Now, I know Annie Oakley is pretty well known, or at least in my experience she has been well known, however she has been one of my favorite historical individuals my entire life. When I was in elementary school I purchased a short biography about her from our school's book fair. I reread that book multiple times when I was younger. Now I am realizing that I have never sought out another book about her. I think I am going to have to change that!
Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mosey on August 13, 1860 in Ohio. Annie was the sixth child of her mother Susan and father Jacob. When Annie was just six years old her father died of pneumonia, leaving her mother to raise and provide for six young children on her own. Over the next several years Annie lived outside the family home, living for awhile at the County Infirmary where she helped care for young children in exchange for an education and also picked up sewing skills. In her early teens Annie returned to her mother and her step-father, her mother's third husband, her second husband dying and leaving her with now seven children.
Annie used her father's old rifle to hunt in order to help provide for her family. The story states that she was able to make enough money hunting that she was able to pay off her mother's $200 mortgage on their house. I can remember in the book I had when I was young reading about her shooting squirrels to make squirrel soup for her family.
When Annie was 15 years old her marksmanship abilities had gained the attention of many people in the local vicinity. One of these was a local hotel owner who asked her to come to a performance and compete against Frank Butler, who was a traveling marksman and competed against local marksman. I can't imagine what Frank Butler thought when he came across this 15 year old petite young woman during his competition. Not only was she a young woman, but she was a very talented young woman! She eventually beat him in his own competition, successfully making twenty five out of twenty five shots, while Frank himself missed one of his twenty five shots.
Annie not only won the competition, but also won over Frank. They began a courtship and were eventually married. After their marriage Annie went with Frank on his tours. When Frank's partner became ill in May of 1882 and could not perform, Annie went on stage with Frank. She performed as more of an assistant, with a few marksmanship demonstrations of her own. Frank recognized that his wife brought a bigger crown in then he did and Annie became the star of the show, while Frank himself stepped aside to play a smaller role in the performances.
Less than two years later Annie and Frank had a special viewer in their audience, Sitting Bull. He asked to meet Annie after the show, which he was able to do. During this meeting they exchanged gifts, and Sitting Bull gave Annie the name of "Little Sure Shot".
It was just a year later that Annie and Frank joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West tour. Annie and Frank stayed with the show for 16 seasons, during which time Annie was highlighted as the highlight of the show. Advertising posters featured Annie as a "Champion Markswoman". Annie and Frank traveled first to England, and then to several other European countries with Buffalo Bill's Wild West tour. Annie's fame rose to new heights as she performed during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
After 16 years of touring with Buffalo Bill's show, preceded by several years of tours on their own or with other shows, Annie and Frank retired from the wild west show due perhaps in part to a train accident in 1901 where Annie's back was injured. Annie and Frank continued performing for several years after this, participating in various shows and tours. In 1912/13 Annie and Frank retired to Cambridge, Maryland where they adopted a dog, Dave, who would become a part of their act in later performances.
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| This is a picture I remember from my book as a young girl and I have always loved it. |
When the United States became involved in World War I, Annie offered to help train a group of women to fight in the war as well as to help train marksmanship. Her offer to help was ignored, and so she helped out in other ways, such as donated earnings from exhibitions to the Red Cross.
Annie died November 3, 1926, a few years after another vehicle accident that injured her hip and ankle. The sixty six year old woman had continued her career, talent, and passion of marksmanship throughout her entire life. Frank Butler died 18 days after his wife of fifty years.
For me personally Annie has always stood as a woman who had her own ideas of how she was going to live her life and did it without worrying about whether or not it was "acceptable". I have seen and read various statements that show that her mother and older sisters were not particularly agreeable about her interest in shooting when she was younger. How they thought she was a tomboy and not a lady. This did not stop her, and she went on to have a long and fruitful career in her passion. I also love the way her husband responds to her abilities. Here was a man who was a known marksman, a trade and skill that was most assuredly a man's skill, and here he was beat by a woman. Annie was an expert markswoman and he acted in the most perfect way he possibly could. I love how he represents the best, accurate way to
this.
I think we can learn a lot from Annie Oakley and the way she lived her life. I love the quote on this picture, "Keep your eye on the high mark and you will hit it. Not the first time, nor the second, and maybe not the third, but if you keep on aiming and keep on trying, you'll hit the bull's eye of success." Now I cannot say 100% guaranteed that she did say that, but it is definitely something I think she would have said.
