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150th anniversary saw Wild Bill Hickok celebrations across La Salle County · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: One hundred and fiftieth anniversary saw wild Bill Hiccock celebrations
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  across LaSalle County. Written by Matthias Warner. This article is
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  being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  Lasal County residents came out in droves over the weekend
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  to take part in several wild Bill Days celebrations. One
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  hundred and fifty years after James Butler wild Bill Hiccock's death,
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  commemorative events in Utica, Mendota, and Troy Grove are helping
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  residents further their understanding of one of the Illinois Valley's
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  most famous figures. I thought it was great, an excellent
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  presentation of the history, Chris Sandford of Earlville said. Sandford
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  and his granddaughter attended the Sunday afternoon Buffalo Bill's Best
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  of the wild West Show in Utica after seeing the
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  Walt Willie one man show in Mendota on Saturday. The
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  Buffalo Bill show is just fun because of the animals,
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  the guns, and everything, Sanford said. The eighty minute show
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  has been an annual tradition in Utica since twenty nineteen,
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  thanks in large part to the efforts of the LaSalle
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  County Historical Society, located just north of the site of
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  this weekend's shows. Behind Jamie's Outpost, attendees saw equestrian tricks
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  and trick shots with period firearms as the story of
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  Buffalo Bill and his connection to Wild Bill Hiccock unfolded.
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  Attendees also got a glimpse of life in the Old
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  West through a series of exhibits outside the show featuring clothing, firearms, games, pelts, goods,
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  teepees and more. I think the animals in the show
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  help attract people and then they are more open to
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  learning about the history. Sanford's granddaughter Kendall, said, the younger
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  Sanford realized the aim of Executive director of the LaSalle
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  County Historical Society, Amanda Carter, who said last week, the
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  more we can teach our younger generations about our local
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  history will have a better rate of people getting more
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  involved as they get older and carrying on this torch
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  and preserving Lesala County's rich history. This year's turnout in
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  Utica was largely a success. Daniel Vote, a member of
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  the show group, said, I think not only the fact
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  that it's Hiccock's one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, but that
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  it's the country's two hundred fiftieth really helps, he said.
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  It gets people into the nostalgia and wanting to look
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  back at things like the old Western movies. Plus, this
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  is just a great show for people to see. Buffalo
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  Bill's Best of the wild West show is run annually
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  in Utica, but the other two sites of the weekend
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  celebration popped up to commemorate the one hundred fiftieth anniversary
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  of Hickock's death. In Hiccock's hometown of troy Grove, the
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  Old West Regulators put on a twelve scene re enactment
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  performance of the life and times of James Butler Hiccock.
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  And in Mendota, where Hitcock returned to late in his
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  abbreviated life, Walt Willy performed a one man monologue show
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  the end of the Trail to highlight wild Bill's life
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  experiences in the Illinois Valley and to tell the story
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  of Hiccock's death in Deadwood, South Dakota,