WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 Welcome to the Deep Dive. I mean, imagine for 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:04.940 a second the classic stories of the American 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:07.110 Old West. You know the ones, right? Oh yeah, 00:00:07.150 --> 00:00:10.710 totally. The devout pioneer, the stoic sheriff, 00:00:11.009 --> 00:00:14.589 the ruthless outlaw. Exactly. Usually, you get 00:00:14.589 --> 00:00:17.989 this very clear, neat cast of characters. You 00:00:17.989 --> 00:00:20.269 have the pioneers seeking religious freedom, 00:00:20.789 --> 00:00:23.250 pulling hand cards across the plains. Then you 00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:25.730 have the local politicians, the sheriffs trying 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:28.429 to bring some kind of order to a chaotic wilderness. 00:00:28.609 --> 00:00:31.289 Yeah, the lawmen. And finally, you have the outlaws, 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:34.229 right? The cold -blooded hitmen lurking on the 00:00:34.229 --> 00:00:38.119 edge of town. We like these neat categories because, 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.100 well, they make history feel clean and easily 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:43.000 understandable. But history is rarely clean. 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:45.859 It is not. And today we are looking at a single, 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:49.100 fascinating source. It's the historical record 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.700 and the Wikipedia article on William Adams Hickman, 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.799 better known as Wild Bill Hickman. And he completely 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.079 shatters those categories. He really does. Because 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:59.340 he actually occupy all three of those roles at 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:02.140 the exact same time. Yeah. And exploring that 00:01:02.140 --> 00:01:04.420 chaotic reality is our mission for you today. 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:07.719 Because this isn't just a biography, it's a look 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:10.599 into the really dark mechanics of frontier justice. 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.180 It's a story that forces you to reconsider all 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:15.340 those myths we've built around frontier expansion. 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:20.560 The reality was incredibly messy, highly political, 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:23.200 and often just deeply violent. Hickman lived 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:27.010 from 1815 to 1883. And OK, let's unpack this. 00:01:27.430 --> 00:01:31.030 In 1871, this man, who had been a sheriff and 00:01:31.030 --> 00:01:34.209 elected territorial legislator and a devout polygamist 00:01:34.209 --> 00:01:37.530 pioneer, stood up and publicly confessed to committing 00:01:37.530 --> 00:01:41.000 multiple murders. Wow. Multiple murders. Yeah, 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:42.900 and these weren't just random bar room shootouts. 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:45.340 He claimed these were organized, calculated hits 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:47.459 ordered directly by the prophet of the Church 00:01:47.459 --> 00:01:49.439 of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints Brigham 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:51.540 Young. Which is just an astonishing historical 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:53.859 moment. Yeah. But to really grasp what is happening, 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:55.719 the source material, we can't just look at the 00:01:55.719 --> 00:01:57.439 violence in a vacuum. Right, there's a whole 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.140 context there. Exactly. We have to analyze how 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:02.859 absolute loyalty, extreme survival conditions, 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.560 and an entirely localized version of justice 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:09.400 all collided during colonization of Utah. Nobody's 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.280 born a self -proclaimed destroying angel. So 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.099 to understand the extreme violence of Hickman's 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:19.080 later years, let's set the scene of his early 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.199 life. That's a good place to start. So he is 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.659 born in Kentucky in 1815, and his family moves 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:27.259 to the Missouri territory when he is just four 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:29.659 years old. And this is before Missouri is even 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:32.099 officially a state. Yeah, he grows up on the 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:34.699 absolute edge of the frontier. He marries his 00:02:34.699 --> 00:02:38.659 first wife, Bernetta Burchart, in 1832 when he 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:41.120 is only 17 years old. It paints a picture of 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.759 a very typical settler of that era. You know, 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.379 he's putting down roots, starting a family early, 00:02:46.580 --> 00:02:49.159 and trying to carve out a life in a totally unforgiv 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:51.069 - landscape. Right. There's really nothing in 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:53.349 those early years that suggests he's gonna become 00:02:53.349 --> 00:02:56.469 this notorious enforcer. But then we hit 1838 00:02:56.469 --> 00:02:59.889 and his life takes a massive pivot. He encounters 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:02.349 members of the LDS Church who are traveling westward 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:04.810 from Ohio to Missouri. And he joins them. Yeah, 00:03:04.849 --> 00:03:07.030 he is drawn to their message and agrees to be 00:03:07.030 --> 00:03:10.169 baptized. But joining this group at this specific 00:03:10.169 --> 00:03:12.610 moment in history puts a massive target on his 00:03:12.610 --> 00:03:15.590 back, doesn't it? Oh, it absolutely does. The 00:03:15.590 --> 00:03:18.729 early members of the LDS church faced intense, 00:03:19.030 --> 00:03:22.009 often lethal persecution. Right. This culminates 00:03:22.009 --> 00:03:25.430 in 1844 when the church's founder, Joseph Smith, 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:28.639 is murdered by a mob in Illinois. You really 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:30.259 have to put yourself in Hickman's shoes here. 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:32.319 The whole community is under attack. Exactly. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.020 The community he has devoted his life to is under 00:03:35.020 --> 00:03:37.979 a constant existential threat. So he follows 00:03:37.979 --> 00:03:40.780 their new leader, Brigham Young. Westward. They're 00:03:40.780 --> 00:03:43.020 just fleeing. They are literally fleeing the 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:45.819 United States, heading into what was then Mexican 00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:48.439 territory just to survive. And during this time, 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:50.719 Hickman also enters into plural marriage, taking 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:53.840 a second wife in 1846. You have to wonder how 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:56.419 that kind of sustained trauma fundamentally changes 00:03:56.419 --> 00:03:58.939 a person's role in a community. It hardens people. 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:01.379 It definitely does, because the sources show 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:04.860 a distinct shift in his behavior. By 1848, the 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:07.419 pioneers are at a temporary encampment in Iowa 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:09.939 called Council Bluffs. This is a turning point. 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.080 Big time. This is where Hickman commits what 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:15.419 he later called his first act of violence under 00:04:15.419 --> 00:04:18.279 the rule of Brigham Young. He tracks down and 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:20.560 kills a Native American man who had allegedly 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:23.420 threatened the Prophet. Yeah. This dynamic, it 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:25.519 really reminds me of a fixer in a mob movie. 00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:29.120 You know the trope. A loyal, devout follower 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.199 is slowly transformed into the muscle. That's 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.079 a really apt comparison. Right. He becomes the 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:38.620 guy willing to handle the dirty work, the violence, 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:41.459 so that the larger organization can survive and 00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:44.199 the leadership can keep their hands clean. What's 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:46.800 fascinating here is how the specific conditions 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.079 of their reality allowed that transformation 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:51.620 to happen. You take intense religious persecution, 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:54.540 the very real murder of their founder, and you 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:56.839 combine it with the absolute lawlessness of the 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.779 frontier. It's a powder dig. Exactly. In that 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:02.259 specific environment, violence is no longer viewed 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:05.500 as a sin or a crime. It is easily rationalized 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:07.850 as divine protection. Wow. When you believe your 00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:10.230 community is mandated by God and that community 00:05:10.230 --> 00:05:12.889 is surrounded by enemies, eliminating the threat 00:05:12.889 --> 00:05:16.790 feels like a righteous duty. And once that rationalization 00:05:16.790 --> 00:05:19.589 is in place, it seems to escalate horrifyingly 00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:22.329 fast. Let's fast forward to their arrival in 00:05:22.329 --> 00:05:25.389 Utah. Hickman gets to Salt Lake City in 1849 00:05:25.389 --> 00:05:28.310 and sets up a homestead about 10 miles south 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:30.269 of the city. But they didn't just walk into an 00:05:30.269 --> 00:05:33.310 empty valley. No, far from it. This initiates 00:05:33.310 --> 00:05:36.209 the colonization phase. The land was already 00:05:36.209 --> 00:05:39.009 occupied by the native Timpanogos people. Right. 00:05:39.290 --> 00:05:42.269 So now you have two entirely different cultures 00:05:42.269 --> 00:05:44.930 clashing over a landscape where resources like 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.709 food and arable land are incredibly scarce. By 00:05:48.709 --> 00:05:51.689 1850, this friction reaches a boiling point. 00:05:51.870 --> 00:05:54.730 And it turns deadly. Yeah. The sources note that 00:05:54.730 --> 00:05:57.930 a native man is murdered by colonists. In response, 00:05:58.110 --> 00:06:01.290 the Timpanogos take Mormon cattle. Now, the historical 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:03.689 text refers to this as an informal wear guild. 00:06:03.790 --> 00:06:05.730 Which is an interesting term to use. Yeah, for 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:07.529 those who haven't come across that term, it's 00:06:07.529 --> 00:06:10.310 an ancient legal concept, essentially a blood 00:06:10.310 --> 00:06:12.569 price or compensation paid to a family when someone 00:06:12.569 --> 00:06:15.550 is killed. It was meant to prevent endless cycles 00:06:15.550 --> 00:06:17.930 of revenge. But the colonists do not see this 00:06:17.930 --> 00:06:20.230 as a cultural legal transaction, do they? None. 00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:22.970 To the colonists, the taking of cattle isn't 00:06:22.970 --> 00:06:26.029 compensation. It is theft and a direct threat 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:28.790 to their winter survival. They view it as an 00:06:28.790 --> 00:06:30.610 insult that needs to be answered with overwhelming 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:34.430 force. The local Mormon militia is raised, Hickman 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:37.029 joins up, and this leads directly to the Provo 00:06:37.029 --> 00:06:40.029 River Massacre. And the details of this massacre 00:06:40.029 --> 00:06:42.350 are just brutal. They really are. Hickman tracks 00:06:42.350 --> 00:06:44.329 down and kills the chief of the native band, 00:06:44.470 --> 00:06:46.889 a man named Old Elk. But he doesn't just kill 00:06:46.889 --> 00:06:49.649 him in combat. Hickman cuts off Old Elk's head 00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:52.050 with a bowie knife, brings it all the way back 00:06:52.050 --> 00:06:54.370 to Fort Utah, and hangs it from the fort walls. 00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:58.029 This is gruesome. Yeah. Ultimately, around 50 00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:00.810 Timpanogos men are killed in this campaign, and 00:07:00.810 --> 00:07:02.970 the surviving Women and children are taken and 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:05.250 sold as slaves to church members. Which is a 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:08.089 heavy, heavy reality to process. Which I have 00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:10.649 to stop and push back on for a second. Was this 00:07:10.649 --> 00:07:12.829 level of theatrical brutality literally hacking 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:15.069 a chief's decapitated head from a fort wall, 00:07:15.670 --> 00:07:17.730 standard operating procedure for frontier militias, 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:21.069 or was Hickman just uniquely unhinged? It is 00:07:21.069 --> 00:07:24.329 a deeply shocking image, I agree. But to understand 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:27.209 it, you have to look at the mechanics of Native 00:07:27.209 --> 00:07:29.990 American genocide during this era. This wasn't 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:33.449 a case of a single unhinged man acting out. This 00:07:33.449 --> 00:07:36.490 was deliberate, calculated psychological warfare. 00:07:36.589 --> 00:07:39.910 Really? Just to send a message? Yes. Hanging 00:07:39.910 --> 00:07:42.389 the head of a leader is a message of absolute 00:07:42.389 --> 00:07:45.689 dominance directed at the survivors. More importantly, 00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:49.110 it is a tool for dehumanization. How so? Well, 00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:51.089 if you were going to take surviving women and 00:07:51.089 --> 00:07:53.480 children and sell them into slavery, as the colonists 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.360 did, you cannot view them as equal human beings. 00:07:56.379 --> 00:07:59.680 Ah, I see. The extreme theatrical violence serves 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.180 to mentally separate the perpetrators from their 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:04.860 victims, justifying the exploitation that follows. 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:07.899 That is a chilling mechanism. The extreme violence 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:10.379 paves the way for total control. Exactly. And 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:12.759 once they establish this brutal dominance over 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:15.879 the native population, the territorial leadership's 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.319 focus shifts. They're no longer just dealing 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.019 with indigenous tribes. Non -Mormon settlers, 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.660 whom the church referred to as Gentiles, are 00:08:23.660 --> 00:08:26.139 moving through the territory, along with representatives 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:28.399 of the U .S. government. The frontier is getting 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.680 very crowded. Utah is geographically crucial 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:34.080 for anyone traveling to California or Oregon. 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:36.679 Right. Everyone has to pass through. Yeah, so 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:38.799 control over the resources and the trade routes 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:41.539 becomes the new battleground for the survival 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:45.460 of the community. In 1852, we see exactly how 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:48.679 that control is exercised. The Mormon -controlled 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:51.559 Utah legislature passes a law granting their 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:54.539 own members the exclusive preferred rights to 00:08:54.539 --> 00:08:56.820 run ferries over the Green River. Which is a 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:59.679 huge economic advantage. Oh, massive. Now, if 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.980 you are a traveler, these ferries are vital. 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:04.399 The mountain men out at Fort Bridger had already 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.860 been running ferries there, and they naturally 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:08.799 resist being legislated out of their livelihood. 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:11.679 Of course they do. Rumors start flying that legendary 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:14.370 mountain man Jim Bridger is arming native groups 00:09:14.370 --> 00:09:17.210 to fight back. So how does the territory handle 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:19.830 this? They send in the muscle. Yep. Hickman is 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:22.889 sent out with a posse of 150 militiamen. They 00:09:22.889 --> 00:09:25.090 attack, kill a couple of the mountain men and 00:09:25.090 --> 00:09:27.129 steal hundreds of head of stock and whiskey. 00:09:27.509 --> 00:09:32.549 It is a brilliant, if ruthless, exertion of territorial 00:09:32.549 --> 00:09:35.490 and economic power. They are literally using 00:09:35.490 --> 00:09:39.090 a militia to enforce a local monopoly. Here's 00:09:39.090 --> 00:09:41.429 where it gets really interesting to me. Two years 00:09:41.429 --> 00:09:45.139 later, in 1854, Brigham Young sends Hickman back 00:09:45.139 --> 00:09:47.759 out to the Green River to establish a church 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:51.299 -owned ferry. OK. Hickman arrives, sees the area 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:54.120 is overrun and too volatile, so he pivots. He 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:57.000 builds a highly prosperous trading post at Pacific 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:00.240 Springs instead. So he adapts. Yeah, he is literally 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:02.100 controlling the flow of commerce on the trail. 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:05.659 And his political power explodes back home. This 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:08.120 same guy who's decapitating people and reading 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:11.120 forts is suddenly appointed sheriff, prosecuting 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.149 attorney, county assessor, and is even elected 00:10:13.149 --> 00:10:15.409 to the Utah Territorial Legislature. It's hard 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:17.450 to wrap your head around. Think about that. It 00:10:17.450 --> 00:10:20.690 is exactly like a modern day mafia turf war over 00:10:20.690 --> 00:10:23.529 a vital toll road. The economic control is being 00:10:23.529 --> 00:10:25.850 fiercely enforced through violence, but it's 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:27.610 all legitimized under the guise of religious 00:10:27.610 --> 00:10:30.490 authority and local law. That analogy gets right 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:33.269 to the heart of it. When you have a deeply insular 00:10:33.269 --> 00:10:36.049 group that successfully controls the economy, 00:10:36.269 --> 00:10:38.490 the dominant religion, and the local law enforcement. 00:10:38.870 --> 00:10:41.350 The very definition of justice warps. It totally 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:44.230 changes. Justice simply becomes whatever benefits 00:10:44.230 --> 00:10:47.289 the leadership. If an outsider running a ferry 00:10:47.289 --> 00:10:50.509 threatens your economic monopoly, the law, which 00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:52.690 Hickman represents as both the sheriff and the 00:10:52.690 --> 00:10:55.490 enforcer, removes that threat. The lines just 00:10:55.490 --> 00:10:58.110 blur completely. Exactly. The lines between a 00:10:58.110 --> 00:11:00.570 religious mandate, a legal statute, and a mafia 00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:03.059 hit. completely dissolve. And Hickman was the 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:05.159 ultimate tool for that system. I mean, the sources 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:07.320 detail how he was utilized across the board. 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:10.419 In 1856, he's carrying mail from Missouri to 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:12.759 Salt Lake City, a four -month trek with Porter 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:15.639 Rockwell. Then in 1857, he commits what is known 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.480 as the Aiken Massacre, killing a traveler named 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:20.679 Horace Buckland, which he again claimed was on 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.320 Young's direct orders. And 1857 is a critical 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:26.590 year. Yeah, because that same year... The U .S. 00:11:26.870 --> 00:11:29.610 government actually sends the army to Utah to 00:11:29.610 --> 00:11:32.889 install a non -Mormon governor. This kicks off 00:11:32.889 --> 00:11:35.750 the Utah war. Hickman plays a massive role here, 00:11:36.009 --> 00:11:38.490 too. But he doesn't fight them in pitched battles, 00:11:38.669 --> 00:11:41.750 right? No. A local militia cannot defeat the 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:44.730 U .S. army in an open field. That would be suicide. 00:11:45.309 --> 00:11:49.340 Instead, Hickman uses guerrilla tactics. He and 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:51.740 other militiamen torch Fort Bridger to the ground 00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:54.440 so the army cannot use it for shelter. Wow. They 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:57.220 burn U .S. Army supply trains, destroying thousands 00:11:57.220 --> 00:11:59.559 of pounds of provisions, starving the federal 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:01.620 troops and forcing them to stall their advance 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:04.039 into the territory. He's just relentlessly protecting 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:06.399 the territory. Hickman is acting as the ultimate 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.419 shield for the community. He's at the absolute 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:10.460 height of his power and influence during this 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:13.379 time. But absolute power and loyalty in an authoritarian 00:12:13.379 --> 00:12:16.120 system always come with a breaking point. Eventually, 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.519 everyone finds a line they refuse to cross. Even 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:21.559 someone like Hickman. Exactly. For Hickman, despite 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:24.379 his immense power and the sheer volume of violence 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:26.700 he had already committed, he finally hits his 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:29.539 limit. The sources indicate the rift starts around 00:12:29.539 --> 00:12:33.360 1863. He signs a petition alongside non -Mormons 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.580 to pardon prisoners from a group called the Morisites. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.399 For context, the Morisites were a minor breakaway 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.980 religious sect that had violently clashed with 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:45.720 the territorial militia. Okay. So for a loyal 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:48.320 enforcer like Hickman to publicly side with them 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.120 even just by signing a pardon petition was a 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.919 massive red flag to the leadership. It's a small 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:56.000 crack in his loyalty, but the ultimate break 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.740 comes later that year. Hickman claims that Brigham 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.500 Young ordered him to assassinate US Army General 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:04.720 Patrick Edward Connor. That is a massive escalation. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.100 Yeah. Now, General Connor was stationed in Utah 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:09.600 and was a massive thorn in the church's side. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:11.899 Interestingly, Hickman had actually been working 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.340 as a scout for General Connor. Really? Yeah. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.679 So when given the order, Hickman flat out refuses. 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:20.580 He tells the prophet, it shan't be done. I will 00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:23.200 see to that myself. Oh, wow. And the fallout 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:26.159 is immediate and catastrophic. the church -run 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.899 probate court throws him in jail. While he's 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:32.039 locked up, his neighbors expropriate his property 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.740 at the behest of their local bishop. It is a 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:37.559 stunning reversal. He is systematically stripped 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:40.720 of everything that gave him power, status, and 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.259 financial security in a matter of days. Completely 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:45.679 wiped out. And remember, this is a prominent 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:48.860 polygamist. He has 10 wives, and depending on 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:51.600 the historical record, somewhere between 36 and 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.080 39 children. It's a massive family. The church 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.759 actively encourages his family to abandon him. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.700 Ultimately, nine of his 10 wives leave. He is 00:14:00.700 --> 00:14:04.139 officially excommunicated in 1868. He has to 00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:06.840 flee the territory entirely, running to California 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.340 and Nevada just to work in mining camps, constantly 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:12.159 fearing for his life. But let me push back on 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:14.700 his motivations here. OK, go ahead. Imagine you 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:17.559 are Hickman. You have ruthlessly killed Native 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:19.659 Americans, mountain men, and random travelers 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:22.240 without blinking. Why suddenly draw the line 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.340 at General Conn? That's the big question. Was 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:27.539 this actually so? And as an enemy, hunted and 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:30.730 estranged from his massive family, Hickman decides 00:14:30.730 --> 00:14:35.009 he has nothing left to lose. In 1871, he is interrogated 00:14:35.009 --> 00:14:38.370 by Deputy Marshal H. Gilson. The federal government 00:14:38.370 --> 00:14:40.250 is trying to build a case against Brigham Young 00:14:40.250 --> 00:14:43.590 for orchestrating territorial murders. Hickman 00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:46.029 officially confesses to the murder of a man named 00:14:46.029 --> 00:14:48.649 Richard Yates, stating it was done at Young's 00:14:48.649 --> 00:14:51.009 request. That's a huge betrayal of the leadership. 00:14:51.149 --> 00:14:54.250 Huge. Because he is now testifying against the 00:14:54.250 --> 00:14:56.929 most powerful man in the territory, Hickman has 00:14:56.929 --> 00:14:59.129 to be held under military guard at Fort Douglas 00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:01.610 just to stay alive. It is a striking visual. 00:15:02.110 --> 00:15:04.590 The former Territorial Sheriff, the man who used 00:15:04.590 --> 00:15:07.470 to enforce the law, is now hiding behind federal 00:15:07.470 --> 00:15:09.929 troops to protect himself from the very community 00:15:09.929 --> 00:15:12.210 he helped build. While he's locked up at Fort 00:15:12.210 --> 00:15:14.830 Douglas testifying to a grand jury, he decides 00:15:14.830 --> 00:15:17.990 to get his entire story on paper. He writes his 00:15:17.990 --> 00:15:20.409 autobiography as one does. Yeah, right. Right. 00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:22.889 It gets fact checked by a journalist named J. 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:25.269 H. Beadle and is published under the incredibly 00:15:25.269 --> 00:15:28.620 sensational title. Brigham's Destroying Angel. 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:31.159 Quite the title. But if Hickman was hoping to 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:33.259 bring down the leadership or find some grand 00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:37.740 justice, it never really materializes. Brigham 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:40.879 Young dies in 1877 before he can ever be brought 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:43.200 to trial on these charges. It just fizzles out. 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.200 Yeah. Because of his cooperation, Hickman is 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:48.240 never convicted of the crimes he confessed to. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.000 He eventually wanders off and dies out in the 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.659 Wind River Mountains of Wyoming in 1883. He fades 00:15:54.659 --> 00:15:57.460 away into obscurity, but the shadow he casts 00:15:57.460 --> 00:16:00.159 over the region's history is remarkably long. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.120 It really is. His legacy is entirely bizarre. 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:05.639 Think about it. Despite his public confessions 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.679 of being a hitman, his name is stamped all over 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:10.700 the geography of Utah today. It's everywhere. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.080 You have East Hickman Canyon, Hickman Pass, Hickman 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:16.820 Springs. There is literally a beautiful, massive 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:19.340 rock formation in Capitol Reef National Park 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:22.120 called the Hickman Natural Bridge. Wow. And his 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:25.230 genealogical footprint staggering. From those 00:16:25.230 --> 00:16:27.529 30 plus children he is the ancestor of famous 00:16:27.529 --> 00:16:30.029 Mormon author Annalise Scarin, the incredibly 00:16:30.029 --> 00:16:32.690 prominent LDS artist Minerva Tykert, and even 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:34.750 the famous science fiction author Tracy Hickman. 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:37.370 That's wild. It boggles my mind that a confessed 00:16:37.370 --> 00:16:40.309 hitman has beautiful state canyons named in his 00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.549 honor and a sprawling family tree of prominent 00:16:43.549 --> 00:16:46.350 cultural figures. It speaks volumes about how 00:16:46.350 --> 00:16:49.610 history inevitably sanitizes the frontier. To 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:51.889 a modern tourist hiking through Capitol Reef 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:55.009 National Park, the name Wild Bill Hickman probably 00:16:55.009 --> 00:16:57.169 just sounds like a fun, rustic cowboy character. 00:16:57.389 --> 00:16:59.110 Yeah, like a theme park ride or something. Right. 00:16:59.110 --> 00:17:01.950 It evokes a sense of rugged adventure, but that 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:04.829 naming completely erases the blood -soaked reality 00:17:04.829 --> 00:17:06.869 of how those lands were violently conquered. 00:17:06.890 --> 00:17:09.369 It really does. It glosses over the indigenous 00:17:09.369 --> 00:17:12.450 people who were displaced or murdered, and it 00:17:12.450 --> 00:17:15.950 ignores the heavy, often lethal price of religious 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:18.809 colonization. Yeah. The landscape remembers his 00:17:18.809 --> 00:17:21.480 name. but it completely forgets the mechanics 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:23.759 of his crimes. Which brings us right back to 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.960 where we started. Hickman's life proves that 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.240 the history of the American West is infinitely 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:31.119 more complex, politically entangled, and morally 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:34.259 gray than the simple cowboy myths suggest. He 00:17:34.259 --> 00:17:37.799 was the devout convert fleeing persecution, the 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:40.380 ruthless enforcer securing the frontier, the 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:43.539 powerful politician controlling trade, and ultimately, 00:17:44.019 --> 00:17:46.799 the exiled outcast hunted by his own people. 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:49.619 So what does this all mean? It's a lot to take 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:52.440 in. It is. How does a legacy like that finally 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:54.680 settle into the historical record? I think there's 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:56.420 one last detail from our source that perfectly 00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:58.440 captures the profound weirdness of this entire 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:02.099 story. There is. Despite being officially excommunicated, 00:18:02.299 --> 00:18:04.420 despite publicly turning on the prophet and collaborating 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:07.099 with federal authorities, and despite confessing 00:18:07.099 --> 00:18:10.420 imprint to multiple horrific murders, uh, while 00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:13.099 Bill Hickman was rebaptized by proxy into the 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:17.740 LDS church on May 5th, 1934. Wow. For those unfamiliar, 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:19.859 this is an LDS practice where a living person 00:18:19.859 --> 00:18:21.980 is baptized on behalf of someone who has died, 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:24.359 essentially offering them salvation and membership 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:26.599 in the afterlife. They reclaimed him half a century 00:18:26.599 --> 00:18:28.539 after he died alone in Wyoming, which leaves 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:30.039 you with a fascinating question to ponder on 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:32.099 your own. Why would an institution go out of 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:34.240 its way to officially reclaim the soul of its 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:36.259 most notorious, self -proclaimed, destroying 00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:38.779 angel decades after the dust had settled? It's 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:41.000 a haunting question. It really is. It makes you 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:43.740 wonder, when the categories of devout saint and 00:18:43.740 --> 00:18:46.519 ruthless hitman blur that deeply, maybe the history 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:48.980 books and the ledgers of eternity just don't 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:50.759 know what to do with you. Thank you for joining 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:51.960 us on this deep dive.