Dead Man's Hand
    (The Legend of Wild Bill Hickok)
       (written by Thomas Long / Mike Bryant)

(BMI # 48468314)
(key of E)

The story I'm about to tell
Is part of history
I recall the stories writers told
In the books that I would read
He was born James Butler Hickok
But the west called him Wild Bill
And the stories that I read about
Well they gave my heart a thrill

(Chorus)
Born in eighteen thirty seven
Down in Troy Grove, Illinois
He moved west in eighteen fifty five
And there his story grows
He was an Army scout and lawman
On the American frontier
Wild Bill Hickok was a legend
That the cow----boys learned to fear

(Musical Break)

As the sheriff of Hays City
All of Kansas knew his name
He went on to clean up Abilene
And it furthered Wild Bill's fame
The legend says one hundred men
Died from Wild Bill's guns
He even traveled with a wild west show
When his lawman days were done

(Chorus)
Bill's story ends in tragedy
And to me he died too soon
In Deadwood, South Dakota
Playing cards in a saloon
Jack McCall shot poor Wild Bill
From behind as cowards can
In his hand he held Ace's and Eights
It became known as 
"Dead Man's Hand"

(Tag)
A dead man's hand
A dead man's hand