Agnes Darling, if such should be we never meet again, while firing my last shot, I will gently breathe the name of my wife - Agnes - and with wishes even for my enemies I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore.

awaiting execution. The second was a cowboy Samuel Strawhun who encountered Hickok and Deputy Sheriff Lanihan at 1 am on September 27 when they had been called to a saloon where Strawhun was causing a disturbance. Hickok was a good shot from a very young age and was recognized locally as an outstanding marksman with a pistol.

He was shot and killed while playing poker in the Nuttal & Mann's Saloon in Deadwood Dakota Territory (now South Dakota). His skills as a gunfighter and scout along with his reputation as a lawman provided the basis for his fame although some of his reported exploits are fictionalized.