Annie Oakley (nee Phoebe Ann Moses)
August
13, 1860 - Nov. 3, 1926
Annie Oakley 's life paralleled the rise and fall
of Wild West shows and she is undoubtedly one of the
best-known exponents of this bygone entertainment. Her life
was the stuff of legends. From humble Quaker origins in Darke County, Ohio, Annie rose to the heights of renown as a
world-famous entertainer and featured performer. Her
self-discipline, showmanship and legendary gifts as a
sharpshooter earned her the adulation of millions. She
excelled in a man's sport, with such developed skills during
a time when women weren't even allowed to vote, yet never
lost her feminine appeal.
As a performer, she spanned half a century, starting with
neighborhood turkey shoots, then touring the vaudeville
circuits and later joining the Sells Brothers Circus.
However, she achieved her greatest fame during her 17 years
with William F. Cody's unequaled Buffalo Bill's Wild West.
Her last public appearance was at Vandalia, Ohio, the
summer before she died.
Her life and legends have been pictured in movies, on
state and TV and in books. She was best known as a
disciplined performer, but to close friends, she was loved
as a gentle, generous woman--truly a beautiful person.
Written by the son of a friend, he relates:
"I can't think her skill with firearms was
the most important factor in causing the people of the
world to hold her in such esteem. It was the fine
unexplainable personality that gripped and held
them."
Annie with colleague, Texas Ben.
Annie as a purveyor of
game.
Photo of Buffalo Bill inscribed to
Annie Oakley.
In 1882, a famous Nebraskan dreamed of an
exhilarating outdoor entertainment.
William F. Cody, or "Buffalo Bill," as he was called, had
a life style that caught the imagination of a country
drifting into a mechanical age. Almost every American had
some friend or relative who had "gone West," and often those
who went West were not the greatest correspondents. There
was a great 'thirst' to learn more about what went on out
there in the new territories. Buffalo Bill was just the
person to supply this need with his exciting Wild West
spectacular.
The first outdoor show was held on July 4, 1882, in North
Platte, Nebraska.
January 10, 1917 brought the sad news of the death of
William F. Cody.
Annie Oakley's tribute to him was published shortly
afterward in the newspaper he had founded, the Cody
Enterprise:
He was the kindest, simplest, most loyal
man I ever knew. He was the staunchest friend. He was in
fact the personification of those sturdy and lovable
qualities that really made the West, and they were the
final criterion of all men.
I traveled with him for
seventeen years-there were thousands of men in the outfit
during that time, Comanches, cowboys, Cossacks, and every
kind of person. And the whole time we were one great
family loyal to him.
He called me "Missie," almost from
the first.
His heart never left the great West. He
could always be found sitting alone watching the sinking
sun, and at every opportunity he took the trail back to
his old home.The sun setting over the mountains will pay
its daily tribute to the resting place of the last of the
great builders of the West, all of which you loved and
part of which you were.
Sitting Bull is seated next to an
interpreter. Standing behind them are Crow Eagle, Buffalo Bill
and the naturalist W.H.H. Murray. Sitting on the floor is
Johnnie Baker. circa 1885
Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill,
1885
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