Life and marvelous adventures of Wild Bill, the Scout: being a true an exact history of all the sanguinary combats and hair-breadth escapes of the most famous scout and spy America ever produced.Buel, James W. (James William)
History
Life and marvelous adventures of Wild Bill, the Scout: being a true an exact history of all the sanguinary combats and hair-breadth escapes of the most famous scout and spy America ever produced.
Buel, James W. (James William)
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Hickok, Wild Bill, 1837-1876
The extraordinary weight of the body caused the friends to make a more
careful examination, when it was found that the remains were in process
of petrifaction. The hair still bore its silken lustre, but the flesh
was so indurated as to approach the solidity of wood. The weight of
the body at the interment was one hundred and sixty pounds, but at the
exhumation it weighed a fraction less than three hundred pounds.
The carbine that was buried with him was in a perfect state of
preservation. After clipping off a lock of hair, which is now in the
possession of William Learned, musical director of the Gem theater,
at Deadwood, the coffin-lid was again screwed down, and the remains
taken to Moriah cemetery, where they now repose, in a lot purchased by
Charley Utter. An Italian marble tombstone was also purchased by Mr.
Utter, which he had erected at the head of the grave in the latter part
of August. The inscription on the stone is as follows:
WILD BILL, (J. B. HICKOK,)
KILLED BY THE ASSASSIN, JACK McCALL, IN DEADWOOD,
AUGUST 2, 1876.
_Pard, we will meet again in the Happy Hunting Grounds, to part
no more._
GOOD-BYE. COLORADO CHARLEY.
Here let him rest, but the bivouac of an advancing empire will soon
dispel the primeval sounds with which he was so familiar. The soughing
of the primitive forest in which he lived such a stirring life with his
trusty rifle, is mingling with the hum of a more perfect civilization,
and will soon be heard no more. The forest birds are drifting westward,
and their songs, which for centuries have made musical the deep
solitude of that vast region, will be cadenced into the whirr of a
different life. The rough sounds of a border settlement, with its
dangers and privations, will give place to the melody of a maiden’s
voice, and other generations, like the recurring ocean waves which
wash out the sand marks on the beach, will destroy the vestiges of the
early settlement, and point to Wild Bill’s grave as the spot where
sleeps a hero-pioneer--a man whose heart was as gentle as a child’s
prayer, and as brave as God could make it. If he had faults they were
tempered with so much compassion and affection that we lose sight of
them entirely. An appreciation of the services Wild Bill rendered the
civilizers and pioneers of the West belongs to those who come after us.
“No man is appreciated until he is dead.”
IDIOSYNCRACIES OF BILL--HIS BELIEF IN SPIRITS.
We have now described nearly all the adventures in which Wild Bill
was a participant, but before closing this very brief and unvarnished
recital of his life, it is eminently proper to speak of him in his
private and social relations; his peculiar beliefs; his feats of
marksmanship, and his companion in many vicissitudes--the dearest of
all his friends--Black Nell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account