• Wild Bill Hickok Life Story
• Wild Bill Hickok Early Life

Charles H. 'Colorado Charlie' Utter (14 Mar 1838 – 3 July 1915) was a figure of the American Wild West, best known as a great friend and companion of Wild Bill Hickok. He was also friends with Calamity Jane.

Calamity Jane, one of the rowdiest and adventurous women in the Old West, was a frontierswoman and professional scout, who was known for her being a friend to Wild Bill Hickok and appearing in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Born in Princeton, Missouri on May 1, 1852, as Martha Jane Cannary (or Canary), she would later grow up to look and act like a man, shoot like a cowboy, drink like. James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as 'Wild Bill' Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights.He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated.

Early life[edit]

Utter was born in 1842 near Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in Illinois, then traveled west in search of his fortune, becoming a trapper, guide, and prospector in Colorado in the 1860s. He met and married 15 year old Matilda 'Tily' Nash on September 30, 1866, in her parents’ home in Empire, Clear Creek, Colorado Territory.^[1] Their marriage record lists Empire as his place of residence at the time of their marriage and by the 1870 Federal Census shows they had settled in nearby Georgetown, Colorado Territory.^[2]

Career[edit]

In early 1876, Utter and his brother Steve took a 30-wagon train of prospectors, gamblers, prostitutes, and assorted hopefuls from Georgetown, Colorado, to the burgeoning town of Deadwood in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory, where the recent discovery of gold had sparked a gold rush.^[3] Like many wagon trains, the wagons were Schuttler wagons, which were notable for 'gaudy paint jobs.' In Cheyenne, Wyoming, famed gunman 'Wild Bill' Hickok became partners with Utter in the train; Calamity Jane joined in Fort Laramie. The wagon train arrived in Deadwood in July 1876, and Utter began a lucrative pony express delivery service to Cheyenne, charging 25 cents to deliver a letter and often carrying as many as 2,000 letters per 48-hour trip.^{[citation needed]}

'Wild Bill' Hickok[edit]

Utter had been a close friend of Hickok's for some time previously, constantly watching to ensure that Hickok's weaknesses of alcohol and gambling would not bring Hickok to a bad end. Unfortunately, Utter was not present on August 2, 1876, when Jack McCall fatally shot Hickok in the back of the head as Hickok played poker in a Deadwood saloon. Utter later claimed the body and placed a notice in the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer, which read:

'Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2, 1876, from the effects of a pistol shot, J. B. Hickok (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter's Camp, on Thursday afternoon, August 3, 1876, at 3 o'clock, P. M. All are respectfully invited to attend.'

Attendance at the funeral was heavy, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker which read:

'Wild Bill, J. B. Hickock killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter.'

Utter left for Colorado but returned in 1879 to have Hickok re-interred, at Calamity Jane's urging, in a ten-foot-square plot at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, surrounded by a cast-iron fence and with an American flag in the ground.

In February 1879, Utter purchased the Eaves Saloon in Gayville, a mining town 1.75 miles (2.82 km) west of Deadwood, but ran into a string of bad luck. He was found guilty of selling liquor without a license.^{[citation needed]}

Later that year, Utter opened a dance hall in Lead, a company town far more sedate than its raucous, rollicking neighbor, Deadwood. The dance hall’s “boisterous music and scandalous cancan dancing” earned Charlie an appearance before the honorable Gideon C. Moody. Charlie was convicted of “operating a nuisance,” but because he had already closed the establishment, Judge Moody sentenced him to a mere one hour in jail. He was also fined $50 on the charge of disturbing the peace. ^[4][5]

Utter was back in Deadwood by the fall of the year. He opened another dance hall and also managed one of Deadwood’s theaters.^[5] On September 26, 1879, a fire devastated Deadwood, destroying more than three hundred buildings (including Charlie’s dance hall and the theater he managed) and consuming the belongings of many inhabitants.

After Deadwood[edit]

Following the destructive fire, Deadwood ceased to be a frontier town where fortunes could be built (or rebuilt) from nothing, and the newly impoverished left to try their luck in other gold rushes. Utter followed, first to Leadville, Colorado in February 1880; then Durango, Colorado showing separated or divorced from his wife;^[6] then Socorro, New Mexico, where he opened a saloon and was reported to have a relationship with faro dealer Minnie Fowler. Utter's biographer, Agnes Wright Spring, traced him to Panama in the early 1900s. Now losing his eyesight, he owned drugstores in Panama City and Colón. ^[7]According to ship manifests, Utter made several trips back and forth between the United States and Panama in 1888, 1891, 1905, 1910, 1912 each listing his occupation as a 'druggist'.^{[8][9][10][11]} He finally returned to Panama in 1913. His gravestone is in Cementario Amador, Calle B, Santa Ana, Panama listed as Charles H. Utter having died on 3 July 1915.^[12] There is an Emma B. Utter wife of Charles H. Utter buried nearby in the same cemetery who died in 1894.^{[citation needed]}

Personality[edit]

Utter cut a notable figure; he was 5'6' (167.64 cm), and was reported as being extremely meticulous in his appearance, highly unusual for that place and time. He had long, flowing black hair and a mustache, perfectly groomed, wore hand-tailored fringed buckskins, fine linen shirts, beaded moccasins, and a large silver belt buckle, and carried a pair of gold, silver, and pearl ornamented pistols. He would allow nobody into his tent, even Hickok, on pain of being shot; in his tent he slept under the highest quality blankets, imported from California, and carried with him mirrors, combs, razors, and whisk brooms. Most unusual of all, he was well known for his 'bizarre habit' of bathing daily. ^[13][14]

In popular culture[edit]

Utter is portrayed by Dayton Callie in the HBO television series Deadwood and Deadwood: The Movie. Contrary to the meticulous historical Utter, the character is portrayed as rough-mannered and often unkempt in his appearance. The film, set in 1889, shows the character still living in Deadwood, although the historical Charlie Utter had moved back to Colorado in 1880. The film also shows Utter being murdered in 1889 by henchmen sent by George Hearst, after Utter refused to sell his land to Hearst.

Further reading[edit]

• Boardman, Mark. 'More Than a Sidekick: Charlie Utter blazed his own trail in the West,'True West (March 29, 2019).
• Mallet, E.J. Jr. Scribner's Monthly (September 1872).
• Robinson, Doane. Encyclopedia of South Dakota (Pierre, S.D., 1925), pp. 669-670.

References[edit]

1. ^'Colorado, County Marriages, 1864-1995,' database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJ7-TXWL : 14 October 2017), Charles H Utter and Matilda Nash, 30 Sep 1866, Clear Creek, Colorado, United States; citing reference ID 1, State Archives, Denver; FHL microfilm 1,822,743.
2. ^'United States Census, 1870', database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4L2-W21 : 19 March 2020), Charles Utter, 1870.
3. ^Straub, Patrick (2009). It Happened in South Dakota: Remarkable Events That Shaped History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 31. ISBN9780762761715.
4. ^Franz, Mary. “The Real Men of Deadwood.” Wild West, August 2006, pp. 22+.
5. ^ ^abKoster, John. “The Man Who Wrote Wild Bill’s Epitaph.” Wild West, April 2015, pp. 58+.
6. ^'United States Census, 1880,' database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFDN-VHB : 29 July 2017), Charles H Utter, Ruby City, Gunnison, Colorado, United States; citing enumeration district ED 57, sheet 162B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,090.
7. ^Spring, Agnes Wright (1987). Good Little Bad Man: The Life of Colorado Charley Utter. Pruett Publishing. ISBN0-87108-733-2.
8. ^'California, Los Angeles Passenger Lists, 1907-1948,' database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZQ6-YLG : 13 March 2018), Chas H Utter, 1912; citing Immigration, ship name Pennsylvania, NARA microfilm publication M1764 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1; FHL microfilm 2,229,903.
9. ^'Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945,' database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KTRT-VP3 : 13 March 2018), Charles H Utter, 1910; citing Ship Turrialba, affiliate film #31, NARA microfilm publications M259 and T905 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,454,888.
10. ^'New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924', database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JFQG-J6T : 20 August 2019), Chas. H. Utter, 1905.
11. ^'Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945,' database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKNP-PKGX : 13 March 2018), Charles H Utter, 1888; citing Ship Costa Rican, affiliate film #071, NARA microfilm publications M259 and T905 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 200,212.
12. ^'BillionGraves Index,' database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL19-GP3M : 31 October 2017), Charles H. Utter, died 03 Jul 1915; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Cementerio Amador, Santa Ana, Panama, Panama, Panama.
13. ^Adams Museum Deadwood, South Dakota “Pioneer Days in the Black Hills” by John S. McClintock
14. ^Adams Museum Deadwood, South Dakota “The Black Hills After Custer” by Bob Lee

External links[edit]

• 'Charlie (Charley) Utter aka 'Colorado Charlie,' Deadwood, S.D. Revealed
• 'Charlie Utter – Bill Hickok’s Best Pard,' Legends of America website
• 'Charlie Utter,' Black Hills Visitor
• 'Deadwood Character: Charlie Utter,' The Deadwood Chronicles
• Hall, Sharon. 'Wild West Wednesday: Charles 'Colorado Charlie' Utter,'Digging History Magazine (Feb 26, 2014).

Wild Bill Hickok Life Story

Wild Bill Hickok Early Life

James Butler Hickok was an early constable of Monticello Township in Johnson County.
He began upholding the law and order Monticello, a small town with a stagecoach stop, a few stores, and saloons, and the countryside of Monticello Township, after being elected a local lawman in 1858. A year later, he was gone, becoming a freight wagon driver, and later working at a station of the Pony Express.
During his life, he was many things – a scout, a sharpshooter, a professional gambler, and eventually “Wild Bill” Hickok, legendary lawman of the Old West.
Hickok was born in Homer (now Troy Grove), Illinois on May 27, 1837. While he was growing up, his father’s farm was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, and he learned his shooting skills protecting the farm with his father from anti-abolitionists. He was a good shot from a very young age.
In 1855, Hickok left his father’s farm to become a stagecoach driver on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. An early record refers to him as “Duck Bill” (perhaps in reference to a protruding upper lip he hid beneath a mustache), but his gunfighting skills changed his nickname to “Wild Bill.” His killing of a bear with a bowie knife during a turn as a stagecoach driver cemented a growing reputation as a genuinely tough man who feared nothing, and who was feared for more than carrying a fast gun.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 opened up territory in Kansas to settlement and offered Hickok the opportunity to go west for a new beginning with the lure of cheap land. He arrived in Leavenworth in June 1856, and soon learned that the best available land had already been claimed. So, he waited for more Indian land to be placed on the market. With a treaty with local Indian tribes, additional land opened up for settlement in Johnson County.
In a letter to his family in November 1856, Hickok said he was looking to purchase land in Johnson County, calling it “the finest country (sic) in Kansas I ever saw” but cautioned “that the territory is wild and not yet safe for women and children.”
In 1857, he built a log cabin and claimed a 160-acre tract of land in what is now the city of Lenexa. The original farm site is near the corner of 83rd Street and Clare Road. He also briefly worked at the Reed Hotel in the town of Monticello.
Also in 1857, Monticello Township recorded a lynching of a horse thief. Back then, the county’s population was sparse, and part-time lawmen on foot or horseback policed the rural areas. During the days when a horse was one’s fastest transportation and could make or break a successful farming operation, horse stealing was the one of the most serious and prevalent crimes.
The county sheriff and township constables provided law enforcement services among the non-Indian population of Johnson County. The sheriff had authority over the whole countywhile constables enforced the law in townships.
On March 22, 1858, Hickok was elected one of four constables for Monticello Township. It was the first of several law enforcement jobs he was to hold during his lifetime.
Wild Bill’s law days at Monticello were mostly tame.
As constable, Hickok invented the practice of “posting” men out of town. He would put a list on what was called the “dead man’s tree” (so called because men had been lynched on it). Hickok proclaimed he would shoot them on sight the following day. Few stayed around to find out if he was serious.
Hickok is said to have sharpened his shooting skills while in the Monticello territory along the banks of the Mill Creek by hitting the middle of an oyster can at a distance of 50 yards.
Outside his farming and law enforcement duties, Hickok spent his time playing cards in local saloons, another trait that he famously maintained throughout his life.
He also was an active participant in the border war, then in progress, serving as a scout and a bodyguard for General James H. Lane of the Free-State Army. Hickok became a victim of the conflict when his cabin was burned by pro-slavery men in late 1858. He abandoned his farming claim in the late summer of 1859, turned in his badge, and left Johnson County, heading north to the Nebraska Territory.
Hickok returned to Kansas, then a state, running for sheriff in Ellsworth County in 1867, but was defeated. A year later, he was in Hays as a deputy federal marshal, picking up 11 Union deserters charged with stealing government property to be transferred to Topeka for trial.
In 1869, Hickok was back in Hays and was elected sheriff and city marshal of Ellis County. He failed to win re-election the following year, heading to Abilene to serve as marshal until late 1871 when he left Kansas for good.
He was killed on August 2, 1876, while playing poker in a saloon at Deadwood in the Black Hills, Dakota Territory. Hickok was 39.
Fifteen decades after his departure, Wild Bill’s brief time in Johnson County is preserved in collections of a few pictures, census lists, books, and other documents at the Monticello Historical Station at Floyd Cline Hall, 23860 West 83rd St., Lenexa, and atthe Johnson County Museum, 6301 Lackman Rd., Shawnee.
There also is a small park in his honor at 85th Terrance and Clare Road in Lenexa. The one-acre Wild Bill Hickok Park was dedicated in 1993.