Wild Bill Hickok Memorial, Bronze sculpture in Troy Grove, Illinois, US.
The Wild Bill Hickok Memorial is a bronze bust placed at the corner of Main Street and Ottawa Street in Troy Grove, Illinois. A plaque next to the sculpture gives background on the life of James Butler Hickok, the man known as Wild Bill.
James Butler Hickok was born in Troy Grove in 1837 and grew up here before heading west to become a scout, lawman, and folk figure of the frontier era. The memorial was put up in 1929, about sixty years after his death in Deadwood in 1876.
The monument honors a frontier figure whose work as lawman and gunfighter shaped how Americans think about the Old West. Visitors can sense the connection to pioneer life and the rough times of frontier settlement at this spot.
The memorial is a short walk from US-52 and can be visited at any time of year with no entry fee or special requirements. Daylight is the best time to come so the plaque is easy to read and the bronze details are clearly visible.
The bust marks the precise spot where Hickok's family home once stood before it was torn down, making the corner itself as meaningful as the sculpture on it. Very few physical traces of his early life remain anywhere, which gives this small street corner an unusual weight.
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