A legendary figure from Abilene’s Wild West past now has a permanent place in the community. A new Wild Bill Hickok monument was dedicated at Old Abilene Town Sunday afternoon.
According to the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau, community members, visitors, history enthusiasts and members of the artist’s family gathered for the official dedication of the bronze statue honoring James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok, who served as Abilene’s marshal during the town’s famous cattle-driving era.
Old Abilene Town Board Member Lisa Kijowski welcomed attendees, followed by remarks from Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Julie Roller Weeks about the project. Brock Nelson spoke on behalf of the Young family, and Abilene Mayor Brandon Rein thanked the family for the gift to the community.
Following the dedication, attendees gathered at the Alamo Saloon for refreshments and a performance by Wild Bill Hickok and Agnes Thatcher Lake reenactors. Guests also received commemorative Wild Bill Hickok playing cards and hand fans featuring the new statue as keepsakes from the occasion.
The monument was created by artist David R. Young, whose work also includes the Wild Bill Hickok monument at Hickok’s gravesite in Deadwood, South Dakota, creating a fitting connection between two communities that played important roles in Hickok’s story. The monument base was designed by Lynn Peterson and installed by LeDuc Memorial Design.
Hickok arrived in Abilene in 1871, when the community was one of the most important cattle towns at the end of the Chisholm Trail. Thousands of Texas longhorns were driven north to Abilene, where they were shipped by rail to eastern markets. The booming cattle trade brought cowboys, gamblers, saloons and the challenges of maintaining order in a rapidly growing frontier town.
Hickok’s time in Abilene lasted only a matter of months, but his service as marshal became one of the most recognizable chapters in the community’s history.
“Wild Bill Hickok is a name people around the world recognize, but Abilene is one of the places where his legend was made,” said Julie Roller Weeks, director of the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This monument gives visitors another reason to discover that story right here, in the town where Hickok once walked Texas Street and served as marshal.”
The dedication was held as part of Chisholm Trail Days: Longhorns & Legends, a weekend celebrating the people, cattle and stories that helped make Abilene one of America’s most famous Old West towns. The event included longhorn parades through Old Abilene Town and other activities bringing the community’s cattle-town history to life.
The new monument adds another stop for visitors exploring Abilene’s Chisholm Trail and Wild West story. Today, visitors can experience Abilene’s cattle-town history at Old Abilene Town, the Dickinson County Heritage Center and throughout the community through public art, historic sites and attractions celebrating the cattle drives and legendary characters that helped put Abilene on the map.
The Wild Bill Hickok monument is located at Old Abilene Town, 201 SE Fifth Street in Abilene.
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Members of the late artist David R. Young’s family gather for a photo with his Wild Bill Hickok sculpture following the dedication.
Photos via Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau
