Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mosey or Moses on August 13, 1860 to her Quaker parents Jacob and Susan Mosey. Jacob and Susan had migrated from Pennsylvania and rented a farm in Darke County, Ohio. Annie was the sixth child of seven born to Susan Mosey. It was then Annie started learning how to use a gun, at age eight. Then, in 1866, Annie’s father died of pneumonia.
Annie’s mother was unable to take care of all her children, so she sent them all to the Darke County Infirmary. Annie learned schooling, sewing instruction, while also helping with the orphans while she was there, at age nine. When Annie was ten, she was a servant for this family; she helped with the baby and with the household chores. The family was abusive and Annie always referred to them as “the wolves.” Annie stayed with them for two years, and then she ran away, going back to her mother and new stepfather.
When Annie got back, at age 12, she was the provider for her family; she would hunt and kill animals so they could have a decent meal, but also to pay off her family’s mortgage on the farm. She shot quail and peasants easily in the head and sold them at Greenville, Ohio, to the restaurants and hotels there. She was gaining her reputation as an excellent shot, but she was successful and managed to pay off her family’s farm mortgage, all at age 15. Then, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at a Thanksgiving shooting competition and a show with the vaudevillian Frank Butler, he was surprised to find that his next opponent was a fifteen year old girl, five feet tall. Annie ended up winning the competition when Frank missed his 25th shot.
Frank had lost his heart to Annie, the fifteen year old girl, and they began a courtship. They eventually married, but there is difficulty deciding when they first met and when their marriage was. They wed in 1876, with their marriage certificate only in Windsor, Canada, dated 1882. There is a confusion of dates because Frank might not have been fully divorced from his first wife when Annie and he were married. Annie then joined Frank on his vaudeville performances.
Annie chose the name “Annie Oakley”, which was based off of her middle name and the name of Oakley, who was someone she had met or a neighborhood in the country Cincinnati. Annie grew so famous, that Frank realized she was bringing in more attention to herself then he ever could. He withdrew from being a vaudevillian. He decided to become Annie’s agent and not soon after, Frank made Annie noticed to Nate Salsbury. Nate was the producer of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
Annie and Frank then met “Buffalo Bill” Cody while he was performing at a circus in New Orleans. Frank and Buffalo Bill decided on a three day trial with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Annie and Frank were with the Wild West Show for sixteen seasons. Buffalo Bill called Annie “Li’l Miss” and he had Annie enter the show early so the audience who was watching could be used to the gunfire. When Annie was at 90 feet, she could shoot a dime, shoot a cork out of a bottle and make candle flames snuff out.
She also was able to shoot a card with the thin edge facing her each time. The theater started making free tickets, which they called “Annie Oakleys.” In 1885, Buffalo Bill asked Sitting Bull to perform with them and that’s when Annie and Sitting Bull met. Sitting Bull was a medicine man and spiritual leader, who had beat Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. He was asked to ride around as the “Show Indian”, which he didn’t like at all. One day, Sitting Bull asked Annie to meet him backstage after the show and Annie gave him an autographed picture of herself.
Sitting Bull gave her the moccasins he had worn at the Battle of Little Bighorn and gave her the nickname, “Wantanya Cicilla.” It meant, “Little Sure Shot.” When Sitting Bull became upset with his position, which was often, Buffalo Bill asked Annie to talk to him about it, but it didn’t work. He didn’t like touring and he returned to Standing Rock. Annie’s presence and persuading apparently didn’t work.
In 1887, Annie and the Wild West Show went to London to be part of the American Exhibition, which also joined with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. They performed in front of the royal family. During another performance, Queen Victoria ended up standing and bowing to the American flag when it entered the room. The performers were shocked, but they gave a cheer, showing their approval. They stayed in London for quite a while, till October.
In May 1888, they returned to the United States after tours in Manchester and Birmingham. Frank and Annie had left the show for reasons “too long to tell.” Together they toured with other various shows, also independently sometimes. In December, Annie was an actress in this movie called Deadwood Dick. But neither the theater nor the play was very good.
Annie and Frank joined back with the Wild West Show in Europe for a tour. They started with Exposition Universalle in France from May to October. They toured in many places, from southern France, Spain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. They returned to the states in 1890. They then returned to Europe and performed with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
Annie was so famous; she was earning more than any other person who worked at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Frank and Annie bought a house in Nutley, New Jersey. They used that house in between the tours they went on, which were one hundred and thirty towns. In 1894, Buffalo Bill, a few of his Indians and Annie were filmed by Thomas Edison at his Black Maria film studio in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Edison made them into nickelodeons.
They were called that because someone could watch the film at Kinetoscope parlors for only a nickel. On October 29, 1901, Annie and the rest of the vaudevillians were on a train headed to North Carolina to go to the last performance in Danville, Virginia. The train that Annie and Frank were on suddenly hit a south bound train due to a mistake at the switching station. After that, Annie retired, her hair was turning white and she had been touring for 20 years. Annie tried to take up acting again, with the film The Western Girl in 1902.
She wore a wig during the film to hide her actual hair color and she also gave shooting lessons at shooting clubs. Frank got a job as a representative for Union Metallic Cartridge Company. Annie and Frank were still able to do shooting exhibitions while selling the company’s items. In 1910, Frank and Annie were in Madison Square Garden, seeing the “The Two Bills Show.”, which had their friend, Buffalo Bill Cody and Pawnee Bill. They had merged their shows together.
Buffalo Bill begged Annie to join his show again, but she refused. But she did another tour with a different show until 1913, when she had had enough and fully retired. Buffalo Bill died on January 10, 1917 and Annie wrote a eulogy for him herself. They were still good friends. Frank and Annie started building a house for themselves in Cambridge, Maryland.
The house had a special roof that was made for Annie so she could shoot game from the Choptank River. They spent time in that house, but also in other resorts in Florida and North Carolina. They still hunted and practiced shooting. In 1922, Annie was performing a benefit show in Long Island, which got the rumor started she was making a comeback. But at age 62, Annie was in a car accident that fractured her ankle and hip.
The brace she had to wear kept her from acting, but she still practiced shooting and hunting. Four years would go by and her health would start declining. They returned to Ohio and on November 3, 1926, Annie died of pernicious anemia. She was 66 years old. Frank mourned her death and he quit eating, dying 18 days later. They are buried together in Greenville, Ohio.
Some ways Annie is remembered is by the musical Annie Get Your Gun, made by Irving Berlin. The musical started Ethel Merman, later Reba McEntire and Bernadette Peters. There is also another film called Annie Oakley, but it is said to be historically inaccurate. There are a number of books about Annie for children and adults.
Sources:http://visitdarkecounty.org/about-us/history
http://www.biography.com/people/annie-oakley-9426141
http://www.historynet.com/annie-oakley
http://www.rnh.com/bio/10/Oakley-Annie
Enclosed at the bottom is a wordsearch on Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mosey or Moses on August 13, 1860 to her Quaker parents Jacob and Susan Mosey. Jacob and Susan had migrated from Pennsylvania and rented a farm in Darke County, Ohio. Annie was the sixth child of seven born to Susan Mosey. It was then Annie started learning how to use a gun, at age eight. Then, in 1866, Annie’s father died of pneumonia.
Annie’s mother was unable to take care of all her children, so she sent them all to the Darke County Infirmary. Annie learned schooling, sewing instruction, while also helping with the orphans while she was there, at age nine. When Annie was ten, she was a servant for this family; she helped with the baby and with the household chores. The family was abusive and Annie always referred to them as “the wolves.” Annie stayed with them for two years, and then she ran away, going back to her mother and new stepfather.
When Annie got back, at age 12, she was the provider for her family; she would hunt and kill animals so they could have a decent meal, but also to pay off her family’s mortgage on the farm. She shot quail and peasants easily in the head and sold them at Greenville, Ohio, to the restaurants and hotels there. She was gaining her reputation as an excellent shot, but she was successful and managed to pay off her family’s farm mortgage, all at age 15. Then, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at a Thanksgiving shooting competition and a show with the vaudevillian Frank Butler, he was surprised to find that his next opponent was a fifteen year old girl, five feet tall. Annie ended up winning the competition when Frank missed his 25th shot.
Frank had lost his heart to Annie, the fifteen year old girl, and they began a courtship. They eventually married, but there is difficulty deciding when they first met and when their marriage was. They wed in 1876, with their marriage certificate only in Windsor, Canada, dated 1882. There is a confusion of dates because Frank might not have been fully divorced from his first wife when Annie and he were married. Annie then joined Frank on his vaudeville performances.
Annie chose the name “Annie Oakley”, which was based off of her middle name and the name of Oakley, who was someone she had met or a neighborhood in the country Cincinnati. Annie grew so famous, that Frank realized she was bringing in more attention to herself then he ever could. He withdrew from being a vaudevillian. He decided to become Annie’s agent and not soon after, Frank made Annie noticed to Nate Salsbury. Nate was the producer of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
Annie and Frank then met “Buffalo Bill” Cody while he was performing at a circus in New Orleans. Frank and Buffalo Bill decided on a three day trial with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Annie and Frank were with the Wild West Show for sixteen seasons. Buffalo Bill called Annie “Li’l Miss” and he had Annie enter the show early so the audience who was watching could be used to the gunfire. When Annie was at 90 feet, she could shoot a dime, shoot a cork out of a bottle and make candle flames snuff out.
She also was able to shoot a card with the thin edge facing her each time. The theater started making free tickets, which they called “Annie Oakleys.” In 1885, Buffalo Bill asked Sitting Bull to perform with them and that’s when Annie and Sitting Bull met. Sitting Bull was a medicine man and spiritual leader, who had beat Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. He was asked to ride around as the “Show Indian”, which he didn’t like at all. One day, Sitting Bull asked Annie to meet him backstage after the show and Annie gave him an autographed picture of herself.
Sitting Bull gave her the moccasins he had worn at the Battle of Little Bighorn and gave her the nickname, “Wantanya Cicilla.” It meant, “Little Sure Shot.” When Sitting Bull became upset with his position, which was often, Buffalo Bill asked Annie to talk to him about it, but it didn’t work. He didn’t like touring and he returned to Standing Rock. Annie’s presence and persuading apparently didn’t work.
In 1887, Annie and the Wild West Show went to London to be part of the American Exhibition, which also joined with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. They performed in front of the royal family. During another performance, Queen Victoria ended up standing and bowing to the American flag when it entered the room. The performers were shocked, but they gave a cheer, showing their approval. They stayed in London for quite a while, till October.
In May 1888, they returned to the United States after tours in Manchester and Birmingham. Frank and Annie had left the show for reasons “too long to tell.” Together they toured with other various shows, also independently sometimes. In December, Annie was an actress in this movie called Deadwood Dick. But neither the theater nor the play was very good.
Annie and Frank joined back with the Wild West Show in Europe for a tour. They started with Exposition Universalle in France from May to October. They toured in many places, from southern France, Spain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. They returned to the states in 1890. They then returned to Europe and performed with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
Annie was so famous; she was earning more than any other person who worked at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Frank and Annie bought a house in Nutley, New Jersey. They used that house in between the tours they went on, which were one hundred and thirty towns. In 1894, Buffalo Bill, a few of his Indians and Annie were filmed by Thomas Edison at his Black Maria film studio in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Edison made them into nickelodeons.
They were called that because someone could watch the film at Kinetoscope parlors for only a nickel. On October 29, 1901, Annie and the rest of the vaudevillians were on a train headed to North Carolina to go to the last performance in Danville, Virginia. The train that Annie and Frank were on suddenly hit a south bound train due to a mistake at the switching station. After that, Annie retired, her hair was turning white and she had been touring for 20 years. Annie tried to take up acting again, with the film The Western Girl in 1902.
She wore a wig during the film to hide her actual hair color and she also gave shooting lessons at shooting clubs. Frank got a job as a representative for Union Metallic Cartridge Company. Annie and Frank were still able to do shooting exhibitions while selling the company’s items. In 1910, Frank and Annie were in Madison Square Garden, seeing the “The Two Bills Show.”, which had their friend, Buffalo Bill Cody and Pawnee Bill. They had merged their shows together.
Buffalo Bill begged Annie to join his show again, but she refused. But she did another tour with a different show until 1913, when she had had enough and fully retired. Buffalo Bill died on January 10, 1917 and Annie wrote a eulogy for him herself. They were still good friends. Frank and Annie started building a house for themselves in Cambridge, Maryland.
The house had a special roof that was made for Annie so she could shoot game from the Choptank River. They spent time in that house, but also in other resorts in Florida and North Carolina. They still hunted and practiced shooting. In 1922, Annie was performing a benefit show in Long Island, which got the rumor started she was making a comeback. But at age 62, Annie was in a car accident that fractured her ankle and hip.
The brace she had to wear kept her from acting, but she still practiced shooting and hunting. Four years would go by and her health would start declining. They returned to Ohio and on November 3, 1926, Annie died of pernicious anemia. She was 66 years old. Frank mourned her death and he quit eating, dying 18 days later. They are buried together in Greenville, Ohio.
Some ways Annie is remembered is by the musical Annie Get Your Gun, made by Irving Berlin. The musical started Ethel Merman, later Reba McEntire and Bernadette Peters. There is also another film called Annie Oakley, but it is said to be historically inaccurate. There are a number of books about Annie for children and adults.
Sources:http://visitdarkecounty.org/about-us/history
http://www.biography.com/people/annie-oakley-9426141
http://www.historynet.com/annie-oakley
http://www.rnh.com/bio/10/Oakley-Annie
Enclosed at the bottom is a wordsearch on Annie Oakley
Frank Butler
Another picture of the famous Annie Oakley.
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