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Wild Bill Days commemorates 150th anniversary of folk hero’s final breath · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Wild Bill Days commemorates one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of
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  folk hero's final breath. Written by Matthias Warner, this article
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  is being read by an automated voice brought to you
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  by Everlett. LaSalle County is throwing wild Bill Hiccock one
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  of his largest celebrations, one hundred and fifty years after
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  his death. Wild Bill Days, a family friendly celebration of
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  Lassalle County's native son, commemorates the life of James Butler Hiccock,
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  a folk hero of the American frontier during the mid
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  nineteenth century. This is a great way to learn about
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  your local history. Executive director of the LaSalle County Historical Society,
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  Amanda Carter said, it's a great free family event for
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  your kids to not only have a good time, but
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  also learn something. The celebration is taking place in three
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  different towns over the weekend, with trolleys available to take
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  people to each event. In Utica, Buffalo Bill's Best of
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  the wild West show will start at one thirty pm
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  on both Saturday and Sunday. The show is an eighty
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  minute live arena performance behind Jamie's Outpost, located at six
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  zero two Clark Street, that will showcase horse acts, rolling
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  stock and trick shooters. In addition to the show, visitors
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  can turn the clock back with period merchandise, Hickock's personal
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  and family artifact, viewing, stagecoach rides, and campsite experiences. We
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  keep everything free so that everybody can come in, enjoy
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  and learn about our rich history here in LaSalle County,
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  and a big part of that history is wild, Bill
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  Hickock Carter said, so we're always glad to share it
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  every year. Hickock was born in what is now Troy
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  Grove on May twenty seventh of eighteen thirty seven and
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  worked along the I and M Canal as a youth
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  until heading to the Western territories on the American Frontier
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  in eighteen fifty five. Hickock saw and participated in some
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  of the most famous events in American history at that time,
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  picking up a reputation as an anti slavery Malitia scout
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  ants spy for the Union Army during the Civil War,
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  as well as being a showman, gambler, and gunfighter who
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  played a key role in several shootouts until his luck
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  ran out on August second, eighteen seventy six. In Hickock's
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  hometown of Homer now troy Grove. The Old West Regulators
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  will put on a twelve scene re enactment performance of
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  the life and times of James Butler Hiccock at one
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  pm on Saturday and Sunday at Troy Grove Park, located
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  at two zero seven Peru Street. Part of that time
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  later in the Brief Life of Wild Bill was a
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  return to LaSalle County to recover from a lance injury
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  in his leg and visit his mother, during which time
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  he was photographed. That photograph was used to inspire a
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  life sized statue of the folk hero in Mendoda's Veterans
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  Park in Mendota. Walt Willie will put on four performances
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  of the End of the Trail, a one man show
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  focused on Hickock's final days and ultimate death at the
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  end of Jack McCall's gun while holding dead Man's hand
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  in a poker game at the Number ten Saloon in Deadwood,
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  South Dakota. The performances start at eleven am and two
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  pm on Saturday, May thirtieth and Sunday May thirty first,
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  outside the Hume Carnegie Museum at Veterans Park in Mendota.
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  Located at nine zero one Washington Street. There will be merchandise, food,
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  and other activities for visitors at the Mendota site, including
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  free admission to the Union Depot Railroad Museum over the weekend.
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  Mendota has participated in Wild Bill Days before, but the
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  city made sure to make the one hundred and fiftieth
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  anniversary of Hickock's death an inviting celebration to residents, making
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  improvements to Veterans Park earlier this month. I think this
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  really shows that people care about their local history and
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  that they recognize the importance of this figure, Executive director
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  of the Mendota Museum and Historical Society Alex Revzand said,
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  here in LaSalle County, we want to share that history
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  with as many as possible. Four trolley rides will be
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  available in each city every ninety minute, starting at ten
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  am in Utica, followed by ten thirty am in troy
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  Grove and eleven am in Mendota. The Wild Bill Days
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  celebration dates back to twenty ten in troy Grove, but
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  ended in twenty sixteen due to volunteer struggles. As home
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  base for the LaSalle County Historical Society, Utica picked up
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  the baton in twenty nineteen and has been joined by
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  Mendota some years, although Utica has done the celebration annually
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  since taking up the cause, with twenty twenty six being
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  the first year of a three city event for wild
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  Bill Days. Carter hopes to inspire today as in future
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  generations to keep the area's history alive. The more we
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  can teach our younger generations about our local history will
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  have a better rate of people getting more involved as
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  they get older and carrying on this torch and preserving
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  LaSalle County's rich history, she said.