I sincerely hope that today’s readers should appreciate the scholarship regarding Hickok by these two historians
KARACHI: A report was published by The Express Tribune (July 12,2016), ‘on this day’ in 1861, Wild Bill Hickok “calmly shoots three men.” I do not see how a person could be called a cold-blooded murderer in what your paper itself calls a “shoot out”. I offer the following references: Richard O’Connor, Wild Bill Hickok, London, Mayflower-Dell,1966, pages11,12; Hickok shot Dave McCanless and his two companions because they were asking for Horace Wellman to come out in order to shoot him.
Also, Joseph G Rosa, They Called him Wild Bill, Norman, University of Oklahoma, 1974, pages 46, 47, Hickok initially retreated when McCanless reminded him that they had been friends, and Hickok retired behind a curtain dividing the room. In this version, it is not specifically mentioned that McCanless was shot by Hickok. He did shoot and wound James Wood but Wood was dispatched by Mrs Wellman and similarly, it was she who caused McCanless’ son to be killed. I sincerely hope that today’s readers should appreciate the scholarship regarding Hickok by these two historians.
Dr M R Kazimi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2016.
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