Ain't it strange that the older I get .. the more I fancy 'old stuff' .. maybe it isn't at all odd really ..

The stuff that legends are made of ..

Davis Tutt went West to SPRINGFIELD Missouri from Yellville Marion County Arkansas where his family had been active in The TUTT-EVERETT WAR - and he stayed there (unmoving - except for a later change of cemetary plots) after the morning of July 21st 1865.

Wild Bill Hickock was from Illinois and had headed towards the Western sunset with a guilty conscience - thinking that he'd killed someone in a drunken fight.

These two Poker players were "friends" despite having fought on opposite sides in the Civil War - and the fable of their fight has plenty of "MAYBE's" in it's telling. - Did Hickock father a child with Tutts' sister?

- Was Wild Bill's then woman friend Susanna Moore responding too warmly to Tutts' chat-up lines?

Tutt cleaned-out Hickocks cash at the card table and took his watch as security (That's real friendly eh) until the debt was resolved - but he then set about displaying the watch publicly to further taunt & belittle 'Wild Bill'

These two Western macho nutters faced off at 75 yards around 10.00 a.m.(or some say, at 50 yards, - just before 6.p.m.) after more argument about the outstanding debt and more drinks - neither rooster backing down from their public disputing.

Was it about women? - was it about money? - was it about that damn watch being dangled from Tutts' belly? Or was it all of that and more - with both 'hard men' needing to save face in front of the whole town?

Both armed and capable men were still shouting at each other in the hope that one of them would back-off when Tutt is said to have drawn and fired. - Hickock is said to have steadied his cocked .36" COLT Navy Model on his forearm before sending it's lead ball between Tutts' ribs into his heart.

Some legendary shooting ...

Maybe: Hickock's Gun .. Serial No. 204685 is recorded as being made

in 1868 - THREE years after the shooting.

- Attributed as one of a Pair Carried By James Butler HICKOCK:

The Wikipedia page on this fabled shooting is well detailed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickok%E2%80%93Tutt_shootout

- There followed a three day manslaughter trial for William HAYCOCKE (!!) - the name Hickock had used in that town - where the four witnesses couldn't agree who fired first - who drew first - or if the dead Tutt had actually even fired a shot at all .. but the conclusion was not guilty, - as it had been a "FAIR FIGHT" provoked by Tutt flashing the watch around ..

No-one bothers to record what gun Davis Tutt was using .. is it likely it was that other 'America's Gun' - a Glock ???(bad joke) ...

The Watch ? .. Doubtful .. But getting warm maybe .. Is this a 'Gold Cased' Waltham Repeater' watch?

Offered by 'LiveAuctioners': Open face vest pocket watch of Wild Bill Hickok. Marked on the inside J. B. Hickok. 1873. Chain drive key wind pocket watch by L. Desh, Glasgow, Scot. From Pine Ridge Reservation. The lot includes a signed letter re: the history of the watch. 1 3/4" D.

Maybe .. but the engraved date 1873 conflicts with the 1865 shooting date.

American History is a bit like that eh.

Many publications note that Wild Bill was carrying a S&W No. 2 Revolver when he was murdered while holding the famous "Dead Man's Hand" during a poker game in a Deadwood saloon in the Dakota Territory in on August 2, 1876, - according to a release from Rock Island Auction Company.

A historic Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army Revolver owned by Wild Bill Hickok was offered by Rock Island Auction Company in its August Premier Auction, August 26-28 2022.

- This would be the OLD MODEL in .32" Long Rimfire caliber ..

Haycocke-Hickock died in Deadwood in 1876, shot in the back of his head by Jack McCall .. who eventually was hanged for doing it.

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.. Are any of you interested in seeing a true craftsman making a FLINTLOCK RIFLE the old fashioned way - using jigs and machinery he built himself - from the raw materials to a fine tool?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_O1-chxAdk

MartyK.