Annie Oakley
A late 19th century photo of Annie Oakley
Born	Phoebe Ann Mosey August 13, 1860 near Willowdell (formerly Woodland [1]), Ohio, United States
Died	November 3, 1926 United States

This article is about the sharpshooter. For other uses, see Annie Oakley (disambiguation).

Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey^[2] August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent and luck led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar. Using a .22 caliber rifle at 90 feet (27 m), Oakley reputedly could split a playing card edge-on and put five or six more holes in it before it touched the ground.^[3] (From user talk:MyRedDice), Yes, all my images are in public domain. ... is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Annie Oakley was a famous sharpshooter in Buffalo Bills Wild West Show. ... is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A US Marine marksman. ... Exhibition shooting or trick shooting is a sport in which a marksman performs various feats of skill, usually using non-traditional targets. ... For other uses, see Buffalo Bill (disambiguation). ...

Early life

Wild West show poster.

Oakley circa 1899.

According to the Annie Oakley Foundation, Annie Oakley was born in "a cabin less than two miles northwest of Woodland,^[1] now Willowdell, in Darke County", a rural western border county of Ohio.^[4] The village of North Star has a road sign stating it is near her place of birth.^[5] Her birthplace log cabin site is about five miles east of North Star.^[6] There is a stone-mounted plaque in the vicinity of the cabin site, placed by the Annie Oakley Committee.^[7] Image File history File links Miss-Annie-Oakley-peerless-wing-shot. ... Image File history File links Miss-Annie-Oakley-peerless-wing-shot. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (400x640, 42 KB) Full length photograph of Annie Oakley, noted American sharpshooter and show-woman, circa 1899. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (400x640, 42 KB) Full length photograph of Annie Oakley, noted American sharpshooter and show-woman, circa 1899. ... Darke County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... North Star is a village located in Darke County, Ohio. ...

Annie was the fifth of seven children. Her parents, Susan and Jacob Moses,^[8] were Quakers from Pennsylvania. A fire burned down their tavern so they moved to a rented farm in Patterson Township in Darke County. Her father, who had fought in the War of 1812, died in 1866 from pneumonia and overexposure in freezing weather. Susan Moses remarried, had another child, and was widowed a second time. 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 endured mental and physical abuse (Annie referred to them as "the wolves"). When she reunited with her family, her mother had remarried a third time. The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Patterson Township is a township in Darke County, Ohio. ... This article is about the U.S. – U.K. war. ... This article is about human pneumonia. ...

Partly because of poverty following the death of her father, and partly by preference, Annie did not regularly attend school. Later she received some additional education. Apparently, she could not spell her family's name since she later rendered it ending in "ee". Her family's surname, "Mosey", appears on her father's gravestone and in his military record; it is the official spelling by the Annie Oakley Foundation maintained by her living relatives.^[9] Annie began hunting at age nine to support her siblings and her widowed mother. She sold the hunting game to locals for money, and her skill eventually paid off the mortgage on her mother's house.

Debut and marriage

Annie soon became known throughout the region as a shotgun sharpshooter. During the spring of 1881, the Baughman and Butler shooting act was being performed in Cincinnati. Marksman Francis "Frank" E. Butler (1850-1926) placed a $100 bet ($2,000, adjusted for inflation) with hotel owner Jack Frost, that Butler could beat any local fancy shooter. The hotelier arranged a shooting match with Annie, age 21, to be held in ten days in a small town near Greenville, Ohio. Frank later said it was "18 miles from the nearest station" (about the distance from Greenville to North Star). After missing his 25th shot, Frank lost the match and the bet — a serendipitous irony that led him to become a well-known winner in backstage life. Frank began courting Annie, and they married on June 20, 1882. Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... Hotelier is a South Korean drama broadcast by MBC in 2001. ... Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States. ... is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Career and touring

Oakley and Butler lived in Cincinnati for a time, and she is believed to have taken her stage name from the city's neighborhood of Oakley, where they resided. At first, Oakley was Butler's assistant in his travelling show. Later, Butler realized that Oakley was more talented, so he became her assistant and business manager. Annie and Frank's personal and business success in handling celebrity is considered a model show business relationship even after more than a century.^{[citation needed]}

They joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1885. At 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, Oakley was given the nickname of "Watanya Cicilla" by fellow performer Sitting Bull, rendered "Little Sure Shot" in the public advertisements. Sitting Bull (Sioux: Tatanka Iyotake or Tatanka Iyotanka or Ta-Tanka I-Yotank, first named Slon-he, (Slow), (c. ...

During her first Buffalo Bill's show engagement, Oakley experienced a tense professional rivalry with rifle sharpshooter Lillian Smith. Smith promoted herself as younger and therefore more billable than Oakley. Oakley temporarily left the Buffalo Bill's show but returned after Smith departed. Lillian Francis Smith (b. ...

Oakley had initially responded to the show's age rivalry by removing six years from her promoted age. She could not remove any more years without making it seem that she was born out of wedlock after her father died. As it was, her promoted age led to perennial wrong calculations of her true age and the dates for some of her biographical events. For example, the 1881 spring shooting match with Butler occurred when she was a 21-year-old adult. However, that event is widely reported as occurring six years earlier in the fall, which also suggests a mythical teen romance with Butler.

In Europe, she performed before Queen Victoria and other crowned heads of state. Oakley had such good aim that, at his request, she knocked the ashes off a cigarette held by the Prince of Prussia, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II.^[10] The Annie Oakley Foundation suggests Annie was not the source of a widely-repeated sarcasm related to the event, "Some uncharitable people later ventured that if Annie would have shot Wilhelm and not his cigarette, she could have prevented World War I."^[10] Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ... The term prince, from the Latin root princeps, is used for a member of the highest ranks of the aristocracy or the nobility. ... For other uses, see Prussia (disambiguation). ... Wilhelm II of Prussia and Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern (January 27, 1859 - June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and the last King (König) of Prussia from 1888 - 1918. ...

In 1901, Oakley was badly injured in a railway crash, but she fully recovered after temporary paralysis and 5 spinal operations. She left the Buffalo Bill show and began a quieter acting career in a stage play written especially for her, The Western Girl. Following her injury and change of career, it only added to her legend that her shooting expertise continued to increase into her 60's.

Libel cases

In 1903, sensational cocaine prohibition stories were selling well. The newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst published a false story that Oakley had been arrested for stealing to support a cocaine habit. The woman actually arrested was a burlesque performer who told Chicago police that her name was "Annie Oakley". Oakley spent much of the next six years winning 54 of 55 libel lawsuits against newspapers. She collected less in judgements than were her legal expenses, but to her, a restored reputation justified the loss of time and money.^[11] Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ... For other people named William Randolph Hearst, see William Randolph Hearst (disambiguation) William Randolph Hearst I (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper magnate. ... Photograph of Sally Rand, 1934. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City 234. ...

Most of the newspapers that printed the story had relied on wire services, and upon learning of the libelous error they immediately retracted the false story with apologies. Hearst, however, tried to avoid paying the anticipated court judgments of $15,000 ($300,000, adjusted for inflation) by sending an investigator to Darke County with the intent of collecting reputation-smearing gossip from Annie's past. The investigator found nothing. Definition A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to organizations in the news trade: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. ...

Later years

Annie continued to set records into her 60s, and she also engaged in extensive, albeit quiet, philanthropy for women's rights and other causes, including the support of specific young women that she knew. She embarked on a comeback and intended to star in a movie. In a 1922 shooting contest in Pinehurst, North Carolina, sixty-two-year-old Annie hit 100 clay targets from 16 yards.^[12] Pinehurst is a village in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. ...

In late 1922, Oakley and Butler suffered a debilitating automobile accident that forced her to wear a steel brace on her right leg. Yet after a year and a half of recovery, she again performed and set records in 1924.^[13]

Her health declined in 1925. Annie Oakley died on November 3, 1926, of pernicious anemia, at age 66 and was buried in Brock Cemetery^[14] in Greenville, Ohio. Frank Butler was so crushed by her death that he stopped eating. He died just 20 days later. is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pernicious anemia (also known as Biermers anaemia or Addisons anaemia or Addison-Biermer anaemia) is a form of megaloblastic anaemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency dependent on impaired absorption of vitamin B12 in the setting of atrophic gastritis, and more specifically of loss of gastric parietal cells. ... Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States. ...

After her death it was discovered that her entire fortune had been spent on her family and her charities.

Representations on stage and screen

• In 1935, Barbara Stanwyck played Annie in a highly fictionalized film called Annie Oakley.
• The 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun is very loosely based on her life. The original stage production starred Ethel Merman, who also starred in the 1966 revival. A 1950 film version starred Betty Hutton. In 1999, Annie Get Your Gun was revived with Bernadette Peters in the title role. Susan Lucci took over the role after Peters left the show, and then followed by Reba McEntire.
• Some years after headlining the 1948 national tour, Mary Martin returned to the role for a 1957 NBC television special.
• From 1954 to 1956, Gail Davis played her in the Annie Oakley television series.
• In 1976, Geraldine Chaplin played Annie in Buffalo Bill and the Indians with John Considine as Frank Butler.
• In 1982, Diane Civita played Annie, opposite Richard Donner as Bill Cody, in an episode of Voyagers!, where, during Cody's performances before Queen Victoria, Annie engaged in a marksmanship contest with a Russian duke.
• In 1985, Jamie Lee Curtis offered a fresh portrayal in the "Annie Oakley" episode of the children's video series, Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends.
• In 2006, an episode of PBS's American Experience documented Oakley's life.
• In Michael Jackson's song Smooth-Criminal the chorus goes "Annie Are You OK?" witch is a refrence to her

Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress of film, stage, and screen . ... Annie Oakley is a 1935 biographical film about the life of Annie Oakley. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. ... Ethel Merman (January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was a Tony Award winning star of stage and film musicals, well known for her powerful voice and vocal range. ... Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg, February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007[1]) was an American film actress and singer. ... Bernadette Peters (born February 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. ... Susan Victoria Lucci (born December 23, 1946) is a Daytime Emmy Award winning actress. ... Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955) is a Grammy award winning American singer and country music performer, and actress. ... Mary Virginia Martin (b. ... This article is about the television network. ... Gail Davis as Annie Oakley Gail Davis (born October 5, 1925; died March 15, 1997) was an American actress. ... Annie Oakley was a Western television series which fictionalized the life of famous cowgirl Annie Oakley. ... Geraldine Chaplin (born July 31, 1944 in Santa Monica, California) is an Anglo-American actress. ... Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bulls History Lesson is a 1976 film directed by Robert Altman and starring Paul Newman as Buffalo Bill. ... This article is about the television actor. ... Actor Diane Cary has been featured in several TV shows. ... Voyagers! is a time travel-based television series broadcast in the 1982-1983 season on NBC, starting on October 3, 1982. ... This article is about the year. ... Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American film actress and an author of childrens books. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... American Experience (sometimes abbreviated AmEx) is a television program airing on the PBS network in the United States. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ...

Media

Annie Oakley shooting glass balls, 1894 Video clip of Annie Oakley exhibition shooting with a rifle (2.71 MB, ogg/Theora format).

Animated GIF files of Annie Oakley performing can be found here.

Annie Oakley shooting glass balls, 1894. ... ReBoot character, see Megabyte (ReBoot). ... Ogg is an open standard for a free container format for digital multimedia, unrestricted by software patents and designed for efficient streaming and manipulation. ... Theora is a video codec being developed by the Xiph. ...

See also

• Calamity Jane
• Lillian Smith (entertainer)
• Belle Starr

For the film, see Calamity Jane (1953 film) Calamity Jane at age 33. ... Lillian Francis Smith (b. ... Wood engraving from The National Police Gazette. ...

References

External links

• Annie Oakley - Biography by Dorchester County Public Library, Cambridge, MD, which has many additional details about Oakley's life but gives the wrong date for her marriage as provided by AOF[1]
• Annie Oakley Foundation's archived page "Tall Tales and the Truth"
• Annie Oakley Foundation's current web site "Mosey" research page
• Annie Oakley Research links — Virtual Museum of History
• Annie Oakley biography (Women in History)
• American Experience | Annie Oakley | People & Events | PBS (includes several myth errors in both the video production and the accompanying PBS web page)
• "Little Miss Sure Shot" - The Saga of Annie Oakley
• Short bio, pictures and the 1894 edison motion picture of Annie Oakley.
• Annie Oakley at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming