“Aim for the 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”  Annie Oakley

“If you win, be gracious, if you lose be gracious.”  Vera McGinnis

“I think there are always many women who are living a social butterfly existence who would dearly love to go in for something worthwhile.”  Adele Von Ohl

“If we never had any storms, we couldn’t appreciate the sunshine.”  Dale Evans

“If I could start over again, I’d marry the other cowboy who asked me.”  Anne Jeffers

“Let any normally healthy woman who is ordinarily strong screw up her courage and tackle a bucking bronco, and she will find the most fascinating pastime in the field of feminine athletic endeavor.  There is nothing to compare, to increase the joy of living, and once accomplished, she’ll have more real fun than any pink tea or theatre party or ballroom dance every yielded.”  May Lillie

“A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.”  Texas Guinan

“Handle your horse and your husband the same way.” Pauline Goodard

“I certainly do get angry when I hear someone say, “I bet she didn’t do that herself.”  Helen Gibson

“You’ll learn nothing’ if only good things happen to you.”  Mary C. Clayton

To learn more about the daring and iconic women of the rodeos, films, and Wild West Shows read Along Came a Cowgirl.

Available wherever books are sold.

Enter now to win a copy of The Trials of Annie Oakley

Fans of Annie Oakley sought the famous shooter out after every performance.  In addition to granting requests for autographs, she took time to speak with her followers who wanted to know all about her.  As a courtesy to her devotees, she supplied them with a short list of facts about herself.

Answers to Ten Questions I Am Asked Every Day.

I was born in Woodland, Ohio.

I learned to shoot in the field.

I do not think I inherited my love of firearms from my parents, for they were Quakers, and were very much opposed to my using such weapons.

Having traveled in fourteen countries, and having hunted in almost all of them, I have shot nearly all kinds of game.

While I love to shoot in the field, I care very little for exhibition shooting, and only do it as a matter of business.

I never use the word “champion” in connection with my name and always request my friends not to address me as such.

My guns weigh about six pounds each and are of many different makes.  There is no such thing as the best gun maker.  The best gun is the gun that best fits the shooter.

I use pistols, rifles and shotguns.  I do not believe in using cheap guns.  To me, the use of a cheap gun is like driving Star Pointer with a clothes line – you never know when the line is going to give way.

I like pigeon shooting when the birds are first-class flyers, but I am very much opposed to shooting pigeons from the trap during the three summer months.

I use 39 grains of Schultz Smokeless Powder and one ounce of shot, loaded in the U.M.C. Smokeless shells.  I don’t say that this is the only load, but it is good enough for me.

To learn more about Annie Oakley and the shooting school she ran in Pinehurst, North Carolina, read The Trials of Annie Oakley

Proud to announce that the Doctor Was A Woman:

Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier is a finalist for the

Women Writing the West WILLA Award.

Thank you, WWW, for recognizing these amazing doctors

and their fight to practice medicine in the rugged West.

Enter now to win a copy of The Trials of Annie Oakley

Long before the silver screen showed the face of Mary Pickford to millions of Americans, Annie Oakley, born as Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses on August 13, 1860, had won the right to the title of “America’s Sweetheart.” Having grown up learning to shoot game to help support her family, Annie won first prize and met Frank Butler at a shooting match when she was fifteen years old. He convinced her to change her name to Annie Oakley and became her husband, manager, and number-one fan for the next fifty years.

Annie quickly gained worldwide fame as an incredible crack shot, and could amaze audiences at her uncanny accuracy with nearly any rifle or pistol, whether aiming at stationary objects or shooting fast-flying targets from the cockpit of a moving airplane.

In August 1903, when she was well known as a champion shot in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Oakley became a target of defamation by a reporter for a newspaper owned by media magnate William Randolph Hearst. The libelous story alleged that the famous sure shot had been arrested for stealing and buying drugs. Annie sent a telegram denying the claim and asked the story to be retracted. Hearst refused and the story was then published in all his newspapers. Miss Oakley responded with a libel suit and spent seven years in court fighting the well-known businessman.

During the long, drawn-out legal battle, Annie was struggling with health issues. Despite these trials she poured her energy into advocating for the US military, encouraging women to engage in sport shooting, and supporting orphans.

To learn more about Annie Oakley’s legal battle with William Randolph Hearst read

The Trails of Annie Oakley.

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