On the square in Springfield, Wild Bill Hickok killed Davis Tutt in what many consider the first true western showdown. Wild Bill left Missouri immediately after that gunfight but we know that he returned. There are records of him serving as an umpire for professional baseball in Kansas City. That 1866 team was the K.C. Antelopes.
This post was contributed by Ross Malone. A historian and a retired school teacher, Ross has authored many books about Missouri’s history, weird facts, and folk tales. He has also written children’s historical fiction. Visit his website, and buy his books in the Missouri Life store.
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April 21, 1870
The first train from St. Louis reached Springfield. This took sixteen years of construction because of the interruptions due to the Civil War.
October 17, 1865
A fair was held at the Greene County Courthouse in Springfield to raise funds for the relief of the area’s war orphans.
March 21, 1888
A photographer in Jefferson County was offering to take horseographs or jackotypes. Photographs of fine horses and mules.