Show ro I 1 frontier ie romance tit J I 1 41 A AL F r L ta aidt to 0 jjr A y A edw mr 04 A 01 Z alt fc u J ASIA 1176 A rd 77 2 a 4 r ait photos tb teY sy isef stages are cb ol 01 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ri pashey 11 E Y say that gold is where you find ila ra it t I 1 it t might be remarked that we uie same thin thing Is true irue of documents which tell of the historic past for such papers have a queer habit of bobbing up in the most unusual places and to the hist historian orlan there Is no thrill quite like hot of unexpectedly coming across some such r memento of the past the nie museum of the united states playing card company in clue cincinnati annall ohio where one can see the history of playing cords cards for the last five hun ared seats rears graphically portrayed Is probably the alast place on earth to which you would go seek ring relies relics of wild bill hickok famous gunman of the old west least of all would you expect to find there evidence of the more tender side of this grim faced cold eyed killer before whose six shooters more than a score of men went down to their deaths yet set in a glass alasi case at one end of the big room which aich houses the unique collections the thee thae e you will find these things tan an elaborately ornamented marriage certificate which reads I 1 able la is to certify that mr james butler hickok ot of cheyenne in the state ot of wyoming and mrs agnes L thatcher of cincinnati in the state ot of ohio were by me joined together in holy matri crony on the ath day of march 1876 in cheyenne W T W F r warren pastor M E church wit ga XIn lincile cile moyer S L moyer close beside it Is a single sheet of letter paper somewhat yellowed with age but the hie writing upon it t Is 13 still decipherable and it reads as follows dead wood black hills dachota july uth 17 my own darling wife agnes I 1 have but a few moments left before this letter starts I 1 never was as an well in my life but you would aught to see bee ene na now just got in from prospecting will go BO away again to morrow but god howse when it wit will tart start my friend will take this to cheyenne it if he alvea I 1 dont expect to hear from you but it la Is all the ame same s I 1 no my agnes and only live to love hur never clever mind pet we will have a home yet then we will be so happy I 1 am all most I 1 will d do well hear the man Is baring me good by dear wife love to emma J 8 hickok wild bill thus far from the scenes of the exploits which made imade him famous lr ir frontier history are preserved these evidences of a little known part in the life history of wild pill nill in the maze of legend which has gathered about his name thanks to the dime novelists tle sentimental side fans bas riot not been neglected and the names of various women have been linked with his the best known of CL ase Is the notorious calamity jane and there has sprung up a popular belief erroneous as most of them are that wild bill and calamity ala nifty jane were sweethearts this Is based mainly upon the tact fact of their association in deadwood adwood Dc S D for a brief alm and calamity jones janes doln request that she be burled buried near wild bill re ke cent biographers of both have established pretty definitely that althO lIgh calamity jane was an admirer of wild bill hit hi attitude toward her was that of genial tolerance the linking of his bis name with various other women in the earlier years of his life lias has been set down by these biographers as possible in one IT r two cases but mainly un authenticated the truth about will pill nill in this respect Is as to reach as ai it Is in many other respects rut but the best evidence points to the I 1 act that there was only one woman whom he ever loved and she ebo was the woman oman he married at cheyenne wyo in march 1876 one ol of his earliest war a james william buell who knew wild rill bill personally and obtained much of his Li formation farst hadd in hla his Ill heroes eroes of the loins tie tells of the beginning of the romance which resulted in wild bills marriage despite the florid and sentimentalized stylo style of brells buells caprathe car atlie rathe it Is probable that his facts are to in the ciale correct ne drys ln in august following wild bills return from wichita an incident occurred which resulted some years rears afterwards in his renouncing his previous declaration to remain a bachelor and the takli if unto into himself a wife the circumstances which culminated in so BO great a change were romantically singular and are well worthy of record in these them otherwise sanguinary chronicles of stirring advent adaven tures the incident referred to grew out ot 0 the exhibition of lakes circus in hays city during august 1871 lakes cincu hod had been a standard entertainment for many years in he ut east and south mouth and in a addition to the excellent which it bore it was well advertised by a novel tree free exhibition which became the race even in the east a grand balloon i vw s tf ascension just before opening OA O A az t f tho the doors the town council al Y like every one else in the if r V neighborhood though anxious C cy y 0 to see aba tb performance held a 7 fy 11 7 z 6 y st meeting on the day preceding the time tor for the exhibition ile and decided to charge mrs 4 like lake the proprietor of the ef bircus a license of 50 but i before the municipal body adjourned fly s L jour ned wild bill stepped up catt i twi and asked to be heard a moment iz i z Z wa permission been d having granted the town council lit t f IPA y OE w j i ef their pipes passed the bottle 41 st S zt t caf ew ti and leaning back in their f L chairs composed themselves w while bile bill expressed himself i bof xz C substantially as follows 1 I never made a speech in my life and I 1 dont want to begin now but I 1 never went back on a woman and im koine to give you some plain talk YOU tou fellows live so far outside of CIVI civilization libation liza tion the that your hearts heart have dried up like small potatoes left out sun gun as you cant read the papers of course you dont know nothing about what going go ing on east of the coyotes coy otea range this circus thata advertised to and furnish a little amusement for us he athens to Is owned by a woman one whose pluck catches my a sympathy ym every time her husband bill lake was wan murdered down in granby missouri by a cowardly villain named jake killian on the of august 1869 the brave little widow after burying her husband had to either sell cell out or go on the road with the circus and circumstances advised her to carry the show my opinion Is that any woman capable to run a circus Is a darn sight bigger curiosity in these parts than the leather heads in this village ever heard of and when I 1 see so much pluck shown by a woman I 1 just feel like throwing in and helping her now it you fellows that run this town knowel how to appreciate a good thins thing for the place instead ot of charging mrs lake a license you would vote an appropriation to pay her for or coming out here to show us on he athens a first class circus if lve ive got any authority in hays mrs lake going to pay this town a cent of license tor for was wag perfected and arrangements concluded for the wedding which it was wa agreed would tako take place on the following day several intimate friends of balla were to receive invitations on the morning of march ath to witness the wedding ceremonies of J B hickok wild bill and mrs agnes lake thatcher on the afternoon of the same day of course they all responded spon ded and when the contracting parties stood up it was wa before an audience numbering about 20 persons the rev W F warren a methodist divine of cheyenne performed the service at mr residence and after receiving many congratulations the couple took the evening train east and went directly to st louis where after spending a few days they proceeded to cincinnati where numerous relatives of mrs lake lived hero they were received with many kind manifestations from all who knew them and their nev nasr life thus began under auspicious promises for future happiness As wild dill bill had already made his plans to seek his fortune in the black hills lie left his wife in ing and if any man attempts attempt to jo io an equitable 13 arler after a or of ul 10 weeks then just put it dl d e to cheyenne lie h remained there until some trib ution or of costs and that a all ive got in june j when en he set out with two of his well see who pays of his business all 0 of which goe dick when bill conel goodso col co charlie utter and bloody the point of sustained jane attached tour four decided to re our at custer calamity the license abou though gb power if to the party and the four of them made an extraordinary 0 I 1 the tanner also supposedly b spectacular entrance into deadwood a short treasury mr mrs la ested kind kindness een e n I 1 the hides to the best advantage cater ater thanks after ehlt h sells the leather to the best adai advy far ns as ls Is known the letter which la Is pre members of her tro 1 I 1 in the cincinnati museum Is the last one ter emma after a tage meeting the competition wild bill ever wrote to his wife and it Is circus and a shaking baking many so called substitutes for bill turned again tc or leay the he only one in existence today capt well now all tl j er including the snake family the poet scout a friend of wild know the be greatest ticul arly in the manufacture who seems to have burst forth in poetic yourself I 1 never sa as run anything ex cephis shoes so that the tanner has ve of his former companion wrote a poem find one managing nd little to say about the price of leat virginia evening chronicle two days after than california j joo 0 er was shot down by jack mccall to in the panther down in thin saloon one oe verse ot 01 that poem Is 13 that women never vh c the laws of supply and d deman eman a being mothers mo thera a and nd still prevail and govern every tea fea ling it reads that much credit if Is w lot let me m show you the good that was in a god one too L ral 0 ure 1 connected with live stock praim w now for it if tj I 1 could 9 I 1 and the distribution of mea me setters etters he wrote to agnes his wife girl as yourself id ly fy food ook look or a smile one kind word could win morrow products and while we mv r is ig 1 I M this lan lang jaee cusce th be abelik abaft jimr lir profane here part of this letter the last of his life tor for lut ellke lovers lips nevertheless expressed la in homely truths bills real sentiments for he fell ell in love with mrs lake not only on first eight but even before the meeting he be was caught on the book of her reputation mrs lake though not fulty cully understanding the somewhat incoherent address of her determined suitor yet saw beneath his rough exterior a kind and healing sympathy and a heart ever brave and willing to protect the weak his face and form too were wera strikingly handsome while his dress drees was that of a gentleman although bill was unsuccessful in bis suit at this time his interest in mrs lake appears to have continued in 1874 he be had gone into the show business himself and was appearing with texas jack avid and buffalo bill cody in ned Bunt buntlines lines the scouts ot of the plains at rochester N Y the lake circus happened to be showing there at the sanie same time they met and again wild bill renewed his offer of at marriage but again lie was unsuccessful two years passed before they met again wild pill bill was lu in cheyenne wyo on his bis way to the black hills gold camps when he heard that mrs lake was visiting at the home ot of a reta relative tive L S moyer immediately called upon her and then in the words of buell buel wild rill bill then renewed hla hie suit and pressed his claims v ith such persistency that the engager neut agnes darling if such should be that we never meet again while firing my lost shot I 1 will gently breathe the name of my wife my agnos agnes and with a kind wish even for my enemies I 1 will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore bore it may be that this was in wild bills last letter to his wife as captain jack says then again a comparison of the phraseology of that letter with the one reproduced above leads one to wonder whether or not the noble sentiment expressed was an example of captain jacks poetic license the death of wild bill at the hands of jack mccall Is ii too well known to need repetition here near the marriage license and the wild bill letter in the museum case Is a ue demento mento of that famous tragedy it Is a long lock of curling brown hair cut froni from the bend bead of wild bill hickok by colorado charlie utter and sent to his widow in cincinnati these relics of the famous gun man were preserved by mrs until tier her death in jersey city in 1007 they then came into the possession of her daughter emma who was the wife of gilbert robinson jr son of john robinson of carcia fame facie gilbert robinson was one of the directors of the united states playing card and a short time before his death a year ear or so ao ago he presented them to the corn com banys museum |