I think it’s time for men to write about brave women.The Wild West is synonymous with the age of conquest, adventurers and wanderers, bandits and revolvers, cowboys and Indians, bison hunters and sheriffs. Men were dominant in this period and it was assumed that they handled weapons well. However, there were also ladies who were also skilled with weapons, even so much so that they became living legends.
The Wild West is the name for the regions in the west of the United States of America at a time when they were inhabited from the east and when there was no territorial division. The ladies who entered the history of the Wild West and became its symbol were Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley.
Annie Oakley was a real star of the Wild West. She was a shooter and entertainer, who became famous for her precision in rifle shooting and performances in the Buffalo Bill circus.
She was born Phoebe Ann Mosey in 1860. Due to poverty and the untimely death of her father, she was taken to an orphanage, and then handed over to the family in which she served as a slave for almost two years, during which she was mentally and physically abused. In order to feed her brothers, sisters and mother, she started hunting at the age of eight. She sold her catch to local restaurants and hotels, and at the age of fifteen managed to raise money to buy the family farm.
Although she was known in the area as an excellent shooter, at the invitation of the hotel owner, she decided to engage in a duel with the star of the traveling show, Frank E. Butler. Until then, Frank was invincible and with the owner of the hotel he bet on victory. When he saw his opponent, he was even more convinced that he would win. After 25 hits, Frank missed and Annie took the win. He was fascinated by her skill and precision, considering that she was only a girl of about twenty. A year later, Annie and Frank were married.
The two started performing together. They soon joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Circus. Annie quickly gained popularity, although she was not the only woman in the circus, her rival was Lillian Smith. After three years of performing, she became the first female star in America. She earned more than any performer in the circus, except Bill himself.In Europe, she performed before Queen Victoria of England, King Umberto of Italy, as well as the then President of France. There is an anecdote that it hit the ashes of a cigarette held by the newly crowned German Emperor Wilhelm II.
She had an accident in which she injured her spine. She then left the Buffalo Bill circus. She continued her career performing in the theater. She played in a play written for her, the role of a girl from the Wild West who, with the help of a gun, a rifle and a lasso, outwit a group of outlaws. Despite a spinal injury, her precision shooting skills improved by her sixties.
She was a great shooter and showed skill and precision in her performances. She could hit a cigarette her husband was holding in her mouth, she would hit a coin thrown into the air, and with 30 steps she could hit a card thrown into the air several times before it fell to the ground. Also, with one bullet, she could put out the flame on the candle.She suffered another car accident, after which she had a hard time recovering. She died in 1926. Her husband Frank died of grief only 18 days after her. The two of them never had children. She left behind an unfinished autobiography, and left her wealth to her family and charities.
Annie was an activist and a fighter for women's rights. She advocated for women to be educated and independent. During her life, she trained more than 15,000 women to use weapons. She strongly believed that women should know how to use weapons, not only for mental and physical exercise, but also for self-defense. She said: "I would like every woman to know how to handle weapons as naturally as she can with babies." She believed that women should take part in the war, which is why she wrote a letter to President McKinley Jr. in which she offered him a company of women who would go to war. He declined the offer.
She was the personification of the cowgirl show. Through this play, she proved that women are as capable as men, when given the opportunity to prove it.
Annie was the first woman in America to have star status. During her life, cards called "Annie Oakley" were distributed in theaters, because such cards had holes in them, so they were reminiscent of Ena's punched cards in performances. She starred with Frank in the film "Precise Shot of the Wild West", in which her skill was immortalized. Today, her personal belongings are part of many museum exhibits throughout America, and her character is still an inspiration for many works of popular culture.
i think im