Chisholm Trail Days: Longhorns & Legends Aug. 15; Wild Bill Hickok monument dedication Aug. 16
Abilene, Kan. — Abilene's Wild West story is about to gain a new landmark. The Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau announced that a new bronze monument honoring legendary lawman James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok at Old Abilene Town will be dedicated as part of the community's commemoration of the 150th anniversary of his death in 1876.
This special project was made possible through the generosity of the family of the late Nebraska sculptor David R. Young, who gifted the original sculpture to the community. His work can be found in parks and public spaces throughout the Midwest, including Grand Island, Scottsbluff, Alliance and Lincoln, Nebraska; Arkansas City, Kansas; and Deadwood, South Dakota, as well as in private collections across the country.
Young's sculpture of Wild Bill Hickok depicts the legendary gunslinger holding the infamous "dead man's hand," two aces and two eights, alongside his pistol, a nod to a story that became part of Western folklore.