August 2
DEAD MAN’S HAND DAY
Wild Bill (James Butler) Hickok was gunned down by Jack McCall, a desperado from Texas, in Saloon #10 at Deadwood, in the Dakota Territory on this day in 1876. Hickok was playing poker (with his back to the door) at the time of the shooting. McCall shot Wild Bill in the back, and was hanged for the shooting, never revealing his motive.
Hickok, a Union army spy, a scout for General Custer, a marshal for Abilene, Kansas, and a crack shot with a pistol, was handsome, longhaired, and a flamboyant gambler. Doc Pierce, who prepared Wild Bill for burial was quoted as saying, “Wild Bill was the prettiest corpse I have ever seen.”
The poker hand Hickok was holding when he died consisted of a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This combination became known as the dead man’s hand.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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