James "Wild Bill" Hickok was hired on April 15, 1871, as marshal of Abilene, Kansas. He served one year. The town was somewhat calmer when Hickok took over, compared to its wilder past, even with gunslingers Ben and Billy Thompson and John Wesley Hardin hanging around.
Hickok did have occasion to tangle with Ben Thompson, however. It seems Ben opened a saloon and hung up a sign noting the establishment's name of Bull's Head Tavern. This was all well and fine except for one thing: the sign displayed a "grossly exaggerated part of a bull's anatomy." A lot of folks about town considered the sign obscene, which it probably was, and Hickok ordered Ben to take it down, or at least paint over the offending part. What could have been a situation that could come to blows or a led swapping contest, ended well and peaceful when Ben complied with the marshal's orders.
According to John Wesley Hardin, he too had a run-in with Hickok when the marshal ordered John to hand over his guns. Supposedly, Hardin did a bit of showing-off by giving his guns the old "reverse twirl," which is also called the "road agent's roll," then backed Hickok down. I expect that if Hickok were to give his version of the incident, which he didn't, it would have been the marshal that backed Hardin down. This incident, and the one with Ben Thompson, were mild compared with other things that happened during Hickok's year as marshal of Abilene.
On October 5, 1871, Hickok was attempting to settle down a known troublemaker named Phil Coe. It seems that Coe was having a high old time shooting up and down the street. Of course Coe picked the fanciest saloon in town, the Alamo, to do his shooting in front of. Its no wonder that Hickok took offence to the fellow slinging led around in that location. The Alamo Saloon celebrated a triple set of glass doors that opened onto a brightly-lit collection of felt-topped tables for gambling.
The tables were flanked by a brass-mounted bar, while the walls were hung with decorative mirrors and some fake Renaissance nudes. Hickok had special agent Mike Williams with him, somewhere, at the time. While Hickok was contending with Coe, agent Williams rushed around the corner of the building, right into the marshal's line of fire. Mike Williams was killed by Hickok's bullet. This so infuriated Hickok that he pumped two slugs into Coe's belly. Of course, like many western tales of the times, there are several versions of the incident.
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