francene--blog. Year 2013
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Nov 23rd

11/23/2013

 
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A shotgun once owned by Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley is expected to fetch between £60,000 and £100,00 ($96,546 - $160,910) at auction. The 1893 16-gauge Parker hammer shotgun is thought to be Oakley’s first proper gun and came to be one of her favorites. However, anyone who buys the gun is only purchasing a trophy, not the skill behind the eyes, the steady aim and the true heart.

Like an athlete today, Annie Oakley's competence gave her the opportunity to entertain, become famous and even tour the world. She used the shotgun to wow audiences around the world for 20 years.

Born to a poor family, she taught herself how to shoot her grandfather's gun after her father's death and began hunting for food. She could shoot the animals without ruining the important parts of the meat, and she then sold them to the people in her town. When she was fifteen years old, she had made enough money to pay for her family's farm.

At sixteen years old, she was invited to a shooting contest with a famous marksman.  Frank Butler claimed that he could shoot better than anyone else. Annie surprised everyone when she won the competition by shooting all twenty-five targets, while her competitor was only able to shoot twenty-four of them. Perhaps their shooting abilities attracted them to one another, because Annie and Frank married in 1876.


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In 1882, Annie took the name Oakley. She and Frank Butler started putting on shows together, demonstrating their abilities to shoot a gun.  Frank Butler was the star of the show and Annie Oakley was his assistant. However, sometimes she did her own shooting.  Two years later, Annie Oakley met the famous Native American chief, Sitting Bull, at a performance and they became friends. He gave her the name "Little Sure Shot" because of her shooting ability and because she was only one and one-half meters tall.

In 1885, they joined "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" where Annie starred and Frank acted as her assistant for 16 years. In 1887, Buffalo Bill took the whole Wild West show to Europe. Amongst their many appearances, they performed in England for Queen Victoria.  Annie Oakley received a lot of attention. The newspapers wrote stories about her and she took part in many shooting contests where she drew huge crowds with her remarkable skills.

The Wild West show returned to Europe two years later. By this time, Annie Oakley had become even more famous. The Wild West show performed in Paris, France, for six months. Then the performers traveled to Germany, Italy and Spain. In Germany, the Crown Prince asked Oakley to shoot the ashes off of a cigarette that he held in his mouth, as she famously had done with her husband.  She asked the Prince to hold the cigarette in his hand instead and did the trick easily.


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In 1901, Annie Oakley was in a show train crash that badly injured her back. After five operations, Annie left the Wild West show and they built a home in Cambridge, Maryland after which she took up acting.

Her skill, born of necessity and forged with determination made Annie Oakley a worldwide household name. Others might curse the trials that plague them, but it takes strength of character to rise above hardship and burn a brand on the hide of the world.

Or have the honor of being featured on a stamp.



Clovia Hamilton link
11/22/2013 07:38:14 pm

Thanks for sharing this Francene! I did not know Annie Oakley got her start at 16. I started working at 16 too.

Francene Stanley link
11/22/2013 09:35:28 pm

I took my first job at the same age. We're the leaders, aren't we?

Lisa Mallis link
11/22/2013 07:50:06 pm

Great post! I always learn something new when I stop by! My favorite part of the post is, "Her skill, born of necessity and forged with determination made Annie Oakley a worldwide household name. Others might curse the trials that plague them, but it takes strength of character to rise above hardship and burn a brand on the hide of the world."

I just copied this down on an index card to look at daily!

Francene Stanley link
11/22/2013 09:36:26 pm

Thanks for the honor, Lisa. I'm so glad you found my words an inspiration.

Sophie Bowns link
11/23/2013 01:15:51 am

16? Gosh, that's young. Still, I suppose people did not live as long back then!

Francene Stanley link
11/23/2013 02:36:09 am

Poor Annie was already feeding her family and she'd bought their property. I'd say she was mature enough to marry. Looks like the union lasted too, despite celebrity status. Not like stars nowadays.

Alana link
11/23/2013 07:48:40 am

I enjoyed this piece of American history. Men (and women) in those days of the American West had to grow up fast - they had big responsibilities at an early age. One other interesting fact about Oakley is that she volunteered to train a regiment of female sharpshooters but was ignored. She was a philanthropist in her later life. Her marriage must have been a real love match, as her husband died shortly after she did.

Francene Stanley link
11/23/2013 06:21:52 pm

Thanks for adding to Annie's story, Alana. She might have been ahead of her time, but it looks as if men adopted the same old approach and held her back.


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    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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