“Aim at a high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time, and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally, you’ll hit the bull’s-eye of success,” This is a quote said by the famous Annie Oakley herself.
Oakley had many prominent characteristics; such as strength, power, intelligence, courage, and boldness. These qualities are what make Annie Oakley a folk hero throughout her entire life, and still today. Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio, on August 13, 1860.She was the fifth of seven children from Jake and Susan Moses. As expected, Annie was a natural at shooting when she was young.
Annie was once interviewed and said, “I was eight years old when I took my first shot, and I still consider it one of the best shots I ever made. ” She took this shot when one day she saw a squirrel perched on a fence in front of her house. She took down her daddy’s loaded rifle, rested it on the porch railing, and shot the squirrel right through the head from side to side. After a while, Annie was offered a schooling opportunity.
Her job was to assist the housewife whose husband was the superintendant of the county prison farm. Oakley was then offered wages worth more than the cost of schooling in return for babysitting duties. So, Annie moved 40 miles away from her home to another farm. At this farm, she was severely underfed and sometimes even beaten.
After two years of suffering, Annie managed to break away and find her way back home. (1) When Annie was a teenager, she began to help earn a living by supplying game to a general store. The storekeeper started sending some of her surplus to a hotel in Cincinnati.On a visit to her sisters up in Cincinnati, Annie happened to meet the hotel keeper, Jack Frost. After recognizing her talent, Frost immediately set up a Thanksgiving Day shooting match between Oakley and a traveling exhibition sharpshooter named Frank Butler.
“I almost dropped dead when a slim girl in a short pink dress stepped out to mark with me. I was a beaten man the moment she appeared,” said Butler, who lost the match, 23 to 21. (3) Butler was so impressed with Annie, that when he went on the road with his act, he began a correspondence. By June 22, 1876, Frank and Annie were married.
Butler and Oakley toured the vaudeville circuits, and then later joined the Sells Brothers Circus. (1) When the Sells Brothers played New Orleans in 1884, Buffalo Bills Wild West was also in town. Frank and Annie soaked up Bill Cody’s show, then asked the legendary westerner to hire them as performers in his act. After a trial performance in Louisville, early 1885, crowds immediately responded to the act of Annie Oakley. Before long, Annie became one of the primary assets of Cody’s Wild West.
She and Butler traveled with Cody for 17 years, but never found it necessary to sign a contract with the frontiersman.Annie appeared second on Cody’s bill of 19 acts. Her performance followed the grand entrance of riders, where Annie paraded in, bowing and throwing kisses. Annie performed many different, daring acts. But in every single one, she never failed to impress and please the crowd.
In 1888 at Glouscester, New Jersey, $5,000 was bet that Annie couldn’t hit 40 out of 50 clay pigeons, but undoubtedly, Oakley hit 49. The very next day she was challenged by the Champion of New Jersey, Miles Johnson, whom she defeated again by hitting 49 out of 50.By this point in Annie’s career, Butler had made the decision to put his own career on the backburner, so that he could manage hers, saying, “She outclassed me”. The two then broke away from Cody’s Wild West to conduct a solo tour of European capitals, which only greatly broadened her fame. When the two finished their European tour, they joined Pawnee Bill’s Wild West show, where Oakley was reunited with Cody when the two operations were merged. (1) On the unfortunate day of October 28, 1901, as Cody’s show left North Carolina for their final performance in Virginia, their train collided head-on with a freight train, killing 110 horses.
Oakley was the most severely injured human, suffering from extreme internal injuries and partial paralysis. Even after several operations, Oakley’s career looked as if it had come to an end. After months or recovery, though, she was able to resume performing. She toured in 1902 and 1903 with The Western Girl. Her energy was somewhat diminished, but her marksmanship skills remained perfectly in tune.
In 1911, she began three seasons of touring with a show called Young Buffalo Wild West, but Annie Oakley never again appeared with Cody’s Wild West.In 1915, Annie and Frank joined the staff of the Carolina Hotel, where they taught and demonstrated rifle and shotgun shooting. During World War I, they toured army camps, giving instructions and even performances on marksmanship. In 1921, Oakley was crippled in a car accident.
She and Butler moved to her home country: Greenville, Ohio. On November 3, 1926, Annie Oakley passed away at the age of 66. Butler passed away just three weeks later. They were buried beside each other in Brock Cemetery. Annie Oakley stood 5 feet tall, and weighed about 110 pounds.
Before her injuries and operations from the train wreck, Oakley had brown hair that turned completely white because of the horror of the accident. She dressed in skirts, top boots, and wide, grey felt hats (4). Her skirts were often fringed, her blouses embroidered, and her hat sported a single star on the upturned brim (2). Offstage, Annie was described as being graceful, feminine, and soft-spoken.
She indulged in needlework in her show tent between performances. She was devoted to reading the Bible. She sipped an occasional beer sometimes with Cody, a hard-drinker, but Annie’s favorite beverage was lemonade.Her favorite shotguns included a Lancaster and a Francotte; among her favorite rifles were a Winchester and a Marlin. Although Annie and Frank never had children, she supported and educated 18 orphan girls.
Annie Oakley had many nicknames given by fans and close friends. She was commonly known as The Girl of the Western Plains . She was prominently advertised as The Peerless Wing and Rifle Shot. Her four sisters were the ones that dubbed her as Annie. Bill Cody called her Little Missie, out of affection.
Finally, Annie’s most fitting and famous nickname was given to her by Chief Sitting Bull: Watanya Cicilia – Little Sure Shot.
