as the story goes, hickok lot -- hickok lost and tut ended up with a watch that hickok prized. it was a gold watch. the deal was that hickok approached tut and said do not wear that in public. don't let anyone know you won my watch. he was very concerned with his appearance. tut jokingly said, i am going to wear it. this is my watch, now. over the course of a couple of days, things got heated. words were exchanged. hickok laid down the ultimately -- ultimatum and said, i do not want to see you anyway public with my watch on. he went and used it on the public square in the southeast corner and waited for tut to come out. tut came walking up, hickok drew an shot tut and shot him in the chest. under the missouri constitution at that time, and because we were still technically under military will -- rule, you had to take any -- you had to take the oath of allegiance. you signed a document, raise your hand, and gave an oath to the appropriate military personnel that you were loyal to the union and loyal to the state of missouri. in some cases, this is how prisoners were released, by

lot --story goes, hickok hickok lost and tut ended up with a watch that hickok prized. it was a gold watch. the deal was that hickok approached tut and said do not wear that in public. don't let anyone know you won my watch. he was very concerned with his appearance. to jokingly said, i am going wear it. this is my watch, now. ofr the course of a couple days, things got heated. words were exchanged. hickok laid down the ultimately ultimatum and said, i do not want to see you anyway public with my watch on. he went and used it on the public square in the southeast corner and waited for ultimatumo come out. hickok drewking up, an shot tut and shot him in the chest. under the missouri constitution at that time, and because we were still technically under will -- rule, you had to take any -- you had to take the oath of allegiance. you signed a document, raise your hand, and gave an oath to the appropriate military personnel that you were loyal to the union and loyal to the state of missouri. in some cases, this is how prisoners were released, by taking the oath. -- those wh

later on hickok ran for city marshall and lost the election. they thought he was too hotheaded. that was the first gunfight in the old west happened here on the square in springfield. springfield, missouri is a of every community just like it. it has it's good and it's been areit has its people who committed to making a better and -- letple to -- who are the tide take them. >> this story in the book is the story of an invisible line across the very landscape which is the kansas missouri border and its creation and contested meanings during the civil war era. the difficulty of the people along that line to move on with their lives in the late 19th century. this was such a violent place from the beginning that you have the violent disposition of group after group beginning with the osage indians continuing through the mormons who had moved to western missouri under joseph smith. through the civil war era you have the struggle over freedom and the question of whether kansas territory would be open for slavery or would be free soil. the violence is about that question but it becomes

while the hickok walked in on south street. top from the northwest corner, pulled a gun and fired and hickok killed toft. there was a trial over that and then at the end of it he was acquitted, said it was self-defense. later on hickok ran for city marshal that year and lost election. they thought he was too hotheaded. so that was the very first gunfight of the old west happen here on the square in springfield. springfield, missouri, is a microcosm of every community just like it. it has its it's good and it's , and it has its people who are committed to making it better and it's people who are committed to just letting the type take over. >> we are standing on top of bloody hill at wilson's creek battlefield just south of springfield, missouri, here once the site of the second battle of the civil war, wilson's creek hosts one of the largest civil war library in the nation. as we explore the archives will take a look at some of its most interesting pieces. >> the battlefield reserves the site of the second major battle of the c

hickok killed tut. there was a trial at the end and he was acquitted. later on, hickok ran for city marshall and lost the election. --they thought he was too hot headed. the first gunfight of the old west happened here in springfield, missouri. springfield, missouri is a microcosm of every community just like it. bad andts good and its it has people who are committed to making a better and people committed to letting the tide take them. announcer: our cities tour staff recently traveled to springfield, missouri to learn about its rich history. learn more about springfield and other stops on our tour at c-span.org/cities tour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. announcer: next on american history tv, historian robert watson talks about his book "the ghost ship of brooklyn: an untold story of the american revolution." he describes how the british used the hms jersey, a former warship, as a floating jail for thousands of american prisoners during the revolutionary war. the museum of the american revolution in philad

many believee -- the wild west began in springfield, missouri, when james butler hickok shot and killed man. right now we will visit the greene county archives and look at court documents related to the case. >> he was well-known for his looks, he had long blonde curly hair and he was somewhat of a dandy. he was known as the proverbial wild west law man

the story goes, bill hickok lost and he lost big. bill hickok approached tutt and said do not wear that in public, do not let anyone know you have won mywatch -- you have watch. tutt said i'm going to wear it, this is my watch now. weres got heated, words exchanged and bill hickok lay down the ultimatum, he told tutt i do not want to see you out in public with my watch on. he stood on the public square to come outor tutt from where he was and tutt came walking up the street and hickok drew and shot tutt in the chest. under the missouri constitution and because we were still technically under military rule, any citizen of missouri had to take the oath of allegiance. it was basically you signed a document, raised your hand, and gave an oath to the appropriate military personnel that you are loyal to the state of missouri. in some cases, this is how prisoners were released, by taking the oath. those that were exempt were usuallyin officers, federal soldiers. anybody else that was not had to take this oath of loyalty. a lot of x confeder

hickok had fought for the north. they got into a conflict over a gambling debt, and they got into a gunfight here on the square, the very first gunfight in the old west. hickok walked into the square from here on south street. tut walked in from the northwest corner. they pulled their guns and fired. hickok killed tut. there was a trial over that. at the end of it, he was acquitted, said it was self-defense. later on, hickok ran for city marshal here that year and lost the election. they thought he was too hotheaded. that was the first old west gunfight here in springfield on the square. ofingfield is a microcosm every community just like it. it has its good and its bad, and it has its people who are committed to making it better and people who are committed to letting the tide take them. >> our staff recently traveled to springfield, missouri, to learn about its rich history. learn more about springfield and tour.cities on matur the you are watching c-span3, american history tv, all weekend, every weekend. >> a new

hickok walked into the square from here on south street. touch walked in from the north half -- northwest corner. they pulled their guns and fired. there was a trial over that. at the end, he was acquitted, said it was self-defense. forr on, hickok ran city marshal. he lost. they said he was too hotheaded. old westthe first gunfight in springfield. springfield as a city is a .icrocosm of every community ,t has its good and it's bad and it has its people who are committed to making it better and people who are committed to letting the tide take them. staff recentlyrs traveled to springfield, missouri, to learn about its rich history. learn more about springfield and other cities on the tour on our at c-span.org. you are watching c-span3, american history tv, all weekend, every weekend. >> a new york times photo editor discovered never before published photographs of african-americans in the papers archives. the images included civil rights leaders and ordinary citizens, and eventually led to the book "unseen: unpublished black history from t