT A PEACE DEAL HAD BEEN STUCK AND THAT THE
CHEYENNE HAD US ARMY PROTECTION WHEN CHIVINGTON
ATTACKED. BLACK KETTLE WAS KILLED DURING CUSTER'S
ATTACK ON THE RIVER WASHITA IN 1868.
21
Chief Joseph
CHIEF JOSPEH LED THE NEZ PERCE TRIBE WHO LIVED IN
OREGON. HIS FATHER, ALSO KNOWN AS JOSEPH HAD
HELPED LEWIS AND CLARKE ON THEIR EXPEDITION OF
1803 - 1806. LEWIS AND CLARK HAD PROMISED HIM
THAT THE USA WOULD ALWAYS BE THE FRIENDS OF TH
NEZ PERCE. BY THE MID-1870S, SETTLERS WERE MOVING
INTO THE NEZ PERCES LANDS. IN 1877 HE LED HIS
PEOPLE ON A 1 400 MILE MARCH TO ESCAPE THE US
ARMY. THE NEZ PERCE WERE CONTINUALLY VICTORIOUS
OVER THE CHASING SOLDIERS. THEY GOT TO WITHIN 40
MILES OF THE CANADIAN BORDER BEFORE FINAL DEFEAT.
HIS STORY IS ONE OF UNFILFILLED HOPE FOR THE
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
22
Sitting Bull
SITTING BULL WAS THE LEADING SIOUX CHIEF OF THE
1870s. HE LED A GREAT FORCE OF SIOUX, CHEYENEE
AND ARAPAHO TO A CAMP ON THE LITTLE BIGHORN RIVER
IN THE SUMMER OF 1876 AFTER THE US HAD ALLOWED
GOLD MINERS TO INVADE THE SIOUX LANDS IN THE
BLACK HILLS. SITTING BULL SAID OF THE INVASION
THE BLACK HILLS BELONG TO ME. IF THE WHITES TRY
TO TAKE THEM I WILL FIGHT. SITTING BULL GATHERED
UP TO 12 000 INDIANS IN 1876, AND THIS LED TO THE
DEFEAT OF THE US ARMY AT THE BATTLE OF THE
ROSEBUD AND THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
SITTING BULL ESCAPED TO CANADA, BUT EVENTUALLY
RETURNED TO THE STANDING ROCK RESERVATION IN
DAKOTA. SITTING BULL WAS SHOT BY A SIOUX
POLICEMAN IN 1890 WHILST BEING ARRESTED FOR
ALLEGEDLY PROMOTING THE GHOST DANCE.
23
Bat Masterson
Like many, Bat Masterson had a colourful career.
At various times he was a buffalo hunter, a
gambler and a sports journalist. Masterson moved
to Dodge City in 1876, and became County Sheriff.
His brother Ed, a Town Marshal, was killed by a
drunken cowhand in Dodge City two years later. He
became closely associated with Wyatt Earp and
even moved to Tombstone for a while. He was later
appointed as a New York State Deputy Marshal by
President Theodore Roosevelt. Bat Mastersons
life covered many stages of the development of
the American West. He was involved in the
massacre of the Plains Indians food supply. He
was then involved in civilising the West and its
new towns. He also lived long enough to leave the
West and use his skills in the East.
24
Wild Bill Hickoks real name was James Butler
Hickok. He earned his nickname in the Civil War,
and he continued to serve in the US Army for a
few years after the war as a scout. He was one
gunfighter and lawman who fully deserved his
fearsome reputation. By the time he was appointed
Town Marshal of Hays, Kansas, in 1869, he had
already killed a number of men. After his time in
Hays, he became a marshal in Abilene. Hickok
arrived in Deadwood in 1876. Many hoped that he
would bring law and order to the town, but he
decided to bide his time. He gambled in the
saloons, got married, and thought about gold
mining until he was eventually shot while playing
poker.
Wild Bill Hickok
25
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp was born in Illinois in 1848. After
working as a freight hauler and a buffalo hunter,
he became Assistant Marshal of Dodge City in
1878. Wyatt Earps main claim to fame rests on
the time he spent in Tombstone, Arizona where his
brother Virgil was a Deputy Marshal. Wyatt became
Deputy Sheriff of the county. Tombstone was best
known for its silver mines, but it was also a
centre for ranching, and this attracted many
cattle rustlers. Earp identified himself closely
with the local business community. They were keen
to establish Tombstone as a respectable town and
put an end to the rustling and violence. Morgan
Earp. Two families, the Clantons and the
McLaurys, were thought to be the cause of most of
the trouble. The showdown came on 26th October
1881. This was the famous Gunfight at the OK
Corral. The shooting actually lasted less than 1
minute, but two of the McClaurys and Billy
Clanton were killed. Some said the Earps had
killed them in cold blood. The fight did not stop
the violence. Morgan Earp, another of Wyatts
brothers, was shot dead the following year. Wyatt
Earp sought to avenge his murder, and eventually
shot the two men suspected of the crime. Wyatt
Earp had a long and eventful life, and died in
1929 aged 80. In his last years he helped to turn
himself into a legend by telling his life story
to writers and Hollywood film makers.
26
Jesse James
Jesse James was born in Missouri in 1847, the son
of a Baptist minister. Together with his brother
Frank he formed the James Gang, which often
teamed up with the four Younger brothers. Between
1866 and Jesses death in 1882, they robbed
countless banks and trains. Jesse James was
surprisingly popular with the public. Some viewed
him as a kind of Robin Hood figure. He had fought
for the South in the Civil War, and many in
Missouri still opposed the Union. In addition,
the railroad companies were unpopular because
they had bought up such large amounts of land. In
1876, the gang attempted to rob a bank in
Northfield, Missouri. The raid went horribly
wrong for the James-Younger Gang as the
townspeople armed themselves in anticipation of
the raid. Three of the gang were killed. After
this, big rewards were on offer to anyone who
stopped Jesse James. In the end, it was a member
of his own gang who killed him. Jesse James was
shot in the back by Bob Ford as he straightened a
picture in his own home. THIS PHOTO IS OF BOB
FORD AS THERE IS NO PHOTO OF JESSE JAMES EXCEPT
AFTER HIS DEATH
27
Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy was christened Robert Leroy Parker
by his Mormon pioneer parents. The Sundance Kid's
real name was Harry Longabaugh. The two and their
gang, known as the Wild Bunch, held up banks and
robbed the trains of the Union Pacific Railroad
in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Montana in
the 1890s. With the law following them, they fled
to Argentina in 1901, along with Sundance's
girlfriend, Etta Place. The three homesteaded a
ranch in the Cholila Valley. By 1905, though,
they were back to robbing banks. Butch and
Sundance died in a shoot-out in San Vincente, a
town in southern Bolivia, where they had fled
after robbing the payroll of the Aramayo Mining
Co. that was being carried on a mule. After a
patrol discovered them holed up in a rented hut,
gunfight ensued, ending when darkness fell. Later
that night, townspeople reported hearing screams
and two shots. In the morning, they found the
outlaws dead, both shot in the head. Badly
wounded during the gunfight, the outlaws had
chosen to commit suicide rather than fall captive.
28
Wild Bill Hickoks real name was James Butler
Hickok. He earned his nickname in the Civil War,
and he continued to serve in the US Army for a
few years after the war as a scout. He was one
gunfighter and lawman who fully deserved his
fearsome reputation. By the time he was appointed
Town Marshal of Hays, Kansas, in 1869, he had
already killed a number of men. After his time in
Hays, he became a marshal in Abilene. Hickok
arrived in Deadwood in 1876. Many hoped that he
would bring law and order to the town, but he
decided to bide his time. He gambled in the
saloons, got married, and thought about gold
mining until he was eventually shot while playing
poker.
Wild Bill Hickok
29
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane was a wandering American
frontierswoman who dressed like a man and
frequented bars, telling stories of her
adventures. She was born Martha Jane Canary in
Princeton, Missouri on May 1, 1852. She was
orphaned by 1867 and began roaming the mining
districts of the west. In the late 1870s she was
a familiar sight in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
In 1891 she married Clinton Burke, but he soon
deserted her. She toured in Wild West shows and
claimed to have been a pony express rider and a
scout with General Custer's forces. How Calamity
Jane received her nickname is uncertain, like
much else about her legendary life. "Calamity"
may have referred to her hard-luck times, to her
willingness to help those in trouble, or to the
fate of her enemies (because of her skill with a
pistol). Martha "Calamity Jane" Canary Burke died
in 1903 in Terry, South Dakota. She was buried in
Mount Moriah cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota,
next to Wild Bill Hickok. Although many
fictional accounts pair Calamity Jane with Wild
Bill Hickok, the two were never romantically
involved.