Annie Oakley

Phoebe Ann Moses was born August13, 1860, in a log cabin in Ohio. Annie, (as she was called),
was the sixth of seven kids in her family. Both of her parents were Quakers, and while her
mother was home with the kids, Annies dad was away fighting in the war of 1812, and later died
of pneumonia. Her mother then sent Annie and her older sister Sarah Ellen, to an infirmary
because of the lack of money after her fathers death. They were put in the care of the
superintendent, and his wife taught them to how to sew and decorate. Then she was bound out
by a couple who needed some help with their newborn baby. She was promised 50 cents a week
and an education, but instead they treated her like their slave and beat her. Once she accidently
fell asleep on some darning, and they punished her by putting her outside in the freezing cold
without shoes are socks. She referred to them as the Wolves. Then in 1872, she reunited with
her family.
When Annie was eight years old, she started shooting and hunting animals to support her
brothers and sisters and her widowed Mom. She sold her game for money, and eventually paid
off the mortgage on her mothers farm when she was just 15.
In 1875, Annie competed in a Thanksgiving shooting competition and beat the top shooter
and touring marksmen, Frank E. Butler. Not long after that, they fell in love and got married in
1876, when Annie was only 15 years old. On 1882, Butlers shooting partner became sick, so
Annie filled in and started touring with him. In 1885, they both joined Buffalo Bills Wild West
Show, and in the public advertisements, she was referred to as Little Sure shot, because she
was only 5 feet tall. Annie met a native-American leader by the name of Sitting Bull. He was so

impressed by her skills that he adopted her, and gave her the nickname Watanya Cecilia.
Because of Annies skill and popularity, her husband let her have the spotlight and just managed
the act instead. She adopted the professional name Oakley, because her home town was Oakley,
Ohio.
There was a tense rivalry between Annie and another sharpshooter named Lillian Smith.
Annie temporarily left the Wild West show, but soon came back after she heard that Lillian had
left the show. Annie became famous internationally; she preformed for Queen Victoria, Marie
Franois Sadi Carnot, president of France and even knocked the ashes off German king Keiser
Wilhelms cigarette! Annie preformed many daring and unbelievable tricks. She could shoot the
thin edge of a playing card from 30 yards away, and shoot it 6 more times as it was falling to the
ground, shoot distant targets by looking in a mirror, shoot a small coin thrown in the air 75
meters away, snuffing candles with a single bullet, and even shooting the corks off of bottles.
Annie Oakley is considered by many Americas first superstar.
Even when Annie earned a lot of money, she believed in being frugal and not wasting
valuable things that could be reused. There were stories that she would siphon off lemonade from
Butlers pitcher and take it back to her own tent. Annie gave most of the money she earned to
orphan charities, her mother and Butlers daughters.
Annie strongly promoted women joining United States Armed Forces. She even wrote to
President McKinley saying that lady-sharpshooters should help fight in the war, but McKinley
turned her down. So Annie raised money for the Red Cross by giving shooting demonstrations at
army camps around the country. Annie left the show, and then came back for a triumphal 3 year
tour of Europe.

In 1901, Annie was in a near fatal train accident and had to have 5 spinal operations. Then
she quit the Buffalo Bill show in 1902, and began a quiet acting career in a play written just for
her, called The Western Girl. Throughout her career, it is believed that she taught over 15,000
women how to use a gun. She thought it was very important for a woman to know how to shoot a
gun. She believed it was a form of mental and physical exercise. She said: "I would like to see
every woman know how to handle guns as naturally as they know how to handle babies."
In 1904 there was a false story published, saying that she was stealing to support a cocaine
habit. The person, who was actually arrested, was a performer stating that she was Annie Oakley.
Annie retired in 1913, in Pinehurst North Carolina, but still was active. She gave shooting
lessons to women and preformed in charity events.