There was a new lawman in town at Johnson County’s Monticello Township, following an election on March 22, 1858. He was James Butler Hickok, who was elected one of four constables in the township. It was the first of several law enforcement jobs he was to hold during his lifetime. He also was a scout, a sharpshooter, a professional gambler and eventually known as “Wild Bill” Hickok, legendary lawman of the Old West. At age 20, Hickok upheld law and order in Monticello, a small town with a stagecoach stop, a few stores and saloons, and the countryside of Monticello Township. A year later, he was gone, becoming a freight wagon driver, and later working at a station of the Pony Express.
Read more: Johnson County Kansas
