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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill
3 Hickok, was born in Homer (now Troy Grove) on May 27, 1837;
4 while he was growing up, his father's farm was one of the stops
5 on the Underground Railroad, and he learned his shooting skills
6 protecting the farm with his father from slave catchers; and
 
7     WHEREAS, In 1855, at the age of 18, Wild Bill Hickok moved
8 to the Kansas Territory; while in Kansas, he joined General Jim
9 Lane's vigilante Free State Army; at the age of 21, Hickok was
10 elected constable of Monticello Township; and
 
11     WHEREAS, When the Civil War began, Wild Bill Hickok joined
12 the Union forces and served in the west, mostly in Kansas and
13 Missouri, and earned a reputation as a skilled scout; after the
14 war, he became a scout for the United States Army and served
15 for a time as a United States Marshal; he also engaged in
16 buffalo hunting with Buffalo Bill Cody, Robert Denbow, and
17 David L. Payne; and
 
18     WHEREAS, In 1870, Wild Bill Hickok served as sheriff of
19 Hays, Kansas; in 1873, Buffalo Bill Cody and Texas Jack
20 Omohundro invited Hickok to join them in a new play called
21 Scouts of the Plains after their earlier success; Hickok
22 eventually left the show before Cody formed his Buffalo Bill's

 

 

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1 Wild West Show in 1882; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Wild Bill Hickok quickly developed a reputation as
3 a feared gunfighter; on July 21, 1865, in the town square of
4 Springfield, Missouri, Hickok killed Davis Tutt, Jr. in a
5 "quick draw" duel, a type of gunfight that would become a
6 significant part of Wild Bill's legacy; during his career,
7 Hickok would eventually kill five men, wound one man, and be an
8 accessory in the deaths of three more; and
 
9     WHEREAS, In September of 1865, Wild Bill Hickok came in
10 second in the election for City Marshal of Springfield,
11 Missouri; after leaving Springfield, he was recommended for the
12 position of Deputy United States Marshal at Fort Riley, Kansas;
13 he also sometimes served as a scout for George A. Custer's 7th
14 Cavalry; and
 
15     WHEREAS, In 1868, Wild Bill Hickok ran for sheriff in
16 Ellsworth County, Kansas, but was defeated by former soldier
17 E.W. Kingsbury; he was elected sheriff and city marshal of
18 Ellis County, Kansas on August 23, 1869; on April 15, 1871,
19 Hickok became marshal of Abilene, Kansas; and
 
20     WHEREAS, In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was diagnosed by a
21 doctor in Kansas City, Missouri, with glaucoma and ophthalmia;
22 on March 5, 1876, Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake, a circus

 

 

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1 proprietor; he soon left his new bride to seek his fortune in
2 the gold fields of South Dakota; and
 
3     WHEREAS, On August 2, 1876, while playing poker at Nuttal &
4 Mann's Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, Wild Bill
5 Hickok was shot by Jack McCall, ending the life of the fearsome
6 gunfighter and lawman; and
 
7     WHEREAS, On May 27, 2009, a statue of Wild Bill Hickok will
8 be unveiled in Troy Grove in honor of Hickok and his legendary
9 exploits; the statue was sculpted in bronze by William Piller;
10 therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13 designate the day of May 27, 2009 and every May 27 thereafter
14 as "Wild Bill Hickok Day" in the State of Illinois.