The Memoirs of Nicodemus Legend: The Life, Death, and Life of Wild Bill Hickok

"The Life, Death, and Life of Wild Bill Hickok" was the fifth episode of Legend, and first aired on May 16th, 1995. It was written by Peter Allan Fields and directed by Michael Caffey. You can watch the episode via Amazon Prime Video or DVD.

Wild Bill Hickok has come to Sheridan seeking the assistance of Nicodemus Legend. His arrival immediately causes a stir, not all of it good. When a kid with something to prove challenges Hickok to a shootout, and Hickok fires and misses, the reason for Hickok’s request becomes apparent. Hickok’s eyesight just isn’t what it used to be, and he needs help to fulfill his latest contract: to bring in the Jack McCall gang.

Unfortunately for Hickok, Ernest Pratt doesn’t use guns, and thus the attempt to hire “Legend” as a gunman is doomed to failure. However, Bartok is able to conduct an eye exam and make glasses for Hickok, thus improving his chances. But this itself comes at a cost: when word gets out that Hickok needs glasses, he’ll be a target for anyone with a grudge against him. Bartok and Pratt suggest that Hickok should retire, but Hickok feels that he can’t do so until he completes his contract against McCall and his gang, having already spent the money for a home in California. Grateful for the new glasses, but unable to walk away from his gunslinging lifestyle, Hickok departs alone.

Hickok’s visit has lasting repercussions, however, as one of McCall’s gang, having witnessed the shootout, tells McCall what has happened, including the fact that Hickok had sought the help of Nicodemus Legend. Pratt and Bartok thus soon find themselves under attack from a group of McCall’s men. Between the timely invention of the Bartok Body Bullet Barricade and Ramos’ implementation of the Bartok Aerospheric Rescue Carronade (which fires dry phosphorescence into the air, thus frightening the attackers away), no one is harmed, but Bartok recognizes McCall among the group.

Recognizing that they can’t simply stay away, Pratt, Bartok and Ramos take the Legend Balloon to chase after McCall’s gang (a task made easier thanks to being doused in phosphorescent particles the previous night). Meanwhile, Hickok is on the same trail, so when McCall’s gang starts shooting after Hickok, Team Legend is ready to offer assistance, and Hickok is rescued.

Although Hickok is grateful, he forces the Legend Balloon to continue chasing after McCall rather than take the opportunity to return to safety. Hickok intends to shoot McCall from the air, but this is too much like cold-blooded murder for Pratt, and he and Hickok struggle. In the ensuing scuffle, Hickok’s glasses are broken, and Pratt is accidentally knocked out of the Balloon, landing conveniently right in the middle of McCall’s gang.

Bartok and Ramos fit Hickok with a headset that will allow them to compensate for his poor vision by communicating where his enemies are coming from, and set him down from the Balloon near a horse, from which Hickok goes after McCall’s gang to rescue Pratt. With some additional help from the Ball Lightning Generator in the Legend Balloon, Hickok is able to take out the whole gang with the exception of McCall himself, who escapes.

Hickok expresses frustration, believing himself to be in a “circle of killing” with McCall that will only end when one of them is dead. Pratt offers a way to help Hickok “close the circle.” Hickok doesn’t respond to that, but does request Pratt’s help in transporting McCall’s gang to prison in Deadwood, South Dakota. After dropping the gang off at the Sheriff's office, Hickok and Pratt say their goodbyes, after which Hickok goes to a nearby saloon to play cards. Shortly after this, McCall comes into town, finds Hickok in the saloon, and shoots him in the back. Hickok’s cards, including a pair of aces and a pair of eights, are seen lying face-up on the table.

As the funeral concludes, we see Pratt and Bartok watching from the distance, accompanied by another man, who we learn is Hickok himself, having faked his death by the use of the Bartok Body Bullet Barricade. Hickok asks if he can keep the device as a souvenir, and Bartok agrees, so long as Hickok promises not to use it as a gunslinger. Hickok readily agrees, now truly retired, allowing history to believe that he died a tragic death at the hands of a man too cowardly to meet him face-to-face. Pratt gets something out of it all, too. Ned Buntline will have to find another hero to write about. “We seem to have killed off his golden goose. Too bad….”


Some additional notes:

• Hickok was played by William Russ, already an established actor by 1995, and perhaps best known today for playing the main character’s father in Boy Meets World.
• While Ned Buntline (who, we're told, suggested that Hickok approach Pratt) was a real person (indeed, the most direct inspiration for the character of Ernest Pratt), and while Buntline did write about Hickok on occasion, he didn’t really write about Hickok much. At best, Hickok was a minor character to Buntline, actually killed off and his name misspelled when “Hitchcock” was used in an 1869 story, and the only story Buntline wrote with Hickok in the lead role wasn’t published until 1880 (several years after Hickok’s death!), making Pratt’s claim to have killed off Buntline’s golden goose more than a little exaggerated. That 1869 story did star a real-life person Buntline was more famous for writing about: Buffalo Bill Cody. Hickok did feature in dime novels written by other writers, but never had a significant series as Cody did.
• The real Wild Bill Hickok was killed on August 2, 1876, which would place this episode’s final scene after Colorado statehood was a reality.
• The real Bill Hickok was shot in the head, and thus the Bartok Body Bullet Barricade sadly wouldn’t have saved him.
• The real Jack McCall was ultimately tried twice for Hickok’s murder. After being acquitted the first time, he was arrested again and tried under the reasoning that the first trial had no legal standing. Convicted on the second attempt, McCall became the first person to be legally executed (he was hanged) by the Dakota Territory on March 1, 1877.
• The scene in which Hickok is shot demonstrates the most obvious example in Legend of music that has been changed from the original due to conflicting rights. The original version used “At My Funeral” by the Crash Test Dummies, while the DVD had to substitute another song (“House on Fire” by Kingsize). If you can find the original version, that’s definitely the one I recommend watching.

Next week: "Knee-High Noon"