Page 28 - Cousins - Celebrities, Saints & Sinners

gambler. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as
the dead man's hand: two pair, aces and eights.

Hickok remains a popular figure in frontier history. Many historic sites and monuments
commemorate his life, and he has been depicted numerous times in literature, film, and
television. He is chiefly portrayed as a protagonist, although historical accounts of his actions
are often controversial, and most of his career was exaggerated by both himself and various
mythmakers. While Hickok claimed to have killed numerous named and unnamed gunmen in
his lifetime, according to Joseph G. Rosa, Hickok's biographer and the foremost authority on
Wild Bill, Hickok killed only six or seven men in gunfights.

After the Civil War broke out in April 1861, James Hickok became
a teamster for the Union Army in Sedalia, Missouri. By the end of
1861, he was a wagon master, but in September 1862 he was
discharged for unknown reasons. He then joined General James
Henry Lane's Kansas Brigade and, while serving with the brigade,
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saw his friend Buffalo Bill Cody (8 cousin, 5 times removed),
who was serving as a scout. Buffalo Bill claimed that he
encountered Hickok disguised as a Confederate officer in
Missouri in 1864.

Martha Jane Cannary, known popularly as Calamity Jane, claimed
in her autobiography that she was married to Hickok and had
divorced him so he could be free to marry Agnes Lake, but no

records have been found that support her account. The two
Hickok, Texas Jack Omohundro,
and Buffalo Bill Cody as the possibly met for the first time after Jane was released from the
"Scouts of the Plains" in 1873 guardhouse in Fort Laramie and joined the wagon train in

which Hickok was traveling. The wagon train arrived in Deadwood in July 1876.

On March 5, 1876, Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake, a 50-year-old circus proprietor
in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Hickok left his new bride a few months later, joining Charlie
Utter's wagon train to seek his fortune in the goldfields of South Dakota.

Note: Wild Bill Hickok is one of those legends of the old West
whose TV series programs I used to watch on black and white
TV every week when I was growing up. The show starred Guy
Madison and ran for 112 episodes. Other shows I remember
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highlighted the lives of Davy Crockett (6 Cousin, 6 Times
th
Removed), Daniel Boone (8 Cousin, 5 Times Removed), and
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Wyatt Earp (10 Cousin, 4 Times Removed).

References:
1. Relative Finder, associated with FamilySearch, and the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)
2. Wikipedia.org
3. Biography.com
4. LDS Family Tree #

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