Wild Bill's Death Reenactment
Wild Bill Hickok, soldier, scout, and marshal, was killed in a Deadwood saloon on August 2, 1876, by Jack McCall. This historic event took place in Saloon # 10 when the cowardly Jack McCall snuck up and shot Wild Bill in the back of the head. It is reported that Hickok had only arrived in Deadwood a few weeks earlier, played numerous card games and had never in his life sat with his back to the door-until that fateful day.
Every night during the summer with the exception of Sundays, the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok and the subsequent trial of Jack McCall is re-enacted starting with a gunfight on Main Street at 7:30 pm and then moving to the Masonic Temple for the trial.
Over one hundred and thirty years later, the bar called the Old Style Saloon # 10 is neither the original saloon where the shooting took place nor is it the original location. The reported Death Chair is on display, but many dispute its authenticity. However, in the absence of anything more authentic, the re-enactment of the deadly poker game makes great fun for young tourists who are recruited to play some of the parts and for adults who enjoy watching a page of history played out before them.
Above Deadwood on a ridge, you can visit the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane in Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Also buried there are Preacher Smith, Potato Creek Johnny, and Madame Dora DuFran.
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