Phoebe Ann Mosey was born to a poor family in rural Darke County, OH in 1860. Once she became Annie Oakley, though, she become one of the great heroines of the Old West. The facts show her knack for sharpshooting. Among other awesome Annie Oakley feats, she could shoot lit cigarettes out of people's mouths, and hit items located behind her, using just a mirror to help her aim. She and her husband, Frank Butler, traveled with other American frontier heroes as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Oakley's career was sidelined in 1925 as the result of a car accident. The collision left her with a fractured ankle and hip. She passed away in 1926, some say as a result of her injuries, although her official cause of death was pernicious anemia. Her husband died a mere 18 days after she passed away. Apparently, he couldn't go on with his wife of 50 years. No matter how humble her end, stories about Oakley throughout her life cement her place in history among the strong and awe-inspiring women of the Wild West.
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As the story goes, Oakley was 8 years old when she first picked up a gun. Her father had taught her how to hunt and trap, unusual pursuits for a young girl in the 1860s. Oakley was once quoted as saying, "I was eight years old when I made my first shot, and I still consider it one of the best shots I ever made." Apparently, her first shot was a kill - she aimed a heavy muzzle loader at a squirrel, and got it right in the head.
After Oakley married Frank Butler, the pair began traveling and performing as sharpshooters together. Mrs. Butler took the name "Annie Oakley," perhaps inspired by the Oakley neighborhood in Cincinnati where they lived. In 1884, they joined the Sells Brother's Circus, but only stayed with them for one year, because a better opportunity came along: Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. At the time, this was one of the most successful traveling acts in the United States. The performing troop traveled to 130 different U.S. cities, and even went abroad to Canada and parts of Europe.
Oakley met her future husband Frank Butler when she was just 16 years old. At the time, he was working as a traveling marksmen, showing off his shooting skills to any available paid audiences. His main trick involved a series of 25 trick shots that he rarely missed. On the day that Butler met Oakley, he offered to challenge local sharpshooters. Jack Frost, a Cincinnati hotel owner who happened to be in the area, ponied up enough money to pay for Oakley to take on Butler's challenge. Butler missing one shot, while Oakley made all 25. He was so impressed by her skills that he took the time to get to know her, and the two married in 1876.
Oakley and Butler joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1885. "Champion Markswoman" Oakley performed a number of sharpshooting tricks in the rowdy revues. She shot holes in playing cards, and could even hit the thin edge of the cards. She could shoot corks out of bottles. She could aim backwards and hit targets by simply looking in the mirror. Oakley also entered a number of shooting competitions, racking up plenty of medals and ribbons with her skills.
Sitting Bull, a holy man for the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe, became good friends with Oakley after he watched her perform. Sitting Bull reportedly sent her a note, as well as $65, in order to purchase an autographed picture of her. She responded with the picture, but contacted him personally as well, and the two struck up a rapport. He gave her a pair of slippers made by his tribe, and called her "Watanya Cicilla," or "Little Sure Shot."
Out of all of Oakley's feats, one of her best tricks involved shooting the lit end off of a cigarette. She was so good at this, in fact, that Kaiser Wilhelm II let her aim at a cigarette that he had in his mouth in 1890. She cleanly removed not only the lit part of the cigarette, but she knocked the entire thing out of his mouth. After World War I started, Oakley supposedly quipped that she wished she had missed that shot.
The Spanish-American War broke out during William McKinley's presidency in 1898. At the time, women did not fight in wars - they were mainly on the sidelines, handling nursing duties and doing the soldier's laundry. So, it's not surprising that President McKinley turned down Oakley's offer of help on the battle lines. She offered to put together a regiment of sharpshooting women - complete with their own uniforms and guns so as to not cost the government a penny - and put them on the front lines. Oakley made a similar offer during World War I, and was again turned down.
William Randolph Hearst was a media magnate whose Hearst Communications owned hundreds of newspapers in the United States. In 1903, two of his Chicago-based newspapers published a story claiming that Oakley had an addiction to cocaine and, in the midst of a drug bender, stole a man's pants. This was untrue - the actual culprit was a Chicago burlesque performer posing as the sharpshooter. Oakley sued Hearst for libel. She won a cash settlement of $27,000 and Hearst made a full retraction of the story.
Oakley tried to join the troops during World War I, and offered to create an all-female regiment of sharpshooters. But her offer was turned down, as the battlefront was still considered the realm of men. Instead, Oakley spent her time performing for the troops, and assisted the war effort by raising money for the Red Cross. She also aided various military charities.
As part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and as a solo performer, Oakley traveled the world showing off her sharpshooting skills. She performed for royalty in Europe, and competed in a shooting contest at Wimbledon Common in 1887. One of the highlights of her career included performing at Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. She also acted in stage plays like The Western Girl, and had Thomas Edison use one of his new inventions - an early version of a video camera - record her shooting prowess.
Women took strides forward during the Civil War, creating Soldier's Aid societies, founding hospitals, working as nurses, and even forming groups to help soldiers acclimate back to "regular" life after the war ended. But women were still supposed to be domestic. Oakley's unabashed sharpshooting prowess flew in the face of the day's norms, and she inspired many other women to learn how to shoot as well.
Despite her "manly" profession and skill with a gun, Oakley wanted to remain feminine both on and off stage. Rather than wear men's clothing during her act, she wore blouses and skirts made in a Western style that she sewed herself during her off time. She also behaved rather modestly, and took up feminine hobbies such as embroidery.
As a teenager, Oakley's shooting prowess not only put food on the table, but it paid for her mother's mortgage. Oakley worked for a local grocery store called Katzenberger's. The game that she killed was sold in their store, and to a hotel in nearby Cincinnati.
Phoebe Ann Moses - "Annie" - was born in rural Darke County, OH in 1860. Her father passed away when she was 7, leaving her mother to care for seven children on her own. Annie, the second youngest, was sent to live at the Darke County Infirmary poorhouse for some time. This was a common practice at the time, and most areas had one of these services, mostly designed for indigent women and children, run by the local or state government. Oakley was reunited with her mother and siblings around the age of 14. By that time, her mother had remarried.
In the late 19th century, people attending live shows would have holes punched into their tickets by the ushers and admission staff. The holes indicated that the tickets had been used, and the theater owners could use them to keep track of how many people attended each show. Free tickets - those given out to reporters, VIPs, and others - already had the holes punched in them when they were given out to attendees. These free tickets became known as "Annie Oakleys" in honor of the hole-filled playing cards that she produced on stage.
