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Old West folk hero (1837–1876) who earned notoriety as a scout, lawman, gunslinger, and gambler, famously shot and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. Exceedingly rare ALS, signed four times—"Jm. Hickok" twice, and "James B. Hickok" twice—one page both sides, 8 x 10, August 20, 1858. Handwritten letter from Monticello Township, Johnson County, Kansas, littered with misspellings and other errors, evidently sent to his family—his mother and sisters—in Illinois.
In full (spelling retained): "I have raked and put up a tun of hay in an hour and a half and now I will write a little more to you if I can think of anything to write. You must not blame me if you can't read my writings for evry spare moment I have I sit down on my bed and put my paper on a Book and Write a few lines and then quit and that is the reason I don't write Better. I guess sitting Bent over Writing on one's nee ain't a verry nice way of resting one's self I don't think. I have got to mo one hundred tun of hay yet and mabee too hundred I don't no yet exactly how much I have got to mo. Thare is considerable sickness in the teritory jest now though there are but dew deaths. Scarcely any one dies with the fevers that they have here. Write me all the news. When you Write again if you pleas Let us all no how the Corryel gets a long for gerry want to no verry Bad. I guess he told me to say that he had Writen to you once Since he Came here."
Hickok signs twice at the bottom of the first page, then continues his letter on "Monday Morning," August 23rd: "I would have finished this letter yesterday But I was not at home. I was over at John Owens. I go thare when I get hungry jist the same as I youst to come home to mothers to get some thing good to eat. Mary Cut off A Lock of my hare yesterday and sayd for me to send it to my mother or sisters if she had not thought a good deal of you all she woud not have Cut it of for she thinks A grate deal of it. At least she is allwais Coming and Curling it that is when I am thare."
He signs once more, then finishes his letter: "I may not write again for A few days so I will Write a little more. I received A Letter from Celinda friday, Mary got it and read it for she reads evry letter that I get and sayd she would answer it for me and tell Celind all About that girl she spoke and tell hur her name. It is noon now and I am waiting for my diner. I promised gery that I would Come out to Olatha and see him last Sunday but it rained all day and I did not go." signs again
Hickok signs again at the end of the letter. Professionally silked on one side and in fine condition. Accompanied by a handsome custom-made quarter-leather presentation folder.
Hickok had fled Illinois in 1855, at age 18, and joined up with Jim Lane's vigilante Jayhawkers—the antislavery guerrilla group—during the 'Bleeding Kansas' era. In 1857, he claimed a 160-acre homestead tract in Johnson County, Kansas, and in March 1858 he was elected one of the first four constables of Monticello Township. There, he fell in love with Mary Owen—later described as 'an eighth-blood Shawnee of great attraction'—who he mentions here, and who he reportedly intended to marry. It may have been his family's objections to a mixed-heritage marriage that resulted in the relationship's demise. According to Jule Hadley, an early resident of Johnson County: 'The public does not know it but his matrimonial failure and disappointment made him [into] 'Wild Bill.'' (see: Wild Bill Hickok: The Man and His Myth by Joseph G. Rosa, p. 10).
Hickok left Monticello in 1859, becoming a driver for the Russell, Majors and Waddell freight company—the parent company of the Pony Express—before serving in the Civil War. He went on to earn fame as an Old West icon for his exploits as a scout, gunfighter, and lawman on the expanding western frontier. His exploits—some documented, others embellished—helped cement his reputation as one of the most celebrated figures of his era.
Autograph letters of Wild Bill Hickok are extremely rare, with only a small number of authentic examples known; perhaps a dozen exist in private hands. This example is especially noteworthy in that Hickok signs four times in two distinct forms—“Jm. Hickok” and “James B. Hickok”—a highly unusual and desirable feature that significantly enhances its appeal.
The Western Americana auction of Jochen Zeitz.
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