Legends and Loyalty: Calamity Jane at Wild Bill’s Grave — Deadwood, ca. 1903
In a rare and moving photograph taken around 1903, Calamity Jane—frontierswoman, scout, and Wild West legend—is seen standing solemnly at the grave of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, South Dakota. The image reveals a woman whose life was as rugged and unconventional as the land she called home. Although much of her story is wrapped in legend, this moment is genuine: a deeply personal expression of loyalty to the man she admired—and perhaps loved.
Wild Bill was shot in the back while playing poker in Deadwood in 1876, holding what became known as the “Dead Man’s Hand.” Calamity Jane, famous for her tough, hard-drinking, and wild-living persona, claimed to have shared a close relationship with him—though historians still debate its true nature. What’s certain is that when she died in 1903, she was buried next to Wild Bill by her own request, symbolizing the lasting myth that forever linked their names in American folklore.
This photograph is more than just a portrait—it’s a glimpse into the end of an era. The fading Old West captured in the weathered face of a woman who lived it, mourned it, and became one of its last enduring connections.