We all have a moment that splits us wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashland Harris,

I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment, and politics

to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide

Open with Ashland Harris, an Iheart women's sports production on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

And we continue here with our American stories.

Wild Bill Hickok, his name conjures up an image of an out-of-control gunslinger.

Here to tell the real story of Wild Bill is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters,

Highlanders, Highlandies. He's a U.S. Marine and former history professor at UCLA, and he's appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries. He's also a regular contributor for us here

at Our American Stories. Take it away, McGrath.

Thank you. us here and our American stories. Take it away, McGrath. Well, Bill Hickok was a gunfighter and lawman of legendary proportions in the Old West,

who also served as a scout for the U.S. Army during the Civil War and later during the Indian

wars. Nearly everything he did in his adult life commanded attention.

Even the hand of cards he was holding when shot to death in a deadwood saloon.

In the 1870s, no Western figure was better known.

He's the subject of hundreds of articles and books. No Western figure was better known.

He's the subject of hundreds of articles and books. A half dozen movies have been made about his life,

most notably the Plainsman starring Gary Cooper,

and recently Wild Bill starring Jeff Bridges.

There was also a television series, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, which ran for

eight seasons and starred Guy Madison.

Wild Bill Hickok is born James Butler Hickok in 1837 in Homer, Illinois, a small town 80

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