James Butler Hickok

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WestTex

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Are there any hard facts, or clear 'gear' photos detailing exactly how Wild Bill carried his 1851 Navy's? We all know that he typically tucked them butt forward into either a belt, or a sash... unless he was riding when he then holstered them. I'm curious about the belt and sash thing. Did he have loops, or mini holstering devices sewn into his belt and sash, or did he just simply tighten his belt/sash and then stuff the guns in?
Being notorious for sometimes 'overthinking' things, as I truly am, I can't help but to think that Hickok, "always being as 'prepared' as he could be" would have probably wanted a foolproof 'system' for holding those guns in 'exactly' the position that he wanted them in... no matter what his body was doing, or what was going on!

Who knows 'what' about this subject?
 
Sitting at a card table my Navies are most comfortable but forward and in a sash above my belt.
But no one else wants to play cards!!
 
I can't find anything definitive on how his 51 Navys were secured in that sash.

A picture shows the grips and the trigger guards above the sash and just the barrels were slipped into the sash.
 
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Is that the same photo of him with a large sheath knife tucked into the sash? If so, I doubt that is how the man actually carried either the revolvers or the knife.

Kevin
 
Yes. The large sheath knife is in the middle of the sash. But reviewing what I have, or unless I missed it, in contemporary accounts no one mentions that Hickok was a fast draw only that he was dead accurate. Similar to Jesse James or Frank James, Cole Younger or James Younger, Clell Miller, and all except for Little Archie Clement, no one mentions how fast they were at the draw only they were dead accurate with a revolver.
 
Be careful of any conclusions you may draw when looking at period photographs. Studio photographers often used prop guns, cartridge belts, holsters and clothing such as chaps. If you look carefully at some old photos the cartridge loops on the belt are empty and even worn upside down.

Photographs were fairly rare so the person having his picture taken wanted not only to look his Sundy best but also to project a certain image. I have a photograph of Teddy Roosevelt dressed in buckskins and not wearing his glasses. Yet we know he had poor eyesight and always wore glasses.

The most common photograph of Wild Bill is of him standing with his Navy revolvers stuck butt forward in a sash around his waist. It is obviously taken in studio and he is very well dressed. A perfect image of a person building a reputation as a deadly marksman and tough lawman.
 
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It wasnt exactly a really well documented period and area. We dont even know how many Navies he owned, though there are more than one account of them being given to him. There are documented or reasonably well documented examples of his Navies in more than one place. We also know he owned and used different guns at different times (including cartridge guns), some with holsters, and theres no reason to believe the Navies were the only pistols he owned at the time, just what he preferred to carry and use.

Its great fun and very interesting to read and study about him and the period, but its not easy if one demands hard and fast answers to their questions. Practice shrugging your shoulders once in a while, it helps. :)
 
Just remember, the Hollywood fast draw, wasn't. The fast draw was just a fable as seen in the movies and in the old TV westerns didn't exist.
 
They're a number of photographs showing "Wild Bill" with revolvers, and the only thing they have in common was that the butts were forward.
 
Interesting -

I have been researching WBH, but in terms of his knife that was pictured in several portraits.

What I am finding out is that the photos are mostly posed, and much of the gear is likely photographers props, including the white handled revolvers.

I have found some information that shows that it would have been unlikely that he carried 5+lbs of revolved tucked in his "sash", as they would almost certainly have been a constant hassle, especially on horseback.

There are many accounts of his guns in leather holsters.

There are some good sites, but like anything from that era, should be taken with a grain of salt, and particularly in this case; WBH was a great self promoter as was Earp, and he directed/conjured much of the stories about him.

Interesting fellow though, and good conversation even today!

best

mqqn
 
In Hickok's lifetime, most photographs were taken in a studio because of the size and weight of the equipment. However they're is one, taken at Ft. Harker, Kansas where he was part of a much larger group, and apparently taken on the parade ground.

The exact identity of the two revolvers he is carrying cannot be determined, but they are in open-top belt holsters with possibly metal caps on the bottom. Both holsters are on a single belt with the butts forward, and the revolvers' stocks are white - likely ivory.
 
On October 26, 1867 the editor of the Manhattan Independent described Hickok, "He wore a richly embroidered sash with a pair of ivory hilted and silver mounted pistols (His Navy Colts) stuck in it."

Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell "'Great Gunfighters of the Kansas Cowtowns"
page 116
 
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There are numerous references on his ivory handled Colts but I can't seem to find any more references to that sash. And I agree walking around with 5 lbs. of revolvers only secured by a sash would be kind of difficult.
 
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Never tried a sash.

But gun carrying experience tells me this much.

1. The Colt .36 Navy was long, slim, and sleek.

2. I think a sash would hold them very securely in place, and still provide a very fast draw.

3. The guns might have weighed 5 pounds.
But the sash weighed almost nothing.
Most certainly much lighter then a 2-gun leather belt rig would add to the carry weight.

rc
 
I believe one of his ivory handled navies is in the Autry museum and the other at the Cody. It has been awhile since I was researching them and they may have been moved elsewhere. Either museum might have information on his preferred carry style. Good luck with your research.
 
As I understand it, the location of only one revolver of the pair is known. That would be the Autry Museum in L.A. However I wouldn't be surprised if on occasion it wasn't loaned to the museum at Cody WY.

They not only have the revolver (an 1851 Navy Colt) but also a holster. But that, in-an-of-itself doesn't show he used or carried it.

Supposedly the other revolvers was converted to .38 RF metallic cartridge, but I doubt it. So far no one has come forth and produced it.
 
Crawdad1 said:
Yes. The large sheath knife is in the middle of the sash. But reviewing what I have, or unless I missed it, in contemporary accounts no one mentions that Hickok was a fast draw only that he was dead accurate. Similar to Jesse James or Frank James, Cole Younger or James Younger, Clell Miller, and all except for Little Archie Clement, no one mentions how fast they were at the draw only they were dead accurate with a revolver.
Click to expand...
And that large knife is thrust through the sash without benefit of a sheath. Not sure I would trust the rest of the accuracy of that photo, obviously posed.

Kevin
 
My son gave me a book about Wild Bill Hickok for Father's Day last year. It is "Wild Bill Hickok" by Frank J. Wilstach, published in 1926 by Doubleday. Mr. Wilstach apparently took the trouble to interview folks who were still alive at the time and who knew Wild Bill personally.

Foreword, page xii:

"Edward F. Colborn, of Salt Lake City, Utah, lived on the border a good part of the vermillion days that knew Wild Bill. Lately the writer asked Mr. Colborn for his recollection's of Bill's everyday appearance.

"I can see Bill," was the reply, "Through the eyes of memory. Tall erect, with long brown hair that swept in profusion to his shoulders; aquiline nose, high cheek bones, high forehead. His attire was generally that of the Mississippi steamboat gambler--a long-tailed cutaway coat of dark cloth; wide blue trousers, narrow at the bottom; a fancy vest; high-heeled boots with taps under the trousers; a leather belt with two white-handled cap and ball Colts; a white shirt, a string tie, a graceful carriage a mustache that drooped a little, ..." (emphasis added).

Page 10:

"During the last years of his life, according to Ellis T. Peirce, Bill used two Colt's 45 calibre cap and ball revolvers without triggers...When he grasped the butt of his revolver his thumb would rest on the hammer, and the instant he had drawn the weapon clear of the holster its own weight would cock it. (emphasis added)

Page 11:

"Both of these famous guns have disappeared. Wild Bill was wearing a new revolver when killed at Deadwood, a large Smith and Wesson. The ivory handled gun found on his body was taken by Charlie Storm, a Jewish gunfighter of Deadwood, when the latter went south to fight Luke Short. But Short was too quick on the draw, and Storm is still down there! Charlie Utter, Wild Bill's companion in Deadwood, took the Smith and Wesson for a keepsake, and Wild Bill's Sharps rifle was buried beside him."

Based on this info, I think the famous sash photo was just for the studio.
 
"During the last years of his life, according to Ellis T. Peirce, Bill used two Colt's 45 calibre cap and ball revolvers without triggers...When he grasped the butt of his revolver his thumb would rest on the hammer, and the instant he had drawn the weapon clear of the holster its own weight would cock it. (emphasis added)
Click to expand...

A good story, but doubtful. Without the trigger to hold the hammer at half-cock you couldn't reload the pistol. On the other hand if he held the trigger back while drawing he could pull back the hammer and release it. This was called slip-shooting, and no - I don't recommend it.
 
Hmmmm . . . . .45 Cap & Ball Colts . . . . .


Maybe if it was two converted Dragoons . . . that would be possible . . . . wait a minute . . . . THAT'S WHAT I GOT !!!!!!

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
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