Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
Well, in the last post about Wild Bill Hickok he had just killed his first
men in the incident which started his legend. I forgot to mention that
the girl that he had been seeing in the cabin across from the station..
remember her? With Wild Bill there was usually a woman involved.
Well you would have thought that he'd "get the girl" after the fight was
over between him and the bully McGanles but that's not the case
because she got on a stage the very next morning headed back East
and was never heard from again.
I believe that she was afraid of being blamed for McGanles's death
and didn't want anything to do with it so she ran. Wild Bill left for
Fort Leavenworth to join the Union Army as a scout and wagon
master.
James earns his nick name..
James was assigned to a supply wagon train headed to Missouri
to supply Union troops but the wagon train was ambushed and
captured by Rebel forces. James and a number of teamsters were
able to escape and made their way toward Independence.
When they arrived in town there was a crowd or rather a mob in
front of the saloon composed of ruffians and Southerners who
were demanding revenge on the bartender who had wounded
one of their men and they wanted blood.
Well we know how James felt about slavery and didn't like the
mob mentality so when he learned what the ruckus was about
he made his way to the front door of the saloon as the mob was
advancing.
He drew his two pistols and demanded that they stop. When they
kept advancing he fired two shots over their heads. This time they
stopped but were still angry. James told them to disperse or he
would shoot the first man who moved forward. They gradually
turned away.
James didn't think much of it but that night he was at a town
meeting about vigilantes because he wanted to find some men who
would go with him to take back the supply wagons. Well, a lady in
the crowd recognized him from earlier in the day in his stand off with
the ruffians and shouted out "Good for you, Wild Bill!" And the name
stuck.
rare photo of Wild Bill in his Army days
He WAS able to get a group of men together and they caught up with
and retook the supply wagons and delivered the supplies to the Army
as intended. From that point on he worked as a courier riding back
and forth between units with orders and messages.
He was shot at many times and went through three horses with one
being shot out from under him but he was never hit. His work and
mission led him into many dangerous circumstances and it was said
that he killed many rebel soldiers. He hated everything about slavery
and viewed all Confederates as traitors worthy of death.
The incident at Sandy River
One of the many perilous tasks of the war which Wild Bill volunteered
for was spying and he spent alot of time with enemy forces under
assumed names and identities. One of the most famous adventures
he had was when he was acting like a rebel soldier in a Confederate
army in Missouri.
He had gained the knowledge he needed about the force as far as
number of soldiers, supplies, cannon etc and it was time to make his
get away across the river where there was a Union army but with
rebel soldiers guarding the banks of river he had no way of getting to
them.
The two armies would shout back and forth across the river at times
and one time the rebels asked for coffee in exchange for tobacco.
There was a little sand bar in the middle of the river and they agreed
to meet on that for the exchange. Wild Bill was one of the men who
went out to make the exchange and when the Union soldiers got out
there he and one of the Union soldiers recognized each other and
knew who each other were.
Neither Wild Bill nor the Union soldier let on of course but the
exchange was made and Wild Bill knew that the Union army now
knew that he was with the rebel army. But he still didn't have a way to
make it across to the Union side.
One of the sargents with the rebels was a big bragger, always boasting
about how he had killed more Union soldiers than anyone. So Wild
Bill dared him that he could ride closer to the Union side of the river
than the sargent, he did this in front of the sarg's men of course and
although he was hesitant he agreed when all his men started yelling
at him to do it. lol. boy, are men stupid or what?
So Wild Bill and him mount up and start moseying down toward the
water's edge when Union soldiers start firing at the sargent but with
bullets zipping by they kept going, but they weren't aiming for Wild
Bill because they knew who he was. By the time they got to the water
a Union soldier yelled "Bully for Wild Bill!" and the sargent said "By
God I believe yer a Yank!"
The sarg went to draw his pistol but Wild Bill drew his first and put a
bullet in him and he fall off his horse. The Union soldiers gave a
tremendous shout and began firing at the rebels as they were firing
at Wild Bill!
The bullets zipped by him and skipped on the water all around him
but he made it to the other side without a scratch and the Union
forces brought such a barrage of firing to the other side that it forced
the rebels back.
Well that's it for today folks, his life is totally full of crazy adventures
like the ones I talked about today. It seems he always had Lady Luck on
his side or perhaps the Hand of Providence..but it was remarkable!
Thanks for reading, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
You go to a stock car race and don't need a program!
Whoooa well heyyyy now! This Wild Bill dude is pretty awesome. More awesome than I thought previously :) haha <333 Thank you for sharing Cowboy!
I know right reikigirl? I take after him quite a bit too so if you feel like being heavily admirable toward me because of that it is totally allowed. lol.
Well, he was very controversial, had alot of enemies, but did alot of good things when he wasn't gambling, drinking and chasing women! lol.
lmao! is that why I like you so much? are you a slightly milder version of wild bill reincarnated hahahah <333 :) you're awesome Cowboy!!
oh that's too funny reikigirl! lol. well I don't drink much, don't chase women and don't gamble so I guess I'm a pretty pitiful reincarnation!
Geez, he was a bit like a cat with nine lives, wasn't he?! We just watched Deadpool 2 yesterday, and one of the character's superpower was being "lucky"; I think that was Wild Bill's superpower too :)
Congratulations on Asher's league buddy! Nice job...again!
howdy there lynccoyle1! yes the more I read the more I think that God's hands were protecting him, because it's a recurring theme, can't be coincidence.
Thank you for the Asher's league word, yes I miss seeing you up there too! but maybe you're getting used to lounging? lol.
haha I'm totally getting used to lounging :)
And you're right ... it cannot be a coincidence ... there was something else (or someone) playing a part in it all :)
howdy back lynncoyle1...so what does this mean, all this lounging stuff, are you going to at least do a part of your old routine this week? lol. not that I blame you for lounging!
Well buddy, I've decided that I'll do what I want, whenever I feel like it :)
wow..ok then I think you should do a post showing all the types of lounging you're doing so everyone can get jealous! lol.
He did manage to escape the bullets and lead a very action packed life! I think he walked where angels feared to tread. Those reel soldiers must have been a few bricks short to get talked into that dare...
haha! "a few bricks short" ha..yes I agree..that was suicidal. But there are tons of crazy things documented so I hope ya'll don't get tired of them!
Hi @janton. This was sounds nuttier than a fruit cake. A cat with nine lives but a good story and look forward to the next episode.
ha! sir cryptoandcoffee..what sounds nuttier than a fruit cake, Wild Bill? He does .. he was a crazy man at times with no fear.
Hey he was in his 20's... what kid in his 20's doesn't think he's going to live forever?
cryptoandcoffee said pretty much what I had to say. and yeah, he had the youthful attitude alright. I am enjoying my history lesson. You should have been a school teacher.
haha! a teacher..wow I think I'd be bored with that job, doing all that grading and paperwork..I don't know. thank you squirrelbait!
I upvoted your post.
Keep steeming for a better tomorrow.
@Acknowledgement - God Bless
Posted using https://Steeming.com condenser site.
howdy there acknowledgement! so good to see you here.
thank you so much. I love Prov 21:21
God bless you!
Exciting janton.
Great story . Look forward to hearing more. Any films about this guy?
right. I figured it was too violent for the Europeans. Actually it's weird but there was a movie made in 1995 that I never saw with Jeff Bridges called Wild Bill but i don't think it did very good at the box office so maybe it wasn't very good.
hey I still have to get to cryptoand coffee's post about SBI s and giving them to each other or something? I don't know how that works.
Wow....
What an amazing fearless man.....
I respect he stood for what he believed...
Great Story....
howdy today annephilbrick! yes Ma'am he sure did and I'm just getting started, it might take awhile to get through his whole life!
Looking fwd to more..
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STOPWild Bill, was a man of many talents it seems. An Embassy trader, a freedom fighter for the slaves, and its too bad that woman left him behind.
howdy there cosmiccrimes! yes sir he sure was. Yeah she must have been scared witless! lol. I guess it wasn't true love.
Ehm seems like he loved her but she didn't feel the same as well.
yes sir cosmiccrimes I agree, it's too bad that no one ever found her later and interviewed her, it would have been interesting to hear her side. thanks so much for commenting!
LOL she didn't want to be found.
I really enjoy your style of story telling. Interesting, and easy to follow. More interesting and exciting than watching it on TV. :-)
howdy again Vincent! thank you so much for your kind words. I like history but I try not to make it boring. That way people learn as they're being entertained a little. lol.
If my History teachers were half as good as you, I would have passed with flying colours. lol
hahha! well thank you for your kind words sir. My history teacher was terrible too. I think they just get into reciting the facts and figures and it gets to be dreadfully boring.
I think I would have found a quieter way to get across the river, ROFLOL! But he was just crazy enough to make that work.
I suspect he might have had adrenalin issues to do that river crossing the way he did. @lynncoyle1 you are Right, he was also VERY Lucky!
:)No kidding, right @smithlabs??!! Sooo lucky!
I think this guy may have made some of his own luck, ROFLOL!
:)Wild bill sure was a great man he inspired me when I was younger now I’m a wild man myself
well howdy back sir crazzkid80! whoa.. ok what does that mean, a wild man? What do you do that's wild?
It's back on!
Dear @janton how is it possible you forgot to tell us ( your true readers 😉) about the girl. He id always involved you say. The story is nowhere without the lady! I imagine here with the wide dress, a little dusty from the dirt. And a corset on top with great hair..... I would have left too cannot be blamed for something you didnt do
hahaha! yes I know.. and I wouldn't have remembered it except one of you ladies asked "what happened to the girl?" lol. so I'm glad I got reminded sorry, typical male I guess!
Yes I can see that image too! very good of you brittandjosie!
Maybe a vblog about the ladies living in the stories and preferably withfashion pictures😉
apart from the other lady , did he find a sweetheart , that would off been nice for him , being a good guy x
howdy this fine Tuesday winchestergirl! well Wild Bill had lots of women, girlfriends and such in his life, I haven't gotten far enough in his life's story to know if he ever got married though but I will know shortly.
it would good to know , I am really a romantic at heart x
howdy again winchestergirl! oh really you are a romantic at heart? I'm sorry to hear that.
aww come on , don't tell me your not : )
haha! winchestergirl! no I don't think I am but maybe a small part of me somewhere!
better than nothing ; )
Don't care for this guy, much.
But ain't this always the way?:
"With Wild Bill there was usually a woman involved."
haha! in a high percentage of the cases there is usually a woman involved in some way I think, at least 50% of the time maybe? With some guys it's higher if they are womanizers like Wild Bill was! lol.
But you don't care for who, Wild Bill? why not?
Not a big fan of Unionist radicals...lol...
but you from the North man! lol. yes they said he was a total 100% radical about it because of his father being so against slavery and all that. But if you had to be a radical I guess that was the better of two evils?
I don't know. I'm a big supporter of national self determination. I am also against slavery, but I would not have been in favor of empowering a centralized federal government by making us ALL slaves to it, and destroying states rights for something that would have died of natural causes pretty soon, anyway, (and with a lot less racial retribution/hatred resulting.)
sir mepatriot! oh wow this is interesting, I don't ever remember anyone talking about that. So you're saying if we just would have muddled along without getting up in arms about it then slavery would have just become not necessary? and the South wouldn't have been ruined?
You should do a post on this!
No. Just between you and me on that....
No big mustache this time?
ha! the mustache thing... yes well I think that photo was when he first got into the Army because later descriptions all say that he had a long flowing mustache. Probably the scouts and spys could wear their hair however they wanted because he had super long hair for the military.
You're very quiet. The next instalment must be coming any minute. Did you give the wife the your typewriter transcript so she can type it onto the computer for you?
I'm quiet? oh that wouldn't be good for my steemit career. oh man, that would be so nice if I could get her to help with me with things like that, she's a real fast typist too and I'm like all thumbs, could almost use two fingers and peck my way and be as fast!
I'll try to get one one today for sure but last night when steemit came back up I was behind in my comments by 24 hours so I just worked on them and looking at posts.
Another total badass just like you @janton!
ahahha! oh no you got that totally wrong I'd be such a scaredy cat in almost all the situations he was in! lol. you could handle it though. hey blanchy calls you badger and I think that's really cool, can I call you that too?
Heck yeah, I'd be honored @janton!
howdy back badger! so what is the military significance of that name is that was that your unit or something? did you post today? I can't remember if I'm behind visiting your posts or not. lol.
Lol, I did a post yesterday! Another WWII one. I was worried about posting on Monday with all the system problems. We live near the Baltic sea and being from Wisconsin that's where the badger comes from. A couple guys in the army did call me badger cause I always referred to Wisconsin as badgerdom.
good read .. I have been spelling Wild Bill's last name wrong.
You go by Jon Boy?
yes Ma'am it's easy to mispell, I've gotten it wrong before. thank you..oh on here I go by janton or jonboy either one, I don't have a preference.