Annie Oakley, born Phoebe Ann Moses, became one of the most famous women in America in the late 19th century. Even more amazing, her famous name and even more famous sharpshooting still echo nearly 100 years after her death.
First a squrriel and then the world. (KPBS)
The diminutive sharpshooter born and raised in Ohio became a Wild West legend with the likes of Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, and Davy Crockett, thanks to her otherworldly shooting skills. She also navigated perhaps the most testosterone-filled era with grace and unflappable aplomb. As she said, “I ain’t afraid to love a man. I ain’t afraid to shoot him either.”
A Prodigy From The Start
"I would like to see every woman know how to handle guns as naturally as they know how to handle babies."
While her sisters were off playing with dolls, Oakley joined her father on hunting trips and quickly became the sharpshooter of the family before the age of 10. As a precocious youth, her very first shot perfectly clipped the head of a squirrel. As she remembered, “I was eight years old when I made my first shot and I still consider it one of the best shots I ever made.” Unfortunately, her mother wasn’t as thrilled that her 8 year old daughter was playing with guns. “It was a wonderful shot, going right through the head from side to side. My mother was so frightened when she learned that I had taken down the loaded gun and shot it that I was forbidden to touch it again for eight months.”
Bullets For Bills
Annie Oakley's shooting prowess made her one of the most famous women in America. (Getty)
While Oakley’s mother panicked over her child’s first rodeo with guns, she quickly changed her tune. Long before she hit puberty, Oakley was already paying the family’s mortgage, thanks to her prodigious ability. By selling the meat from her hunts to local grocery stores and hotels, Oakley paid off the family’s $200 mortgage. Paying off that debt filled Oakley with pride. "Oh, how my heart leaped with joy as I handed the money to mother and told her that I had saved enough to pay it off!" After her father’s death, the family would likely have ended destitute without her one in a million talent.
Gunning For A Groom
"God intended women to be outside as well as men, and they do not know what they are missing when they stay cooped up in the house."
The mortgage wasn’t the only thing Oakley was able to procure thanks to her sharpshooting. At the age of 15 she took on a renowned traveling sharpshooter named Frank Butler. At first, he scoffed at his tiny female competition but he wasn’t laughing after she nailed 25 out of 25 clay pigeons to best him. Butler was in love. The pair married the following summer and enjoyed 50 years of blissfully bullet-filled matrimony. He also died just three weeks after her passing.
Oakley’s Big Break
Annie Oakley in 1922. (Wikimediacommons)
To go from local phenom to national legend, Oakley needed to leave the midwest and share her special talent with the rest of the country. At first William “Buffalo Bill” Cody refused to hire Oakley on account of already employing a talented marksman in Captain Adam Bogardus. When Bogardus suffered a crisis of confidence after his prized firearms sank in a boating accident, Oakley supplanted him and made her mark.
Little Sure Shot
"Any woman who does not thoroughly enjoy tramping across the country on a clear frosty morning with a good gun and a pair of dogs does not know how to enjoy life."
As Oakley toured the country with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, she gained legions of fans. One infamous fan became Chief Sitting Bull, the Lakota Sioux leader that orchestrated the defeat of General George Custer’s troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Sitting Bull was so impressed by Oakley he sent $65 (nearly $1900 when adjusted for inflation) to her room in exchange for an autograph. The five-foot-tall Oakley “sent him back his money and a photograph, with my love, and a message to say I would call the following morning.”
As she recalled, “The old man was so pleased with me, he insisted upon adopting me, and I was then and there christened ‘Watanya Cicilla,’ or ‘Little Sure Shot.’” She eventually wrote of Sitting Bull, “He is a dear, faithful, old friend, and I’ve great respect and affection for him.”
International Acclaim
America's first gun-totting girl. (ohiomagazine)
Eventually, the Wild West show went international and Oakley’s talents were on full display. Naturally, America’s sharpshooting sweetheart did not disappoint. The London Evening News reported Oakley ranked as “far and away” the best shot at the competition which was amazingly held at Wimbledon! The Queen called her a "very clever little girl" and became the first of many European monarchs mesmerized by her skill. The King of Senegal beseeched her to help him with his tiger population and Italy's King Umberto was also counted among her fans.
Wise And Wiley
"There are always women who will take men on their own terms. If I were a man I wouldn't bother to change while there are women like that around."
Besides her incredible talent, Oakley also expertly navigated fame. At one point she was forced to sue over 50 newspapers after falsely printing a story about a destitute Oakley stealing clothing in Chicago. The original newspaper run by William Randolph Hearst even refused to retract the story, going as far as hiring a private investigator to dig up dirt on the Wild West icon. She won or settled nearly all of the lawsuits but gained little money, only her good name.
