Annie Oakley is the first American woman to become a national star. An extraordinary accuracy and unwavering character helped her to conquer this peak, which repeatedly saved the girl in difficult situations. In general, her biography is a series of trials and phenomenal victories, which makes her story very fascinating for the modern reader.
Annie Oakley: An Early Biography
Annie's story begins with the difficulties that befell her parents. It just so happened that their home in Pennsylvania was burned to the ground and the young family had to urgently seek a new refuge. They became County Dark, which is located in the neighboring state of Ohio. It was here that on August 13, 1860, Annie Oakley was born.
It is worth noting the fact that Annie's parents were Quakers and, in addition to the girl herself, they raised five more children. Therefore, when in the winter of 1866, the head of the house, Jacob Mosi, died of pneumonia, the family found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. The mother could not feed all the children on her own, and therefore she gave the youngest daughter to foster parents.
As Annie Oakley herself later admits, these were the most severe days of her childhood. New parents forced a very young girl to work to exhaustion, but at the same time practically did not feed her. Fortunately, such "slavery" did not last long, since two years later her mother remarried and took her daughter home.
Unprecedented talent
However, it cannot be said that marriage brought wealth to the family. As before, they barely had enough money to provide themselves with food and clothing. Fortunately, hard times are pushing people to new ideas that can radically change their lives. It happened with Annie Oakley, who picked up her father’s musket to feed her family.
Thanks to firearms, she hunted ducks and deer, which were abundant in the area. The girl sold meat in the market, and eventually began to supply it to local bars and restaurants. Things went so well that Annie was able to save money and, by the age of fifteen, had fully paid off her mother's debt on the mortgage on the farm.
Fateful meeting
After her coming of age, Annie went to Cincinnati, as there were more opportunities. Here she quickly earned the fame of a well-aimed shooter, capable of hitting any target. And once Frank Butler visited this city - the famous shooter and showman. He loved the audience, and therefore he always made a bet: anyone who defeats him in shooting will be guaranteed to receive $ 100 in bonus.
Naturally, many tried to crush the dodger, but, alas, they were far from the master. And only Annie Oakley was able to fight with him on equal terms. Moreover, she beat Frank, as he missed the target on the 25th shot. Then she took her prize and left with her head held high.
And at that moment Frank Butler realized one important thing - he fell in love with this young lady. He knew only she could make him happy. Therefore, he began to care for Annie, and soon she gave up. June 20, 1882 a young pair of well-aimed shooters got married in a local church, after which their rapid take-off to the top of a stellar career began.
On the walks of fame
Annie Oakley achieved tremendous success thanks to performances in the Buffalo Bill show “Wild West”. The spectator saw the first number with the participation of a female shooter in 1885, then she shot an apple lying on the head of her husband. The furor was stunning, which allowed Annie to continue to perform in this show.
Moreover, each new issue became more and more complicated. So, she hit an ace of hearts exactly in the image of the heart in the middle. Then she began to extinguish the flame of the candle from her revolver. And in the end, she demonstrated miracles of rate of fire, hitting several times in the same target, as long as it was in the air.
Annie and The Sitting Bull
Talent Annie recognized by many. However, she was most proud of the fact that “Sitting Bull”, the leader of one of the Indian tribes of the Lakota people, was struck by her accuracy. He came to the Buffalo Bill show much earlier, but his numbers weren’t as brilliant as the others. The old Indian only had to do a lap of honor in the arena and sign autographs to everyone.
Nevertheless, Annie appreciated the leader's care. And in return, he gave her a real Native American name, which sounded like "Baby Accurate Shot." This choice was not accidental, since the girl’s height was slightly higher than 150 cm.
Severe Challenges
Annie Oakley was often invited to all sorts of holidays in order to amuse the crowd. Because of this, she spent most of her time traveling and traveling. And so in 1901 he got into a railway accident, which deprives the girl of the opportunity to move. Doctors made the most disappointing predictions, but she was not afraid of them. Having survived five major operations, Annie nevertheless gets to her feet, and soon again begins to shoot accurately at targets.
However, two years later, she was awaited by another test of fate. Notes appeared in the newspapers that the Western star was accused of stealing the goods with a view to its further exchange for cocaine. As it turns out later, the reason for this scandal was a fraudster who illegally appropriated the name of Annie Oakley. Nevertheless, the reputation of the arrow-girl managed to stagger, which affected her health badly.
Final story
But despite all the hardships, Annie to the very end was a strong and confident person. Even in her 60s, she aptly knocked out all targets at a distance of 15 meters. In addition, she worked diligently to eradicate inequality among men and women.
Alas, in the beginning of 1922, Annie and her husband again had an accident, this time in a car. The woman did not receive serious injuries, but after this incident her right leg stopped bending. In addition, injuries caused irreparable damage to health, and soon her organs began to fail one after another. Annie Oakley died on November 3, 1926 in Greenville, Ohio.