1950s Effort to Move Wild Bill Hickok's Remains to Abilene Ended in Failure
In the early 1950s, Abilene businessman G.I. Dobbin and the Wild Bill Hickok Foundation led a campaign to relocate the remains of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok from Deadwood, South Dakota, to Abilene, Kansas, where Hickok had served as marshal in 1871.
The effort drew national newspaper coverage at the time, with reports referring to the dispute as the "Battle Over Hickok Bones." Attorneys and state officials from both Kansas and South Dakota became involved in the matter.
The campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, and Hickok's remains stayed in Deadwood, where he was buried after being killed in 1876. A detailed account of the episode has been published by Visit Abilene on the city's tourism website.
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