Journal Notes

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The Trials of Annie Oakley

Three dozen, fresh-faced young men jockeyed for position behind a row of windows on a train leaving Poughkeepsie, New York, bound for Camp Mills on Long Island. The new Army recruits waved goodbye to those on the railroad platform; they wore happy expressions and cheered as the car lurched forward. The men were excited and blissfully naïve about the journey ahead of them. Family and friends on the platform offered last minute farewells as the train slowly began to move ahead. Some people cried as the vehicle left the station and blew kisses to the courageous souls who had answered the call to serve their country when America announced it would join Britain, France, and Russia to fight in World War I.

The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917, and by the end of that same month thousands of men had eagerly flooded recruiting stations, enlisted in the Army and Navy and promised to defend the nation in time of peril.

On July 6, 1917, newspapers and unofficial dispatches from Canadian army headquarters in Europe documented when America went into battle for the first time during the World War. A young Texan who had traveled to Ontario to enlist had the honor of being the first to carry the American flag in the European war. He was carrying the Stars and Stripes on his bayonet when he was wounded and subsequently transported to a medical unit.

According to the July 20, 1917, edition of the Democrat and Chronicle News the Texan’s brave action prompted even more patriotic men to join a branch of the service. Men did not have a moratorium on devotion to country. Women also wanted to do their part. Annie Oakley was among them. From the time the Spanish American War began in 1898, Annie had desired to recruit and train women to be expert shots and fight for the United States. She offered her unique services to President William McKinley.

“Dear Sir,” her letter dated April 5, 1898, began, “I for one feel confident that your good judgment will carry America safely through without war. But in case of such an event I am ready to place a company of fifty lady sharp shooters at your disposal. Every one of them will be an American and as they will furnish their own arms and ammunition will be little if any expense to the government. Very Truly, Annie Oakley.”

President McKinley politely declined her office, but Annie never abandoned the idea. More than nineteen years after the initial proposal, Annie again offered to raise a regiment of women volunteers to fight. She received more than 1,000 letters from women throughout the United States anxious to join the regiment. Three thousand women had participated in Annie’s shooting school in Pinehurst, North Carolina, during the 1916-1917. If necessary, she could call on the best students from her classes to take part in the program. Many of the women were willing to serve as well.

To learn more about Annie Oakley read

The Trials of Annie Oakley by Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss

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The Trials of Annie Oakley.

A row of ten, smartly dressed women stood side by side carefully scanning the horizon. Each was holding a rifle and waiting patiently for the instructor to give her directions. A genteel, smiling Annie Oakley stepped forward carrying her own weapon. A handful of ladies who had arranged to take shooting lessons from the famous markswoman stood near the side entrance of the firearms school in Pinehurst, North Carolina, anxiously awaiting the opportunity to draw a bead on a target and fire their guns.

Shooting at clay targets a few inches wide as they flew past at fast speed and actually hitting them was a thrill like none other. Annie had assured her students of that fact. Trap shooting involved speed, accuracy, and eye-hand coordination, something Annie had in abundance. For years she had extolled the virtues of trapshooting and was proof it could be done for pure enjoyment or competition. She reminded her class to keep both eyes opened, be aware of the position of their bodies while holding their .22- caliber shotguns, keep their cheek glued to the stock, point, and shoot.

KaBang! Kabang! Kabang! The weapons rang out in succession. The women were thrilled that their guns fired without incident and were excited to try again. Annie had warned them the sport could be addictive once they took the plunge.

From the time the United States entered World War I in early 1917 to November 1918, Annie had instructed more than 4,000 men and women on how to shoot. For many women, the time learning how to use a firearm led to regular participation in the sport of trapshooting. For many men the instruction helped them prepare for battle. Annie’s desire to serve her country in combat was realized through the soldiers who admired how she used a gun and employed what she taught in battle.

The Great War ended at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. Annie Oakley was fifty-eight years old. Although she had appeared in numerous exhibitions at cantonments throughout the east and demonstrated her skill to thousands of recruits bound for Europe to fight, many people wrote letters to the author of a syndicated column called “Trap, Gun and Rod,” hoping to find out what became of the once popular markswoman. “Is she still living,” a reader in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, asked? “If so, how old would she be?”

“Annie Oakley (Mrs. Frank Butler) is very much alive and very much active in shooting game,” responded reporter Tom Marshall. “The last time I saw her shoot she performed with the old-time vim and accuracy.”

If Annie had ever forgotten her age, newspapers across the country reminded her. An article that appeared in the January 3, 1919, Wilmington, Delaware, newspaper The Morning News told of an occasion where Annie’s age was the topic of conversation. It was a gathering of New York sportswriters. After much speculation, the writers were unable to agree on how old the sharpshooter was and couldn’t guess what the future held for the talented woman. The author of The Morning News article decided to take the questions to the source.

Annie was not ashamed to admit her age or to share her future plans. “On my sixtieth birthday next November, I will make my farewell appearance before the American public in an exhibition of shooting with the revolver, rifle, and shotgun,” she informed the reporter. “The exhibition will be in New York. When I begin to make plans for this shoot you will know that I am nearing the three-score of year’s mark – also that it will be the final appearance of Annie Oakley in public as a shooter.”

To learn more about the famous sure shot read

The Trials of Annie Oakley.

Enter now to win a copy of the Will Rogers Medallion Award winning book

The Trials of Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley was born Annie Moses on August 13, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio.  Her father’s untimely death when she was still a child forced Annie to find work to help support her seven brothers and sisters and their mother.

Annie first learned to hunt with a rifle when she was eight.  She used her natural markswoman ability to provide food for the evening meals.  She became such a good shot she was hired on by a merchant to supply his store with fresh game.  By the time Annie turned nine, she was a major provider for her family.

A shooting match between Annie and Western showman Frank Butler in 1875 changed her life forever.  The challenge was for each marksman to shoot twenty-five clay pigeons.  Frank hit twenty-four of the twenty-five targets.  Annie hit all of them.

Frank was so taken by the young woman’s expertise and femininity that he invited her to come and see him perform in one of his Western programs.  She was impressed with his kindness and proficiency with a weapon.  After a short time, their mutual fondness and admiration blossomed into love.  They were married on June 22, 1876.

Frank and Annie pooled their talents and took their shooting know-how on the road.  The two gave exhibitions at theaters across the country.  By this time Annie had changed her name to Oakley.  She decided on that name because she’d liked the sound of it ever since her sister told her of the Ohio district with the same handle.

Butler and Oakley were well received wherever they performed.  People were not only amazed at the teenager’s shooting but admired the pluck of a girl who could hold a coin steady until it was shot from her fingers.  By December of 1884 Frank and Anne had become the top shooting act in the country.

To learn more about Annie Oakley and her life with Frank Butler read

The Trials of Annie Oakley.

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The Trials of Annie Oakley

On August 8, 1903, a drifter named Charles Curtis made his way to the Harrison Street Police Station in Chicago and filed a complaint to Justice of the Peace John R. Caverly about a woman named Little Cody. Curtis had befriended the woman he supposed was down on her luck and provided her a place to stay for a few days. During her visit with Charles, she stole a pair of pants and generally made herself a nuisance. The complaint charged her with having “made an improper noise, riot, and disturbance.” A warrant for the woman’s arrest was issued, and “Little Cody” was arrested and escorted to jail. The fee she was to pay was $100. She didn’t have the money to give the court and was to be held until she came up with the funds.

The prisoner did not give the clerks or the jail matrons a difficult time. She was chatty during the intake process, but polite. Her appearance was slovenly, clothes were torn and unwashed, and she was obviously under the influence of drugs. She told officials at the facility about her work as a crack rifle shot and of the days, she spent with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. The curious matron couldn’t help but pursue the matter further. “You are the noted Annie Oakley, I guess.” The woman proudly announced that she was indeed the famed sure shot.

Charles Curtis came to visit the woman once she was behind bars and seeing her distressed state decided not to press charges.

When arraigned before the justice on Monday morning August 10, the police officer who had booked her into jail stated she was the famous Annie Oakley who had exhibited with Buffalo Bill Cody. The officer informed the court that if she was allowed to go free, she would only spread disease and implored the judge to send her to a women’s asylum where she could be taken care of. The judge agreed and instructed the court to send the woman to Bridewell Prison Farm. Her fine was reduced to $25.

After her day in court, she was taken downstairs to the lock up again. A number of people were waiting for her to arrive so they could talk with her. One of those individuals was George W. Pratt, a reporter for the Chicago American. Pratt had visited Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show many times and was acquainted with several acts associated with the program. He wanted to get the woman’s full story and spent hours with her asking questions about what brought her to such a lowly state. Her answers contained specific information about who performed in Cody’s shows with her, when, and the exhilarating experience she had at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Pratt and other reporters were convinced this woman was the real Annie Oakley. Pratt wrote a story about his first-hand experience with the accused. As many reporters did at that time, he elaborated and sensationalized the account.

To learn more about the famous sure shot read

The Trials of Annie Oakley

Enter now to win the Will Rogers Medallion Award winning book

The Trials of Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley burst into the Wild West Show’s arena in Louisville, Kentucky, atop a brown and white pony.  She waved and blew kisses at the excited audience as she spurred her ride around a straw barrier at a high lope.  The cowboy just ahead of her paced her to a slower ride and began tossing balls into the air.  She raised her rifle to her shoulders.  The balls burst as fast as he could throw them.

Putting her gun away for the moment, she quickly dismounted and raced over to a table at the far end of the grounds.  Another cowboy juggling glass balls was waiting for her.  Annie jumped over the gun table, scooped up a weapon just as the cowboy tossed up four balls.  Two balls disappeared.  She picked up another gun.  The other two balls blew apart.  The timid women in the audience who screamed with fright at the initial sound of the noisy firearms broke into round and round of applause.

Annie bowed to the delighted crowd and searched the table for the prop she used in her most famous stunt, The Mirror Trick.  Using a knife blade for a mirror, Annie then pointed her gun over her shoulder.  Frank Butler, Annie’s husband, stood off in the distance behind her holding up an ace of spades.  After sighting the card in the knife blade, she squeezed the trigger.  The gun barked.  A hole appeared where the spade had been in the center of the card.

The crowd burst into cheers.  Annie smiled, swung aboard her horse, and hurried out of the arena.  As she rode past Buffalo Bill Cody, he shouted, “Sharp shooting, Missy!”

The Sioux Indian chief Sitting Bull greeted the 5-foot-tall performer backstage.  Impressed with her skill and aim, the warrior proudly called her Little Sure Shot.  Sitting Bull believed Annie Oakley to be possessed by the Good Spirit.  “No one can hurt her,” he told friends.  “Only one who was super naturally blessed could be such a dead shot.”

To learn more about Annie’s life and shooting ability read

The Trails of Annie Oakley

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Will Rogers Medallion Award Winning Book

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.

Enter now to win a copy of  the Will Rogers Medallion Award winning book

The Trials of Annie Oakley

Three dozen fresh-faced young men jockeyed for position behind a row of windows on a train leaving Poughkeepsie, New York, bound for Camp Mills on Long Island.  The new Army recruits waved goodbye to those on the railroad platform; they wore happy expressions and cheered as the car lurched forward.  The men were excited and blissfully naïve about the journey ahead of them.  Family and friends on the platform offered last-minute farewells as the train slowly began to move ahead.  Some people cried as the vehicle left the station, and they blew kisses to the courageous souls who had answered the call to serve their country when America announced it would join Britain, France, and Russia to fight in World War I.

The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917, and by the end of that same month thousands of men had eagerly flooded recruited stations, enlisted in the Army and Navy, and promised to defend the nation in time of peril.

On July 6, 1917, newspapers and unofficial dispatches from Canadian army headquarters in Europe documented when America went into battle for the first time during the World War.  A young Texan who had traveled to Ontario to enlist had the honor of being the first to carry the American flag in the European war.  He was carrying the official Stars and Stripes on his bayonet when he was wounded and subsequently transported to a medical unit.

According to the July 20, 1917, edition of the Democrat and Chronicle News the Texan’s brave action prompted even more patriotic men to join a branch of the service.  Men did not have a moratorium on devotion to country.  Women also wanted to do their part.  Annie Oakley was among them.  From the time the Spanish-America War began in 1898, Annie had desired to recruit and train women to be expert shots and fight for the United States.  She offered her unique services to President William McKinley in a letter dated April 5, 1898.

Dear Sir,

I for one feel confident that your good judgement will carry America safely through without war.  But in case of such an event I am ready to place a company of fifty lady sharp shooters at your disposal.  Every one of them will be an American and as they will furnish their own arms and ammunition there will be little if any expense to the government.

Very Truly,

Annie Oakley

To learn more about Annie at War read The Trials of Annie Oakley

Enter now for a chance to win a copy of

The Will Rogers Medallion Award Winning book

The Trials of Annie Oakley

Say the name Annie Oakley and the image of a young woman who could shoot targets out of the sky without a miss and rode across the frontier with Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody comes to mind. Annie Oakley was a champion rifle shot and did perform alongside well-known riders, ropers, and Indian chiefs in Colonel Cody’s vaudevillian tour, but there was more to Annie Oakley’s fame than her skill with a gun. The diminutive weapons wonder was a strong proponent of the right to bear arms, a noted philanthropist, and warrior against libel who fought the most powerful man in publishing and won.

The native Ohioan astonished the world with her almost unbelievable feats of rifle marksmanship. She could pepper a playing card sailing through the air, puncture dimes tossed into the sky, and break flying balls with her rifle held high above her head. She once shot steadily for nine hours, using three sixteen-gauge hammer shotguns which she loaded herself, breaking 4,772 out of 5,000 balls.

Annie Oakley fell in love with and married the first man she defeated in a rifle match. Frank E. Butler was one of the most noted marksmen in the West and he and Annie were married for more than fifty years. The couple never had any children of their own. The reasons they were childless are varied and speculative at best. What is not without question is how Annie helped fund the care and education of orphaned children from coast to coast.

Annie Oakley was a combination of dainty, feminine charm and lead bullets, adorned in fringed handmade fineries and topped with a halo of powder blue smoke. She had a reputation for being humble, true, and law abiding and was careful with her character at all times. When powerful, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst challenged her honor and questioned her respectability in his publication in 1903, Annie filed a lawsuit against him that’s still discussed at universities today.

To learn more about the famous sure shot read

The Trials of Annie Oakley

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According to Kate: 

The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate Elder, Love of Doc Holliday

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Kate Elder’s hotel in the remote copper and silver mining town of Globe, Arizona, was a small, unassuming establishment that catered to prospectors, assayers, and occasionally outlaws.  For twenty-five cents a night, guests were offered a clean room complete with a wash bowl, towel, chamber pot, and a pitcher of fresh water.  For an additional ten cents, Kate would provide breakfast.  Patrons were served in the saloon in the front of the building located a short distance from Alice Gulch, the site of the first silver claim.

In late December 1881, a merchant named Mrs. Alonzo Bailey escorted a potential boarding house customer into the saloon where the last of the regular guests were finishing their morning meal.  According to Kate, although it was past the time to serve food, the pair made themselves comfortable at a table and ordered coffee.  The gentleman accompanying Mrs. Bailey was carrying a copy of the Tombstone Epitaph, and, when Kate approached the duo with coffee cups and coffee pot, the man began to discuss the incident that had occurred at the OK Corral the previous month.  “Some how Doc and I were mentioned,” Kate noted when sharing the story with her niece several years later.

Kate noted she didn’t say a word about the happenings in Tombstone; she simply poured the coffee and went about the business of clearing the dishes.  The chatty customer continued with his thoughts about the location of the gunfight and the people involved in the incident.  “There are so many that claim they saw the shooting on Allen Street,” Kate wrote her niece in March 1940, “It was not on Allen Street but nearer Freemont [sic] Street in an open lot.”

Kate invited Mrs. Bailey and her friend to help themselves to the bacon and eggs sitting on the buffet table near a stack of plates, forks, and knives.  The man reluctantly set the newspaper aside to get a plate of food but never stopped talking.  “He told Mrs. Bailey that Doc took me to New Mexico and killed me up in the mountains and that he helped to bury me,” Kate recalled.  “That poor woman,” I remarked.  “Mrs. Baily [sic] and I laughed but when the man found out he made a fool of himself he never came back.  But it is laughable how some people will talk.  I often laugh how often I have been dead and buried and turn up some place full of life.”

To learn more about Kate Elder read

According to Kate: 

The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate Elder, Love of Doc Holliday.

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According to Kate: The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate Elder, Love of Doc Holliday

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It was a chilly evening in mid-March 1881.  Kate had traveled from Globe to Tombstone to see Doc.  According to her, she had made the trip at his request.  She noted in her memoirs that they lost no time settling their differences.  The smoke from an oil lamp in his room coiled wraith-like to the ceiling, smirching the cobwebs that festooned the top of the faded curtains.  Kate studied the sad looking, window coverings in the reflection of the mirror into which she was staring.  She had been pinning her hair up and playing with a pair of earrings when she noticed the breeze from the partially opened window ruffle the curtains.  Kate anticipated spending a great deal of time with Doc in the room and pondered whether to update the décor.

Doc had taken up residence on Sixth Street in a small boarding house positioned between a funeral parlor and a winery.  The furnishing was sparse and covered with dust.  Kate’s things were scattered about the room.  Doc had promised to take her to dinner when he returned from the errand he had rushed off to handle.  Once she finished getting ready for the night out she turned her attention to a copy of the Arizona Weekly Citizen lying on a chair by the door.  A story about a murder and an attempted stage robbery twenty-eight miles from Tombstone caught her eye.

“Detective R. H. Paul was on the box with the driver at the time, and his double-barreled Winchester rested by his side,” the March 20, 1881, article noted.  “It is believed that the Cow-boys were completely surprised to find Paul upon the stage, as no two of them would attempt to tackle Paul.  At the first word, ‘Hold!’  Paul coolly reached for his gun, exclaiming, ‘By God!  I hold for nobody!’  It is a question who fired first, Paul or the robbers; but the crack of the rifles were almost simultaneous, frightening the leaders into a run.  Paul emptied both barrels of his gun, and his revolver, while the stage was rattling along as fast as the horses could haul it.  The driver had fallen dead from the box, and a passenger who was upon the box was dying with a mortal wound.  As soon as Paul could regain the lines that had fallen from the hands of Bud Philpot, who was shot through the heart, he drove and transferred Wells, Fargo & Co.’s box and the United States mail intact to J. D. Kinnear, the agent of the line at Benson, and the frightened passengers were sent through to Tombstone.  Paul then started back, accompanied by four men, to the scene of the attack.  Later particulars are awaited here with great interest.

“A vigilance committee was lately formed at Tombstone, backed by all the money necessary to take these parties in hand and teach them a lesson.”

To learn more about Kate read

According to Kate:  The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate Elder,

Love of Doc Holliday