The most famous woman of the Wild West was also possibly the most colorful and mysterious. “Considered a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider for a girl of my age”, Calamity Jane claimed to be a veteran of the Indian Wars, a scout, and the wife of Wild Bill Hickok, all on the way to becoming a dime novel heroine. While all of those legends have stuck, it’s unclear to what extent if any they are actually true, and even her contemporaries doubted the authenticity of her statements. More than anything, people in frontier towns like Deadwood looked on with amusement at the girl who was more often than not drunk and was described by one of Wild Bill’s friends as “simply a notorious character, dissolute and devilish.” Her frequent drinking binges and her insistence that messing with her would “court calamity” had helped establish her nickname even before she arrived in Deadwood in the mid-1870s.
Ultimately, Calamity Jane’s tall tales, eccentric personality, and association with Wild Bill would all make her a popular figure in the last quarter of the 19th century, and she became so well known that she started taking part in traveling shows of the kind made famous by Buffalo Bill Cody, where spectators could hear her colorfully (and drunkenly) talk about her life in the Wild West, with each telling stretching the truth ever further. Her legacy continued to crystallize after her death and eventually turn her into a legend, immortalized in countless dime novels, books, TV and the silver screen, helping make some of her contemporaries and surroundings notorious as well.
America has always preferred heroes who weren’t clean cut, an informal ode to the rugged individualism and pioneering spirit that defined the nation in previous centuries. The early 19th century saw the glorification of frontier folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, and after the Civil War, the outlaws of the West were more popular than the marshals. Outlaws like Jesse James and Billy the Kid robbed and fought their way into dime novels, but one of the most notorious and unique outlaws of them all was Myra Maybelle Shirley, a Southern girl who knew her way around horses and guns. Through her associations with other outlaws like the Starr clan and the James and Younger gang, Shirley entered law enforcement’s radar herself.
Shirley would get her famous nickname Belle Starr as a result of marrying outlaw Sam Starr, and it was that name that found itself plastered all across Wanted posters in the West. Though she was a crack shot and a renowned rider, Belle Starr was usually engaged in “lesser” crimes like stealing horses, rustling, fencing stolen goods and hiding other outlaws. She also became infamous for rumors about the various outlaws she romanced, which allegedly included Cole Younger.
There was little about the childhood of Phoebe Ann Mosey that indicated that she would grow up to become Annie Oakley, one of the best sharpshooters the world has ever seen and an icon of the West. Her parents, Jacob and Susan, were Quakers who migrated from Pennsylvania to Darke County, Ohio after a fire destroyed their inn and their livelihood. Their daughter, who would become a national celebrity in her own life for “The Little Sure Shot of the West”, learned her gun skills out of necessity, using them to hunt for food around the Cincinnati area thousands of miles away from the dusty towns, saloons and shootouts that have become symbols the Wild West.
However, Annie would make her own mark by hitting so many marks back east, and by 18 she had made a name for herself by besting other sharpshooters, including Frank Butler, who performed a traveling act and became smitten by the young teen who beat him. Annie and Frank would marry when she was 16, and they continued to perform together until becoming part of Buffalo Bill’s famous show, where Annie became acquainted with other legends like Sitting Bull.
