written by Craig K. Crease
With few notable exceptions, most of the men who gained fame in the post-civil war American West, once stripped of the fanciful myths that made up their public persona, have little left to justify that fame and regard. James Butler Hickok was one of the notable exceptions. He excelled in almost everything he did, and his precocious proclivities were evident very early. He fell in love with a half-Indian girl, was a bodyguard for a U.S. Senator, took part in two battles in the border war skirmishes leading up to the Civil War, rode in the saddle day and night as a scout and spy in the border war in Missouri and Kansas, and worked his first assignment as a frontier lawman… all before his 21st birthday. He was not even known yet as Wild Bill! After stripping away the myths and legends, the reader of this book will see that the real life of James Butler Hickok, aka Wild Bill Hickok was every bit as exciting and unique, compelling and dramatic as any myth or legend. It’s no wonder that his real life was such fertile ground for the mythmakers. His real life spoke of infinite possibilities, and the mythmakers seized upon that in describing the exploits and life of Wild Bill Hickok.