On the early morning hours of September 27, 1869, then
lawman Wild Bill Hickok (and future gunslinger) responded to a report of men
brawling at a saloon in Hays, Kansas. A local ruffian named Samuel Strawhun and
several friends were tearing up John Bitter's Beer Saloon when Hickok arrived
and ordered the men to stop, Strawhun turned to attack him, and Hickok shot him
killing him instantly.
Famous for his skill with a pistol and steely-calm under
fire, James Butler Hickok initially seemed to be the ideal man for the sheriff
of Ellis County, Kansas. The good citizens of Hays City, the county seat, were
tired of the wild brawls and destructiveness of the hard-drinking buffalo
hunters and soldiers who took over their town every night. They hoped the
famous "Wild Bill" could restore peace and order, and in the late summer
of 1869, elected him as interim county sheriff. Hickok had a reputation as a
deadly shot and this keep many potential lawbreakers on the straight and
narrow. But when Hickok applied more aggressive methods of enforcing the peace,
some Hays City citizens began to wonder about their decision. Shortly after
becoming sheriff, Hickok shot a belligerent soldier who resisted arrest, and
the man died the next day. A few weeks later Hickok killed Strawhun. While his
brutal ways were indisputably effective, many Hays City citizens were less than
impressed that after only five weeks in office he had already found it
necessary to kill two men in the name of preserving peace. During the regular
November election later that year, the people expressed their displeasure by
not reelecting Hickok. Though Wild Bill Hickok would later go on to hold other
law enforcement positions in the West, his first attempt at being a sheriff had
lasted only three months.
Michael Thomas Barry is a
columnist for CrimeMagazine.com and the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that
Shocked Early California
1849-1949. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the
following link:
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