Bio

John Jack McCall was born around 1852 in Kentucky. He grew up with three sisters and later moved west during the frontier era. He worked at times as a buffalo hunter and drifted between frontier towns using different names, including Bill Sutherland.

By 1876, McCall arrived in the booming gold camp of Deadwood in Dakota Territory. He was known more for drinking, gambling, and reckless behavior than for steady work. Witnesses described him as immature, impulsive, and often intoxicated. His life changed permanently after crossing paths with one of the most famous gunfighters of the American West, Wild Bill Hickok.

Murder Story

On August 1, 1876, McCall played poker in Deadwood and lost all of his money. Wild Bill Hickok reportedly gave him money for breakfast and advised him not to gamble again until he could afford it. McCall accepted the money but later claimed he felt humiliated.

The next afternoon, August 2, 1876, Hickok was playing poker inside Nuttal & Mann’s No. 10 Saloon. Unable to sit in his usual safe position, Hickok sat with his back to the door. McCall walked behind him, pulled a .45-caliber revolver, and shot him in the back of the head. Hickok died instantly, still holding cards later linked to the famous “Dead Man’s Hand.”

McCall was captured quickly and brought before an unofficial miners’ court in Deadwood. He claimed revenge for the death of a brother, though later evidence showed he had no brother. The jury acquitted him.

After leaving Deadwood, McCall bragged about killing Hickok while traveling in Wyoming. Because the first trial had no legal authority, he was arrested again on August 29, 1876. He was sent to Yankton for a proper trial, found guilty in December 1876, and sentenced to death.

On March 1, 1877, McCall was hanged in Yankton. He became known in American history as the man who killed Wild Bill Hickok.