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They Called Him Wild Bill: The Life and Adventures of James Butler Hickok

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The first edition of this book changed my life. Back in the sixties I was a teenage Wild West nerd, reading all I could about Western gunfighters. But I was frutstrated. No serious historian was writing about them so I had to settle for highly fictionalized versions. Then Joseph Rosa came along with this wonderful book and established the standard for what a well researched bio of a western gunfighter should be. It taught me the value of looking for the truth even if it's not as pleasent as I would like it to be. There's been few gunfighter bios since that can come close to this one for quaility characterization. The Hickock he creates is flesh and blood and very sympathetic as well as truly flawed. The second edition is even better. This book is a treasure. Thank you, Mr. Rosa.

There are many figures from the American West whose lives are encrusted with legend and myth, but, with Wild Bill Hickok, the process started even before he was dead.

It was a short life, done at 39 when he was shot in the back by one Jack McCall in Deadwood, South Dakota.

In those 39 years, Hickok helped his father run a station in the Underground Railway, fought as a guerilla in Missouri, went behind enemy lines as a scout and spy in the Civil War, drove coaches and wagons, guided hunting parties, served as a detective for the U. S. government, prospected for gold, acted in a traveling stage show with Buffalo Bill Cody, gambled, and, most famously, served as a lawman in Hays and Abilene, Kansas. During that time, he killed men and exhibited a shooting skill with revolvers unmatched at the time.

I grew up not far from Deadwood, a town that has enshrined Hickok's grave and memory, but this is the first full-length, adult biography of him I've read, and I found it a good, credible introduction to his life.

Rosa, the world's leading authority on Hickok, clearly admires Hickok, but, if he refutes the debunkers of Hickok's life, he's also generally skeptical of all the legends around Hickok. He looks at official records, newspaper articles, memoirs, and even, when Hickok's shooting abilities are discussed, modern attempts to recreate them, to get to the truth of Wild Bill. Rosa covers the questions of how many people Hickok killed, his weapons, his (lack of) relationship with Calamity Jane, his odd marriage to the remarkable Agnes Lake who was eleven years his senior, the extent and origin of his failing eyesight, and devotes a whole chapter to the unexplained motives of Wild Bill's murderer. He even discusses the stories of Wild Bill's famous horse, Black Nell. And, of course, Rosa discusses the famous gunfights in Hickok's life including the one that started the Western legend of the showdown in the middle of the street: the killing of Dave Tutt.

Joseph Rosa is THE authority on James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok. The first edition of this biography appeared in 1964, and here it's been updated with much new material, including never-before-published photographs. Rosa, an Englishman, published a new biography of Hickok in 1996, which I haven't seen, but THEY CALLED HIM WILD BILL is certainly a thorough, and perhaps definitive, biography of this larger-than-life gunfighter.

Hickok came to Kansas from Illinois as an 18 year old and got a job driving wagons on the Santa Fe Trail. Mauled by a bear, he was assigned to the Rock Creek Stage Station where the Hickok legend began: he got into a fight with David McCanles (possibly over a woman), shooting him and two other men. When the Ned Buntlines began writing about him, this incident took on legendary proportions, with Hickok shooting dozens of men in some cases.

His prowess with a gun was excellent (he was ambidextrous and could shoot a pistol accurately with both hands, though he was dead-on precise with his right hand), and certainly better than his card playing. He fought in the Civil War in Missouri as a scout and had a showdown on a street in Springfield that added to his gunslinger reputation. His fame spreading, he joined a circus for awhile in Texas in which he showed off his marksmanship.

In 1871 he became marshal at Abilene, and although he was there for less than a year, he received widespread praise in the newspapers for the way he performed his duties. Always the rover, he spent the next few years in Colorado, Kansas City, and New York, the last as a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, which he didn't care for. Back west again, he visited Cheyenne and Denver, and then went to Deadwood in the Black Hills, where he was shot to death in a saloon, August 2, 1876. Although Calamity Jane figures largely in the Hickok legend, despite her own claims, it is doubtful the two were ever married.

Rosa's book is especially important because of the inclusion of lengthy accounts about Hickcok that appeared in newspapers of the day and early sensationalized biographies. Almost 100 different newspapers are cited by Rosa and virtually every page in the book contains long passages from one or another of them as he reconstructs Hickok's life. Separating fact from legend is Rosa's primary concern, and this he does well. Where doubt remains, he says so. And Rosa writes with style and authority. This is an excellent biography of Wild Bill, and one of the best biographies of any Western legend in the literature.

This book is very well researched. It paints Wild Bill as the common man. It separates the truth from the fiction. I would highly recommend it.

Having seen enough movies and tv shows featuring Hickok as character, I wanted to know the story behind the legend. This book does it. The author is an authority on Hickok and has written extensively about him. The book is clearly well-researched and heavily annotated. All that to the side, it is an entertaining read.

Hickok would have done as well today as he did back then. There was truth to his reputation. He was tough, brave, charming, funny and a peerless gunman. At the same time, he knew how to exploit his reputation and did so. That's what makes him so interesting today. Here is a person who knew the value of self-promotion and celebrity a century and a half ago before they became the science they are today.

Make no mistake, this is the most meticulously researched and likely the definitive biograhy of that great American archetype, William Butler Hickok, known to history as "Wild Bill." Mr. Rosa spent decades researching this book and his thoroughness and dedication show on every page. The real "Wild Bill's" life is full of holes, obscured by myth and legend, and to Mr. Rosa's eternal credit, he has done as much as anyone could to sift through that to close the gaps and bring to life a sharp picture of the real man. Also brought to life by Mr. Rosa is a cast of original characters, friendsand enemies alike, who crossed Wild Bill's path. Yet there is a cost to the reader: You too will sift through numerous lengthy documents, reminiscences, newspaper reports, and letters printed in type difficult to distinguish from the author's own text (editor's fault). These verbatim transcripts often seem interminable and are difficult to wade through at times. Much of that stuff could've been slipped into appendices or end notes. This is not a book for casual or easy reading but an absolute must for anyone interested in the real history of the American West.

While others seemingly do scant research about Wild Bill or they are unable to communicate, Rosa's "They Called Him Wild Bill" is simply the best biography about Hickok I have ever read. The book is documented with both a myriad of legal documents and newspaper accounts (the latter can certainly be misleading, as they can be today), and Rosa is a gifted author.

You might find that your conception about Wild Bill changes after you read this book. (And if you saw that "laughable" movie titled "Wild Bill" with Jeff Bridges playing Bill, you'll realize why I call that movie "laughable" if you do read this book.)

You might not care for Wild Bill if you read this book, or...

Well, read it and decide for yourself.

No one presents Hickok as does Rosa. Period.

Joseph G Rosa did a wonderful job in his research. The world, in an effort to depict Wild Bill as an exciting, rutheless, bloodthirsty gunfighter, has tainted the man behind the name. He was anything but bloodthirsty. His desire was to make things right, he was soft on the inside, behind those iron fists, was a caring, gentle man. Rosa did an excellent job as he gives us a true glimps into Wild Bill's world. He starts at the begining, when Wild Bill was just a child and goes from there to his adventures into becomming the gunfighter that we learn about reading this book, not the gunfighter Hollywood depicts, he was never that man. Anyone wanting to learn of the true west will enjoy reading this book.

Over the years I've read my share of articles and books about Wild Bill, I have to say that Mr. Rosa has managed to separate truth from fiction like no other author has to date. This book is the next best thing to sitting down with Bill and talking to him. If you really want to get to know the real Wild Bill then read this book. While its not the end all, it may well be the closest we'll ever get to knowing the man behind the legend.

No, this book is not about Bill Clinton, but rather Wild Bill Hickok. One of legends of the old west and one that truly earned his reputation and was feared by men and admired by women in his own time. If you are a student of the old west, then this is a must read. The amount of detail makes the read a bit dry at times and is not a riveting read, but one that gives you information to sort out as you go, although podding along as it seems at times. If you like the old west then you can't get enough of Wild Bill and need this in your library.