Wild Bill Hickok had worked as a stock tender at Rock Creek Station in Nebraska in 1861 (see Wild Bill's first murder on Neb page). Then he worked as a marshall in Kansas. He than went on and served in the Union army. By this time he had become a notorious gunman. He joined Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Tour for a short time from 1872-1873, but didn't make many appearances before he moved on. He ended up getting married to Agnes Lake on March 5, 1876 and spent some time out east for their honeymoon (with her family). She stayed out east and he went to the Deadwood area to try to strike it rich in the gold fields, so he could send for his new wife. But he proved to be a better gambler than any other profession.
On August 2,1876, he was with a few of his friends playing cards in the #10 Saloon. The had been teasing him about his habit of sitting so he could see the doors. So, this time he sat facing the wall. A man named Jack McCall came in the back door and walked up behind Hickok. He then shot him in the back of the head. Hickok died instantly. He was holding a pair of aces and a pair of twos. To this day, that hand is known as "The Dead Mans Hand." Hickok is buried in the cemetary in Deadwood. Soon after, McCall was found guilty and hanged. No one knows why exactly he did it. Hickok's wife Agnes never remarried. She died on August 21, 1907.
Deadwood was founded in 1876 and named after the dead trees in Deadwood Gulch. Deadwood was a city of 25,000 people when the Black Hills gold rush was in full swing. Deadwood endured many disasters in its early years. In 1879, a fire sewpt through the mostly wooden city. In 1883, a flood washed through Deadwood Gulch destroying more of the town. Much of the town was built on the steep sides of Deadwood Gulch, so the flood had a devastating impact on the town. The townspeople started rebuilding with brick. Many of these brick buildings from the 1880's and 1890's are still standing today.
Today, Deadwood is a gaming town (gambling). A lot of its old Victorian buildings have been restored and preserved.
