Wild Bill Bar
Wild Bill Bar is a bar in Deadwood, South Dakota. The original saloon where Hickok died in 1876 burned in 1879; the bar interprets its approximate site. Its signature presence is Wild Bill Hickok — the figure the file’s accounts keep returning to. The dossier holds 1 reported claim, 1 documented fact and 1 named or described presence — documented record and retelling kept side by side. It still pours.
· in your passport — stamped · open it
Is Wild Bill Bar haunted?
The record holds 1 claim, 1 named entity — filed as reported, not verified. The heaviest filing is classed investigation claim. The archive documents the claim; it takes no position on the ghost.
The record — long form
Wild Bill Bar is the marked — the 'site true' that's the spot kept, the 'building wrong' that's the bar's truth. The 'dead man's hand' is the coined — the 'aces eights' that's the cards' fame, the '1926 said' that's the story's late birth. The 'McCall lied' is the fled — the 'brother claimed' that's the excuse gave, the 'Yankton hanged' that's the law's catch.
The 'back of head' is the shot — the 'poker played' that's the seat's pick, the 'no face' that's the duel's break. The 'recreated' is the sold — the 'Kellogg's idea' that's the '30s pitch, the 'million bucks' that's the legend's worth. Wild Bill Bar is the split — the 'real spot' that's the ground's truth, the 'fake room' that's the story's stage.
The file keeps the Wild Bill Bar: the true spot, the late hand, the fled liar, and the sold legend.
Wild Bill Bar is the archive's South Dakota file — where the site is real and the room is not.
Why this file matters
Wild Bill Bar is the archive's South Dakota file — the honest marker on a recreated legend.
A bar keeps its spot — the file's suggestion being that Wild Bill's hold is the split: the 'site true' that's the ground's mark, the 'hand late' that's the story's birth, and the 'recreated' that's the legend's sell.
The record of claims
Tourism reports Ghost Lab investigators claimed contact with Wild Bill Hickok. The bar's reports are the kind old establishments accumulate — footsteps after close, presences in empty rooms. Investigators logged it; whether instruments or interpretation produced it is the open question. The reports keep the place on every haunted list it qualifies for.
Alleged entities
Tourism reports Ghost Lab investigators claimed contact with Wild Bill Hickok. Wild Bill Bar's file is the sort restaurants and bars collect over decades — staff sightings, closing-time sounds, the building after hours. The account appears in 'Haunted Deadwood: A Wilder West Experience'. Named presences persist where anonymous reports fade — the file's name here is Wild Bill Hickok.
Documented history
The original saloon where Hickok died in 1876 burned in 1879; the bar interprets its approximate site. An old bar with its history on record gives the dossier a verified foundation. Media accounts document it — reported history rather than legend. Sources including 'Haunted Deadwood: A Wilder West Experience' carry the record. It's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.
Media reportedTravel South Dakota / Austin Kaus
Sources on file
- 01Haunted Deadwood: A Wilder West ExperienceTravel South Dakota / Austin Kaus · tourism · A3
Field notes & open questions
Tourism-supported identity and attributed claims; operator access details require enrichment. Current business and historical footprint must not be conflated.