Spelling Question: Is it Wild Bill Hickok or Hickock?

Question

I'm correcting research papers--can't seem to find any definitive spelling on his name.

Answer 1

It's Hickok:

"James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a legendary figure in the American Wild West. He is perhaps the best known figure from that era. After fighting in the Union army during the American Civil War, he became a legendary army scout, and later, lawman and gunfighter."

And here's an article about his death, published at the time:

"GREAT PLAINS GAZETTE for August 3, 1876
The West Mourns the Passing of Wild Bill

Yesterday, August 2, 1876, James Butler Hickok, also known to friend and foe as Wild Bill, was brutally assaulted and murdered in the Black Hills mining town of Deadwood, South Dakota."

And yet more proof:

"One of the “research in progress” reports last year was the above caption which was based on the following account from the 1926 Kansas Historical Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society. Please note the correct information follows this account.

The background: “Wild Bill” (James Butler) Hickok, 1837-1876, was a U.S. frontier marshall. The Kansas Historical Society article discusses differing opinions on the character of Wild Bill Hickok with the following offered by a Mr. Hansen who felt Hickok was a cold-blooded killer who would shoot on his first suspicion of a physical encounter or personal danger:

“. . . The moment he scented a fight he pulled his gun and shot to kill. So great was his fear of personal harm, and so quick was he to pull the trigger that on one occasion, at Abilene, Kansas, he killed Mike McWilliams, his most intimate friend, before he recognized him.”

The article goes on to state that other biographers show that this characterization had no foundation in fact though the events were correct. Somewhere along the way Mike Williams turned into McWilliams, however.

Authors Joseph Rosa (They Called Him Wild Bill), William E. Connelley (The Life of Wild Bill), and Roenigk in Pioneer History of Kansas concur with Rosa’s account, summarized as follows: On the night of October 5 (1871) trouble arose, ending in violence and tragedy. The town was full of Texans making the most of their last few days in the city, and who were in the mood for excitement. As the night progressed, a group of men turned into a drunken mob. The shooting of a dog brought Marshal Hickok out to confront the mob which was moving “up and down the street with a wild swish and roar, totally oblivious to anything in their path” according to an eye witness account. Ordering them to disarm and leave town, he also demanded to know who had fired the gun against town ordinances. “ . . . the Marshall had his two deadly guns leveled on Coe and pulled a trigger of each gun and just at that instant a policeman (Mike Williams) rushed around the corner of the building right between the guns and Coe and he received both bullets and fell dead. The Marshall instantly pulled two triggers again and two lead balls entered Coe’s abdomen. Whirling on the mob his two 44 six shooters drawn on them . . . In less than five minutes every man of them was on the west side of Mud Creek. . . .”

Coe died within a few days and Rosa states the killing of Mike Williams had a profound effect upon Hickok who paid all expenses of burial in Kansas City.

These three sources all state the last name as Williams—a good example of the importance of double-checking the facts, even in the most interesting stories."

Answer 2

Wild Bill Hickok Facts

Answer 3

Hickcock is the correct spelling. He was born in Illinois by the way. Considered by many to be the best all around gunman in the old west.

Answer 4

Seems to be the correct spelling is "Hickok".

Answer 5

Wild Bill Hitchcock.

Answer 6

Yeah I was in a cows field with my friend and a bull started to charge at me and I was like "ahh fawk" then i ran and jumped over the fence. I was out

Answer 7

Wild Bill Hiccup!

Answer 8

Hickok. I read an article about him which amongst other things suggested he was gay.