Expedition Team: Dave Miller
Date: March 5, 2024
This Roadside Attraction ties in to when my family visited Deadwood, South Dakota in 2003. In this famous western town, we were entertained by a historical reenactment of the shooting death and trial of Wild Bill Hickok. We began at the saloon where the shooting took place. The actor portraying killer Jack McCall was handcuffed and marched through the city streets to the local theater. In the theater was McCall’s trial, both dramatic and funny. Our four kids loved it. We met and got autographs of the actors after the play. Little did I know that the man in real life that dealt the poker game in which Hickok was killed was from Loveland, Ohio.
Here at Evergreen Cemetery, four miles south of Loveland was the elaborate tombstone for poker dealer Charlie Henry Rich (July 1859-July 1929), who dealt Hickok two black aces and two black eights with a jack down which he was holding when shot. Ever since then, this hand has been known as the “Dead Man’s Hand”.
The true history story is, on August 2, 1876, James “Wild Bill” Hickok was playing poker in Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon in Deadwood of the Dakota Territory. He had returned from his honeymoon in Cincinnati. Rich was one of the poker players and dealing. Normally, Hickok sat with his back against the wall so that he could see everyone in front of him. But on this night Rich sat in the corner and refused to give up his seat. Hickok had to sit with his back to the saloon door. Jack McCall, who the day before had been outplayed in poker by Hickok at the same table. Inebriated, McCall returned and shot Hickok from behind in the head, killing him. McCall was arrested and executed by hanging the following year (Photo #3 – Hickock on left, McCall on the right). It is unknown if Rich and Hickok were trying to get rich playing poker or from the Black Hills Gold Rush. Eventually, Rich returned to Ohio and raised a family.
