A Five Foot Female Sure Shot Garnered Fame and Awards on a Show With Heroic Grand Old Men
Posted: Thursday, November 17, 2011
by Christofer French
Rain Dancer Associates, LLC
A Woman, who looked like a Girl, who had been practicing for years at her art. And so short, people were constantly judging her to be younger than she was.
There he was, a crusty, but elegant old man who could recreate theatrically a life of true adventure in the American West.
And, standing with dignity, an Indian Chief, who stood with one foot in History and another on the Modern Stage, would all become a part of a short period in Show Business History, but with a powerful impression on the Upcoming Modern World.
The difference between these three was that Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill had legitimate papers and lives that had been lived on the Murale of the Western Frontier while portraying images and acts and stunts in the show.
Phoebe Ann Mosey was a pure shooting artist. She played no big historical role, other than being who she was. But her history, her personal history was a real American tale, and stood up on its own as being authentically wild and American. Remember the midwest was very much a frontier when she was born; and her real life and achievement are their own special story!
Phoebe Ann Mosey had a tough life for a girl. Born after the Civil War started in Ohio, she passed her youth struggling, but also developing while she “hung on”. In fact, if she were a well taken care of girl in an Ohio town, instead of a shooting game for her family, she would never have become the Annie Oakley we know.
She was a girl. Born at a time when women were afforded a limited array of opportunities. She chose a separate and distinctive path. It was this frontier life and distinctive path and the powerful development of skills along that path, that would make all the difference.
Woman Shooter! She’s so short, she looks like a Girl Shooter.
Buffalo Bill would reflect with his cohorts. “I guess, she could have been taller. Hell, she’s barely five feet tall. Yeah, but we can turn that around, you know. Make it a point of attention. “Look, she’s a woman, and man, she’s even short! But, man can she shoot!”
“I think Sitting Bull has her name picked out already, and we are going to use it in the Act.”
Buffalo Bill always knew from the first time he saw her that she would be a hit. In his mind, she had all the winning aspects of a big act that could last for years, PLUS she was short.
In the Native American culture, women occupied certain roles and did not tend to stray from them. Of course, in a culture like they had, the idea of being a woman who was a shooting expert was far from likely. The Indians themselves had only been exposed to them since the arrival of the French Voyageurs and the whites coming into their hunting grounds.
Phoebe was widely talented and expert in whatever weapon she chose. Whether it be a pistol, rifle, or shotgun, the legendary markswoman was masterful with them all.
So, the first time Sitting Bull saw Phoebe Ann Mosey, “Annie Oakley”, he had a quick appelation for her:
“I call her “Little Sure Shot”.
And she earlier had chosen her show business name from Oakley, Ohio.
Born on the Ohio frontier to Quaker parents, (August 13, 1860) Phoebe Ann Oakley (Mozee, Mauzy, Mauzey, Moses or most commonly Mosey) had a turbulent and difficult life in her youth. She was named “Phoebe Ann” by her mother, but called “Annie” by her sisters.
Her parents Jacob and Susan were originally from Pennsylvania. After a tavern fire ended their livelihood as innkeepers, they moved to a rented farm in Ohio. Her Father had fought in the War of 1812. Annie was the fifth of seven. Since she was born in August 13, 1860. Her father died when she was six years old. As many did during that era, he got caught in that wet and cold weather of the Midwest. Freezing weather – pneumonia and overexposure took him.
Servitude and Abuse
Annie’s mother remarried, and then she was widowed a second time. Probably the most arduous and despair- filled part of her life was to follow. During this time Annie was put in the care of the superintendent of the county poor farm, where she learned to embroider and sew. She spent some time in near servitude for a local family where she met with mental and physical abuse. When she reunited with her family, her mother had married a third time.
It may not be a surprise to many, but Annie did not attend school. Everything in her life was to be from the very real, “hands on” efforts of her body and mind. Her birthplace was in Patterson Township in Darke County, Ohio. This county is smack up next to Indiana in the very west. Even then, Ohio was industrial and bustling, but this was area “undeveloped” and rural, as it were, even during and after the Civil War.
“Dead Shot” Wins a Contest and a Husband
Born in a log cabin, Annie Oakley began shooting game at age nine to feed and support her widowed mother and siblings. She quickly proved to be a dead shot and word spread so much that at age sixteen, Annie went to Cincinnati to enter a shooting contest with Frank E. Butler (1850-1926), an accomplished marksman who performed in vaudeville. Annie won the match by one point and she won Frank Butler's heart as well. Sometime later they were married and she became his assistant in his traveling shooting act. Frank recognized that Annie was far more talented and relinquished the limelight to her, becoming her assistant and personal manager. In 1885 they joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, run by the legendary frontiersman and showman Buffalo Bill Cody.
Whether it be a pistol, rifle, or shotgun, the legendary markswoman Annie Oakley was masterful with them all. Her sharp shooting in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show won her many awards and captivated audiences far and wide. Her name remains synonymous with firearms and entertainment.
Dimes in Midair and Ashes off a Cigarette of Crown Prince of Germany
For seventeen years Annie Oakley was the Wild West Show's star attraction with her marvelous shooting feats. At 90 feet Annie could shoot a dime tossed in midair. In one day with a .22 rifle she shot 4,472 of 5,000 glass balls tossed in midair. With the thin edge of a playing card facing her at 90 feet, Annie could hit the card and puncture it with five or six more shots as it settled to the ground. It was from this that free tickets with holes punched in them came to be called "Annie Oakleys."
Shooting the ashes off a cigarette held in Frank's mouth was part of the Butler and Oakley act. In a celebrated event while touring in Europe, Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Germany, invited Annie to shoot a cigarette held in his own lips. Annie had Wilhelm hold the cigarette in his hand and not his mouth; she accomplished this challenge, as always effortlessly. In this period Annie Oakley was easily recognizable by the numerous shooting medals that adorned her chest.
Determination through Hardship and Physical Calamity and Legendary Giving and Accomplishment
In a train wreck in 1901, Annie suffered a spinal injury that required five operations and even left her partially paralyzed for a while. Although she recovered very well, Annie toured less frequently during the latter part of her career. Nonetheless, her shooting expertise did not wane and she continued to set records. In a shooting contest in Pinehurst, N.C. in 1922, sixty-two-year-old Annie hit 100 clay targets straight from the 16 yard mark.
Annie Oakley died of pernicious anemia on Nov. 3, 1926, in Greenville, Ohio, at the age of sixty-six. A legend in her own time, the remarkable life of Annie Oakley would be celebrated in the 1946 Herbert and Dorothy Fields musical Annie Get Your Gun.
In her life, Annie overcame poverty, mistreatment and physical injury with her determination and strength of character. She played a role in breaking barriers for women with her talent and accomplishments in her sport. She showed great compassion and generosity to orphans, widows and other young women. She died on November 3, 1926 at age 66 in her home state, Ohio.
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/oakl-ann.htm
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Well done, Christofer, a good fast draw on little Annie Oakley that holds your attention.Can you imagine her with a shot gun? Thanks for your comment?
As always, an article that informs, amuses, and hits a high mark in interest.Thank you very much. She was a toughie.
Yep. I've read a couple of biographies on her. Thanks.Her family was Quaker. Tough as can be. Smart and all business.That's the way a lot of we Friends are.
Another good one. Interesting and turbulent life. She was definitely way ahead of her time. Years ago, there was a tv show Annie Oakley. I only went out for Halloween one time in my life when I was 12. I was "Annie Oakley."Look at what she did with the "turbulence" of her life! I remember girls in the Annie Oakley outfits. Thanks for your comment.
Excellent biographyThanks very much.
Life was so tough then for some, wasn't it? I didn't know her story at all, and your account of her life was fascinating to read, Christofer. You brought everything so to life it made me long to somehow turn back time and see her performing some of those amazing feats. What an inspiring woman.Her artistry and skill was amazing. Thanks for your comments.
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