52 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2017
stop, and improving the East Ranch by
building a cabin and a well. In 1860, he
leased the East Ranch to the Russell,
Majors and Waddell Company,
founders of the Pony Express, who
established Rock Creek Station as the
second Pony Express relay station in
Nebraska. The company purchased the
East Ranch from McCanles in 1861,
but soon fell behind in payments as the
Pony Express slid into financial failure.
Things came to a head on July 12,
1861. McCanles – accompanied by his
12-year-old son, Monroe – approached
the East Ranch cabin to speak with
station keeper Horace Wellman,
intending to demand full payment or
repossession of the property. No one
can say for certain what happened
next, but the likely events have been
reconstructed based on an account
written by Monroe 54 years later.
The affair was brief and vicious.
Wellman refused to come to the door,
and McCanles threatened to come in
and drag him out. He was then shot
– unarmed – by a young ranch hand
named James Butler Hickok.
Hearing the shot, McCanles' cousin
James Woods and friend James Gordon
ran from the barn to help, only to be
wounded by Hickok's pistol. Wellman
emerged from the cabin with a grub
hoe and clubbed Woods to death. He
took a swing at Monroe, who fled and
successfully escaped. Gordon wasn't
so lucky – he was shot to death by
stock tender J.W. "Doc" Brink. In a
30-minute trial, the men pled self-
defense and were acquitted. Because
of his age, Monroe was not allowed to
testify.
The incident launched Hickok into
dime store novel fame and helped earn
him the nickname "Wild Bill" Hickok.
(According to Harper's Magazine,
Hickok fought off the fearsome
"McCanles gang" single-handedly,
despite being gravely wounded.) Wild
Bill went on to create a legendary
career as a gunfighter, soldier, spy and
wagon master. He died at age 39, shot
in the back of the head while playing
poker in a saloon in Deadwood, South
Dakota. His hand of cards – said to be
two pairs of aces and eights – is known
PHOTO
BY
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Prior to shooting the photo re-creation, Mobley cleans the glass plate the image will be
exposed onto, standing next to his darkbox.
PHOTO
BY
RENAE
BLUM
