George Ward Nichols

George Ward Nichols (June 21, 1831 - September 15, 1885) was an American journalist known as the creator of the legend of Wild Bill Hickok.[1]

George Ward Nichols
Wild Bill and George Nichols
Born	June 21, 1831 Tremont, Maine
Died	September 15, 1885 (aged 54) Cincinnati
Occupation	journalist
Nationality	American

Biography

Nichols was born on June 21, 1831 in Tremont, Maine. During American Civil War he served under General John C. Fremont and General William Sherman. He wrote The Story of the Great March (1865). The book was translated on several languages.[2]

In September 1865 Nichols arrived in Springfield, Missouri, where he met James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok. The article Wild Bill by Nichols appeared in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in February 1867. The publication immortalized Wild Bill.[3][4] Kansas newspapers criticized Nichols for exaggerated exploits of the gunfighter.[5]

Later Nichols moved to Cincinnati, where he became president of the Cincinnati College of Music.[6] From 1868 until his death he was married to Maria Longworth Nichols Storer The couple had two children: Joseph and Margaret.[7] Nichols died from tuberculosis[8] on September 15, 1885.

Works

• The Story of the Great March: From the Diary of a Staff Officer (1865).
• The Sanctuary: A Story of the Civil War (1866).
• Art Education Applied to Industry (1877).
• Pottery; How it is Made, Its Shape and Decoration (1878).
• The Cincinnati Organ: With a Brief Description of the Cincinnati Music Hall (1878).

References

1. Rosa, 2012, p. 83.
2. Rosa, 1977, p. 143.
3. Rosa, 1977, p. 135.
4. Thrapp, p. 1054.
5. Rosa, 2012, p. 83.
6. Rosa, 1977, p. 143.
7. Maria Longworth Nichols Storer Archived 2014-07-29 at the Wayback Machine at Theodore Roosevelt Center.
8. Rosa, 1977, p. 143.

Bibliography

• Rosa J. G. George Ward Nichols and the Legend of Wild Bill Hickok // Arizona and the West. Vol. 19, №. 2, Summer, 1977. P. 135-162.
• Rosa J. G. They Called Him Wild Bill: The Life and Adventures of James Butler Hickok. University of Oklahoma Press. 2012.
• Thrapp D. L. Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography, Volume 2: G-O. University of Nebraska Press. 1991. P. 1054.

External links

• George Ward Nichols at Spartacus Educational.