Latest news with #Hickok
New York Post
5 days ago
- New York Post
Meet the unhinged killer cowboys who made Texas legendary and the Old West ‘wild'
As much as the 'Gunfighter Era' of the Old West was characterized by shoot-outs in the streets, so too was it known for tall tales and quick quips. Consider the case of Pink Higgins. Higgins stumbled upon a cattle rustler who had just killed and butchered one of his herd, so he shot the man dead and stuffed him inside the steer. As Bryan Burroughs recounts in 'The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild' (Penguin Press, June 3), 'then [Higgins] rode into town to tell the sheriff he should come see a miracle, a cow giving birth to a man.' 5 Wild Bill Hickok was one of the first and most infamous Texan cowboys, given mass attention in an 1867 article in Harper's, and claimed he had killed hundreds. Wikipedia/ Public Domain The first nationally known gunfighter was 'Wild Bill' Hickok, whose fame was cemented by a Harper's Weekly profile in 1867 that claimed he'd killed 'hundreds' of men. While that number was laughably exaggerated, Wild Bill killed plenty. The first was at a Nebraska stagecoach station in 1861, when Hickok was told to butt out of a loud dispute because it was none of his business. 'Perhaps 'tis,' he was said to nonchalantly reply, 'Or 'tain't.' Then he drew his pistol, killing one man and wounding two others. But to live by the 'Gunfighter's Code' of the Old West was to die by it, too. As a Kansas marshal in 1871, Hickok shot dead a cowboy who'd unexpectedly fired on him, but then when his own deputy came racing around a corner with guns drawn 'Wild Bill' accidentally killed him, too. Then in 1875 in Deadwood, SD, a man Hickok had beaten at poker executed America's most famous gunfighter with a cowardly shot to the back of his head. When gunfighters weren't killing or being killed though, a lot of time they were cracking wise. 5 Legendary cowboy Wyatt Earp and his brothers cut a murderous path through 19th century Texas. Wikipedia/ Public Domain Clay Allison was a fearsome 'shootist' likely suffering from Civil War PTSD, who once rode his horse through a frontier town wearing only a gun-belt. Before shooting one of his victims, Allison first invited him to dinner — the two eventually exchanging bullets right at the table. Asked why he would invite his victim to share a meal before killing him, Burroughs writes that Allison just shrugged. 'Because I didn't want to send a man to hell on an empty stomach.' 5 A scene from the barely developed streets of Deadwood in 1876. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration There's Mysterious Dave, who announced, 'You have lived long enough,' to a cowboy he then shot dead. And professional gambler Ben Thompson, who was told by a threatening gunfighter to avoid a certain city because men were waiting for him there. But the card shark was hardly scared, Burroughs writes. 'I'm Ben Thompson,' he purred. 'If I should go up there, I would serve the boys just so.' Ditto Doc Holliday at the O.K. Corral, who replied to an opponent's threat that he would shoot him down with a laconic 'you're a daisy if you do.' And at the end of that gunfight, it was the infamous Wyatt Earp who had the last word. Looking down at the dead men Earp and his brothers had just defeated in a dispute over carrying their weapons in town, Wyatt joked they no longer 'have to disarm that party.' Even local newspapers could kid about gunplay in the streets, with an 1872 story in Kansas noting the lack of shootings that summer with a headline announcing 'No One Killed Yet.' Another notable characteristic of the Old West's 'Gunfighter Era' was its exaggerated exploits. William 'Wild Bill' Longley claimed to have killed more than 30 men, but the more likely number was four or five. 5 'The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild' is written by Bryan Burrough. 5 Author Bryan Burroughs. And though Johnny Ringo was once considered the most fearsome gunfighter in the country, it was only confirmed that he'd fired his pistol twice. Once he wounded a man in a bar room argument, Burrough writes, with the other incident even less impressive. 'The only other time we're certain Ringo fired… he shot himself in the foot.' There were plenty of real gunfights in those days, though, over slights big and small, whether rustling a man's cattle or cutting in on his dance. One siege at a homestead went on so long that the farm's hogs eventually began devouring the bodies of dead combatants. Maybe the most incredible gunfight of them all occurred in New Mexico in 1884, when a sole, 19-year-old wannabe lawman named Elfego Baca took on 80 angry Texas cowboys. Wearing an unofficial, mail-order badge, Baca arrested and jailed one Texan for misbehaving in the town's streets. When a handful of the captive's friends demanded his release, Baca squared off with them and told them he would begin to shoot. The Texans laughed, but Baca began to fire. He killed one as the others fled, at least until they returned 80 strong. All alone, Baca then engaged the Texans in a gun battle, ultimately being chased into an abandoned home. The Texans unloaded so many bullets that eventually the house collapsed onto itself. Four hundred bullet holes were later counted in its front door alone, but when law enforcement eventually intervened, Baca had killed four and walked away unscathed. Writes Burroughs: 'Covered with dust, Baca emerged in his underwear, a revolver in each hand.'
NBC News
25-05-2025
- General
- NBC News
'Hick' explores Eleanor Roosevelt's long-rumored romance with reporter Lorena Hickock
Trailblazing journalist Lorena Hickok started working as a reporter in 1912, at a time when only about 1 in 5 women in the United States had jobs outside the home and their right to vote was still years away. It was that career that led Hickok to someone who would change her professional and personal life forever: Eleanor Roosevelt. In the new biography ' Hick,' the title an ode to its subject's nickname, author Sarah Miller explores Hickok's impoverished Midwestern upbringing, her illustrious professional career in the country's largest cities and the relationship that would come to define her legacy. Miller said she was inspired to write about Hickok and her association with Roosevelt after reading conflicting accounts about the nature of their decadeslong relationship. The women exchanged letters with each other, sometimes twice daily, from 1932 until Roosevelt's death in 1962. Hickok donated thousands of these letters to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York, and they were made public in 1978, a decade after her death. Their 30-year correspondence provided unique insight into their relationship, but those who read the letters and went on to write about them afterward interpreted them in vastly different ways — from strictly platonic to deeply romantic. 'So you read all those things, and if you're a person like me, you're like, 'OK but who's right? What is this relationship, really?' And the best way to do that is to go and read the letters, all of them, with your own eyes,' Miller said. During her research for 'Hick,' which comes out Tuesday, Miller read about 3,500 letters between the two women. Her conclusion falls onto the romantic side of the spectrum, but a romance rooted in friendship. 'They loved each other. They were physically affectionate with each other. It was a romance, for sure. Whether that included sexual intimacy is probably something we can't know,' Miller said. 'It's really tough to be completely objective, but there's no question that they were lifelong, deeply intimate friends, and I think that is the bedrock of the relationship.' In one letter quoted in the book, dated March 5, 1933, the day after her husband's first inauguration, Roosevelt writes: 'Hick my dearest, I cannot go to bed to-night without a word to you. I felt a little as though a part of me was leaving to-night. You have grown so much to be a part of my life that it is empty without you even though I'm busy every minute.' The following day, Roosevelt tells Hickok: 'I can't kiss you so I kiss your picture good night & good morning.' And in another letter from that week, Roosevelt mentions the sapphire-and-diamond ring Hickok gave her and writes: 'Your ring is a great comfort, I look at it & think she does love me, or I wouldn't be wearing it!' The women also appear to conceal their level of closeness from others, including how they communicate their love in French. In one 1933 letter, Roosevelt, mentioning her teenage son, writes: 'Hick darling, Oh! how good it was to hear your voice, it was so inadequate to try & tell you what it meant, Jimmy was near & I couldn't say 'je t'aime et je t'adore' as I longed to do but always remember I am saying it & that I go to sleep thinking of you & repeating our little saying.' While there appears to be consensus among historians that Hickok was only romantically interested in women, some caution against interpreting her correspondence with Roosevelt through a contemporary lens. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning 1994 book, 'No Ordinary Time,' historian Doris Kearns Goodwin concedes that their letters contain an 'emotional intensity' but appears skeptical that they had more than a deeply intimate friendship, noting that at least one study has shown women of Roosevelt's era used romantic and even sensual rhetoric to communicate with female friends. But history does have a way of 'straight-washing' same-sex relationships of the past. This practice has even spawned a popular internet joke, 'And historians will say they were just good friends.'
Associated Press
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
SERVPRO Presents Disaster Relief Grant to L.A. County First Responder Family
Los Angeles, California, April 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SERVPRO, a leader in residential and commercial cleanup, restoration and construction, presented a $10,000 Disaster Relief Grant to Kelsey Hickok, an EMT with the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Lifeguard Division who lost her home during the recent wildfires, during the JM Eagle LA Championship event. The grant is part of SERVPRO's ongoing partnership with the First Responders Children's Foundation (FRCF) to provide support for first responder families. Hickok, her husband, and her two children, ages 4 and 2, lost their home in the Palisades fire, evacuating safely with only two bags of possessions. They lost everything else, including photos, memorabilia, clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, and their community. 'SERVPRO has been aligned with the brave work done by our first responders for quite some time,' said John Sooker, president of Servpro Industries, LLC. 'We wish it were under better circumstances, but when called to help, we jump at the opportunity to give back as a way to say thank you for all they do for our communities.' 'Working with FRCF, they have helped us be able to donate directly to the families of first responders – whether that is after natural disasters that have impacted emergency personnel directly, to the families that have lost a loved one in the line of duty, or by providing gifts to first responder communities during the holidays.' SERVPRO, the official cleanup and restoration company of the LPGA and PGA TOUR, helps support first responders by sponsoring the SERVPRO Hero Outpost during select dates throughout the season. In addition to providing complimentary tickets to first responders and a guest to the tournament, they are welcome to relax in the Hero Outpost with food and drinks. During pro-am events, the company also sponsors the SERVPRO Mulligan Hole. Volunteers sell 'mulligans,' or do-overs, to reinforce the company's slogan, 'Like it never even happened.' Funds raised at these events go directly to supporting the families of first responders through FRCF scholarships, natural disaster grants, and programs such as the Toy Express. Recently, SERVPRO HQ and its Southern California-based franchises provided more than 20 first responder grants and thousands of items to the first responder community affected by the devastating wildfires. If you would like to donate to the SERVPRO Disaster Relief Fund, you can make secure contributions on FRCF's website. ABOUT FIRST RESPONDERS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION First Responders Children's Foundation is a national foundation that provides programs and resources that address the specific needs of first responders and their families. The Foundation focuses on four key areas: Scholarships, Financial Assistance Grants, a Mental Health Resilience Program, and Community Engagement. The Foundation was founded 23 years ago in response to 9/11 when 800 children lost a first responder parent. Additional information about FRCF can be found at and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @1strcf. About SERVPRO® For more than 55 years, SERVPRO has been a trusted leader in fire and water cleanup and restoration services, construction, mold mitigation, biohazard and pathogen remediation. SERVPRO's professional services network of more than 2,300 individually owned and operated franchises spans the United States and Canada, responding to property damage emergencies large and small – from million-square-foot commercial facilities to individual homes. When disaster strikes, homeowners, business owners and major insurance companies alike rely on SERVPRO to make it 'Like it never even happened.' Attachments Kim Brooks Servpro Industries, LLC 615-451-0200 [email protected]
