On the 2d day of August, 1876, Wild Bill was in Lewis & Mann’s saloon,
playing a game of poker with Capt. Massey, a Missouri river pilot,
Charley Rich, and Cool Mann, one of the proprietors of the saloon. The
game had been in progress nearly three hours, when about 4 o’clock,
P. M., a man was seen to enter the door and pass up to the bar. Bill
was sitting on a stool with the back of his head towards and about
five feet from the bar. When the man entered, Bill had just picked
up the cards dealt him, and was looking at his “hand,” and therefore
took no notice of the newcomer. The man, who proved to be Jack McCall,
alias Bill Sutherland, after approaching the bar, turned, and drawing
a large navy revolver, placed the muzzle within two inches of Bill’s
head and fired. The bullet entered the base of the brain, tore through
the head, and made its exit at the right cheek, between the upper and
lower jaw-bones, breaking off several teeth and carrying away a large
piece of the cerebellum through the wound. The bullet struck Capt.
Massey, who sat opposite Bill, in the right arm and broke the bone. At
the instant the pistol was discharged, the cards fell from Bill’s hands
and he dropped sideways off the stool without uttering a sound. His
companions were so horrified that several moments elapsed before it was
discovered that Capt. Massey was wounded.
[Illustration: Death of Wild Bill.]
The assassin turned upon the crowd and compelled them to file out of
the saloon before him. After reaching the street he defied arrest, but
at five o’clock he gave himself up and asked for an immediate trial.
Deadwood was, at that time, so primitive that it had no city officers,
and there was no one legally competent to take charge of or try the
prisoner. During the same evening, however, a coroner was chosen, who
impaneled a jury and returned a verdict to the effect that J. B. Hickok
(Wild Bill) came to his death from a wound resulting from a shot fired
from a pistol by John McCall, alias Bill Sutherland.
Having proceeded thus far, it was determined to elect a judge, sheriff
and prosecuting attorney to try McCall on the following day. Languishe,
the lessee of McDaniel’s theatre, offered the use of the theatre for
the purposes of the trial, which was arranged to take place at 9
o’clock on the following morning. Three men were sent out in different
directions to notify the miners in the neighborhood of the murder, and
to request their attendance at the trial.
Promptly at the time appointed, the improvised court convened, and
Joseph Brown, who had been chosen sheriff, produced the prisoner. F. J.
Kuykendall, the _pro tempore_ judge, then addressed the crowd in a very
appropriate manner, reminding those present that the court was purely a
self-constituted one, but that in the discharge of his duty he would be
governed by justice, and trust to them for a ratification of his acts.
His remarks were greeted with hand-clappings of approval. The prisoner
was then led forward and conducted to a seat on the stage to the right
of the judge.
Never did a more forbidding countenance face a court than that of Jack
McCall; his head, which was covered with a thick crop of chestnut hair,
was very narrow as to the parts occupied by the intellectual portion of
the brain, while the animal development was exceedingly large. A small,
sandy moustache covered a sensual mouth, and the coarse double-chin
was partially hid by a stiff goatee. The nose was what is commonly
called “snub;” he had cross eyes and a florid complexion, which
completed a more repulsive picture than Dore could conceive. He was
clad in a blue flannel shirt, brown overalls, heavy shoes, and, as he
sat in a stooping position, with his arms folded across his breast, he
evidently assumed a nonchalance and bravado which were foreign to his
feelings, and betrayed by the spasmodic heavings of his heart.
The selection of a jury consumed all the forenoon, as it was next to
impossible to select a man who had not formed or expressed an opinion
concerning the murder, although but few who were in the panel had heard
of the tragedy until a few hours before. A hundred names were selected,
written upon separate scraps of paper, and placed in a hat. They were
then well shaken, and the committee appointed for the purpose drew from
the hat one name at a time. The party answering to the name then came
forward and was examined by the judge touching his fitness to serve as
an impartial juror. Ninety-two names were called from the panel before
the jury was made up. Following are those who were selected and served:
J. J. Bumfs, L. D. Brokow, J. H. Thompson, C. Whitehead, Geo. S.
Hopkins, J. F. Cooper, Alexander Travis, K. F. Towle, John E. Thompson,
L. A. Judd, Edward Burke and John Mann. The jurors being sworn, they
took their seats, and testimony for the prosecution was begun.
The first witness called was Charles Rich, who said that he was in
the saloon kept by Lewis & Mann on the afternoon of the 2d, and was
seated at a table playing a game of poker with Wild Bill and several
others, when the prisoner, whom he identified, came into the room,
walked deliberately up to Wild Bill, placed a pistol to the back of the
deceased, and fired, saying: “Take that!” Bill fell from the stool upon
which he had been seated without uttering a word.
Samuel Young testified that he was engaged in the saloon; that he had
just delivered $15 worth of pocket checks to the deceased, and was
returning to his place behind the bar when he heard the report of a
pistol shot; turning around, he saw the prisoner at the back of Wild
Bill with a pistol in his hand which he had just discharged; heard him
say, “Take that!”
Carl Mann was one of the proprietors of the saloon in which Wild
Bill was killed; was in the poker game; noticed a commotion; saw the
prisoner (whom he identified) shoot Wild Bill.
The defense called for the first witness, P. H. Smith, who said he
had been in the employ of McCall four months; that he was not a man
of quarrelsome disposition; that he had always considered him a man
of good character; that he (the witness) had been introduced to Wild
Bill in Cheyenne, and drank with him; that the deceased had a bad
reputation, and had been the terror of every place in which he had
resided.
H. H. Pickens said that he had known defendant four years, and believed
him to be a quiet and peaceable man. Wild Bill’s reputation as a
“shootist” was very hard; he was quick in using the pistol and never
missed his man, and had killed quite a number of persons in different
parts of the country.
Ira Ford had known the defendant about one year; “like a great many
others, he would go upon a spree like the rest of the boys.” Wild Bill
had the reputation of being a brave man, who could and would shoot
quicker than any man in the Western country, and who always “got away”
with his antagonist.
The defense called several others, the tenor of whose evidence was but
a repetition of the foregoing. No attempt was made to show that Wild
Bill had ever seen the prisoner.
The prisoner was called upon to make a statement. He came down from
the stage into the auditorium of the theatre, and with his right hand
in the bosom of his shirt, his head thrown back, in a harsh, loud and
repulsive voice, with a bull-dog sort of bravado, said: “Well, men,
I have but a few words to say. Wild Bill threatened to kill me if I
crossed his path. I am not sorry for what I have done. I would do the
same thing over again.” The prisoner then returned to his place on the
stage.
The prosecution then adduced testimony to prove that Wild Bill was a
much abused man; that he never imposed on any one, and that in every
instance where he had slain men he had done so either in the discharge
of his duty as an officer of the law or in self-defense.
The case having been placed in the hands of the jury, the theatre was
cleared, with the understanding that the verdict should be made known
in the saloon where the murder was committed. The prisoner was remanded
to the house where he had been imprisoned during the night. At 9
o’clock the following verdict was read to the prisoner:
DEADWOOD CITY, Aug. 3, 1876.--We, the jurors, find the prisoner,
Mr. John McCall, not guilty.
CHARLES WHITEHEAD,
Foreman.
The prisoner was at once liberated, and several of the model jurymen
who had played their parts in this burlesque upon justice, and who had
turned their bloodthirsty tiger loose upon the community indulged in a
sickening cheer which grated harshly upon the ears of those who heard
it. The first vote taken by the jury resulted in eleven for acquittal
and one for conviction, and the single man who desired justice was so
intimidated by his fellow-jurors that he was induced to sanction the
iniquitous verdict. It was even proposed by one of the jurymen that the
prisoner be fined fifteen or twenty dollars and set free.
After the inquest the body of the deceased was placed upon a litter
made of two poles and some boards; then a procession was formed, and
the remains were carried to Charley Utter’s camp, across the creek.
Charles Utter, better known as Colorado Charley, had been the intimate
friend of the deceased for fifteen years, and with that liberality
which is a feature among mountaineers, had always shared his purse with
him. Charley was much affected by the death of his friend, and incensed
at the villain who had murdered him. A tepee was pitched at the foot of
one of the giant trees which rise so majestically above Charley’s camp.
Preparations were at once made for the funeral. The following notice
was printed and sent out:
“FUNERAL NOTICE.--Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, Aug. 2, 1876, from
the effects of a pistol shot, J. B. Hickok (Wild Bill,) formerly of
Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at Charley Utter’s
camp, on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 3, 1876, at 3 o’clock. All are
respectfully invited to attend.”
At the time appointed a number of people gathered at the camp--Charley
Utter had gone to a great deal of expense to make the funeral as fine
as could be had in that country. Under the tepee, in a handsome coffin,
covered with black cloth and richly mounted with silver ornaments,
lay Wild Bill, a picture of perfect repose. His long chestnut hair,
evenly parted over his marble brow, hung in waving ringlets over the
broad shoulders; his face was cleanly shaved excepting the drooping
moustache, which shaded a mouth that in death almost seemed to smile,
but in life was unusually grave; the arms were folded over the stilled
breast, which inclosed a heart that had beat with regular pulsation
amid the most startling scenes of blood and violence. The corpse was
clad in complete dress-suit of black broadcloth, new underclothing and
white linen shirt; beside him in the coffin lay his trusty rifle, which
the deceased prized above all other things, and which was to be buried
with him in compliance with an often expressed desire.
A clergyman read an impressive funeral service, that was attentively
listened to by the audience, after which the coffin-lid hid the
well-known face of Wild Bill from the prying gaze of the world.
A grave had been prepared on the mountain side toward the east, and to
that place in the bright sunlight, the air redolent with the perfume of
sweet flowers, the birds sweetly singing, and all nature smiling, the
solemn cortege wended its way and deposited the mortal remains of Wild
Bill.
Upon a large stump at the head of the grave the following inscription
was deeply cut:
“A brave man; the victim of an assassin--J. B. Hickok (Wild Bill,)
aged 48 years; murdered by Jack McCall, Aug. 2, 1876.”
JACK McCALL PAYS THE PENALTY.
After the farcical termination of the trial, and the burial of Wild
Bill, several friends of the deceased met at Charley Utter’s ranche
and determined to avenge the cowardly assassination of their friend.
McCall, unfortunately, heard of the meeting and its purposes, and lost
no time in getting out of the country. He roamed around in the far
West, and finally settled at Yankton. In the following year a United
States court was established in Dakotah Territory at Yankton, and Jack
McCall was again apprehended and put upon trial. George Shingle, now
a resident of Sturgis City, eighteen miles south of Deadwood, was an
eye-witness of the shooting, but left Deadwood to escape the excitement
on the same evening Bill was killed, and therefore did not appear as a
witness at the original trial, but appeared in answer to the summons
which called him to Yankton, and there told the story of the murder.
The result of this trial was the conviction of McCall, and in July,
1877, he expiated his cowardly crime on the gallows at Yankton.