Frontier Legends | Annie Oakley | 5

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0:18American History Tellers:Imagine it's November 1875 in Cincinnati, Ohio. You're a traveling sharpshooter, and for several months now, you've been making your way across the Midwest vaudeville circuit. If there's a crowd and prize money involved, you'll take part in just about anything that involves a gun, from trick shot displays to exhibitions to shooting matches. Today, you're at the local shooting hill, where you're expecting to impress the crowd by skillfully shooting down clay pigeons more quickly and accurately than your opponent before collecting your winnings and moving on. Your match is about to start, so you find a seat on a nearby bench and begin methodically cleaning your shotgun.

0:55American History Tellers:You notice a man approaching, and as he gets closer, you recognize him as Jack Frost, a local hotel owner and the organizer of today's event. He claps his hands together, excited for the match he set up for you. Oh, how are you feeling? Nervous? Jack, I've never lost a shooting match in my life. Well, that is a first time for everything, you know. Not today. You stand and confidently snap the barrel of the shotgun close. Honestly, I still can't believe you're offering me$100 for this match. That's enough for me to keep traveling for another six months. Well, that's assuming if you win. Don't underestimate me.

1:30American History Tellers:These local boys don't stand a chance. Oh, sounds like your audience is awaiting. You straighten your vest and start walking in the direction of the crowd. Oh, by the way, your opponent, it's not a local boy. You stand and look at him. His grin worries you. Oh, yeah? Who is it then? Oh, you'll see. You arrive at the other side of the hill where hundreds of people are gathered. Across the way, you see a young girl in a plain dress, no more than five feet tall, with a shotgun in her hand. And who's that? That, my friend, is your competition. She can't be more than 15 years old, no taller than an apple barrel.

2:10American History Tellers:How's she even going to lift her gun? Are you joking me? I never joke when it comes to money. Frost pats you on the shoulder before disappearing into the crowd. You turn back to the girl, trying to shake off your confusion. You give her a polite nod as you step up to take the first shot. As the clay pigeon is released, you aim your shotgun high and pull the trigger, easily managing to hit it. Then you step back. The next clay pigeon soars through the air and you watch as the girl raises her shotgun and hits it with a perfect shot. You're surprised at how effortlessly she handles her weapon, but then just chalk it up to beginner's luck.

2:48American History Tellers:Still, as the contest proceeds, the girl hits her target again and again, and you have to admit, not only is she incredibly accurate, she's actually quicker than you. A flutter of nerves seizes you as you realize you're about to lose to a teenage girl, but at the same time, you find her captivating. You've never seen anyone like her, and before long, you're no longer worried about the prize money. you're more interested in getting to know this remarkable young sharpshooter.

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4:01American History Tellers:And I tell you, this manifesto, it scares the hell out of me. Listen to Dan Taberski's Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts or binge the entire series right now, only with Audible.

4:22American History Tellers:From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers, our history, your story.

4:47American History Tellers:On a cold November day in Cincinnati, Ohio, a precocious young woman effortlessly outshot her unsuspecting opponent, the older professional marksman Frank Butler. She'd later be known to the world as Annie Oakley, and from that day forward, the trajectory of her life would change forever. Oakley was born into poverty in rural Ohio, and as a young girl, she had picked up her father's gun to hunt and help support the family. But after the shooting match with Frank Butler, she discovered that people would pay to see her shoot. Soon, Annie Oakley was selling out tickets wherever she went. The public was fascinated by her, a young woman who defied convention and could shoot better than any man.

5:27American History Tellers:But Oakley's legendary status was a product of more than just her marksmanship. She also knew how to sell herself and did it well. In time, the real Annie faded into the background, overshadowed by the persona she'd crafted for the masses. And in the process, she became one of the last enduring symbols of the Wild West, even as that mythic place was fading into the past. This is Episode 5 in our five-part series on frontier legends, Annie Oakley.

5:58American History Tellers:Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Moses in 1860 in western Ohio. Her parents, Jacob and Susan, were devout Quakers who had come to Ohio from Pennsylvania to farm their own land. Annie was their fourth daughter, and like all her siblings, she helped around the farm to earn her keep. But unlike her older sisters, Annie didn't care much for household chores. Still, her family was poor, which meant that they had to supplement their farming by hunting. and extra eyes in the woods were always helpful. So as early as five years old, Annie went out hunting with her father, Jacob, and he taught her how to trap small animals for food.

6:34American History Tellers:That same year, in the winter of 1865, Annie's father went into town to buy supplies and got caught in a blizzard coming home. It was midnight when he returned, and by then he was so cold that his hands were frozen solid. Three months later, at the age of 67, he died, leaving his wife Susan and their seven children with practically nothing. Newly widowed, Susan moved her large family into a smaller home where they struggled to make ends meet. Annie tried to trap like her father had shown her, but she couldn't catch enough to feed her large family. So one day, when she was eight, she went into the living room where her father's old rifle was mounted above the fireplace.

7:14American History Tellers:She took it down, then found the gunpowder. But she didn't know how much she was supposed to use, so she simply stuffed as much as she could into the barrel of the gun. Then she went outside and balanced the rifle along the railing of the family's porch. In the yard, she saw a rabbit. She squinted with one eye, took aim, and pulled the trigger. The kickback was so intense that the butt of the gun hit her square in the nose. She yelped in pain, but it was worth it. She had gotten a clean headshot, meaning the rest of the meat could be preserved for food. On her very first shot, she proved she was a natural, and Annie soon came to love hunting.

7:52American History Tellers:Her mother was appalled at the idea of her daughter shooting animals, but no matter what Susan said, Annie kept at it, often skipping school to go quail shooting. But money was still tight, and when Annie was about 10, her mother made the painful decision to send some of the children, including Annie, to live with other people. So Annie went to live with a couple who had a newborn and needed help with child care. But Annie soon discovered that in addition to watching the baby, she was expected to cook and clean, milk the cows, feed the farm animals, pump water, and hunt and trap game. The couple treated Annie so terribly that she would later refer to them simply as the wolves.

8:29American History Tellers:And their treatment of her only got worse as time went on. As well as working her half to death, they were physically abusive, locking her in closets and once throwing her outside in freezing temperatures after she fell asleep while mending clothes. According to Annie, she felt like she was their slave. Unable to take it any longer, when she was 12 years old, Annie ran away from the wolves and went to the country poorhouse where the superintendent and his wife took her in. When the wolves came looking for her, the superintendent turned them away, and Annie vowed never again to allow herself to feel so helpless.

9:03American History Tellers:About three years later, when Annie was 15, she returned home to her mother. Susan had remarried, but the family was still desperately poor. To help her family get by, Annie once again picked up her father's old rifle and went into the woods to hunt. As a child, she enjoyed hunting as a hobby, but now it became a way of life. She studied the habits of different animals and learned where she could find them. She became especially adept at shooting quail. No easy feat because of their small size and speed, but she enjoyed the challenge. She preferred taking her shot when her target was on the move, later saying that she wanted to at least give the animals a fighting chance.

9:41American History Tellers:And as a bonus, it greatly improved her hand-eye coordination, leading her to develop lightning-fast reflexes. Soon, Annie was bagging so many quail that her family couldn't possibly eat them all, so she decided to try another way to earn her keep.

9:59American History Tellers:Imagine it's just after dawn in 1875 in Greenfield, Ohio. You're a grocer and you're restocking the shelves of your store, getting ready to open for the day. You've just finished arranging a display of canned peas when you hear a knock on the door. We're closed. We don't open for another hour. I said we're closed. You sigh as you walk to the front of the store, annoyed. But outside you see a young girl, skinny as a rail and barely big enough to be carrying the large burlap sack she has slung over her shoulder. She motioned for you to open the door. Miss, we're not open yet. Come back in an hour.

10:35American History Tellers:But sir, you don't remember me? I'm Annie Moses. You told me last week that I could come back with whatever I managed to shoot in the woods. You squinted her. Oh, right. Little Annie Moses. I figured you're kidding around about that. I didn't think a girl your age would actually be serious about hunting anything. Annie just smiles and drops the heavy burlap sack at your feet. Well, sir, I was dead serious. And here's the best game you'll find in the county. You shot all this yourself? Yes, sir. Where's your father? He passed a few years ago. Oh, my condolences. It's all right. He taught me a little before he died.

11:09American History Tellers:After that, I taught myself. You crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder. You don't want to hurt her feelings. She is just a little girl after all. Well, listen, Annie. I already buy from experienced men, hunters who've been doing this for 20 years. It's nothing against you. Just look at what I brought. Before you can stop her, she unties the sack. She reaches inside and pulls out a quail. The bird is spotless, except for a tiny hole through its head. See, I didn't even use birdshot. You shot that with a rifle. Yes, sir. Well, lucky shot then. No, sir. Every single one of them is the same.

11:43American History Tellers:You glance into the bag to confirm. Well, I'll be darned. She's telling the truth. Every bird in the bag is a perfect kill. She's not just a talented hunter. She's a bona fide sharpshooter. Well, most hunters ruin half the meat, but this, the hotels in Cincinnati are going to be fighting each other for birds like these. So you'll buy them? I'll take the whole lot. And if I bring you more? Annie, if you bring me game this clean, I'll buy every piece you haul through the door. Thank you, sir. I won't let you down. You bid her goodbye so you can finish getting ready for the day. But you have a real pep in your step.

12:20American History Tellers:This girl has just opened a whole new market to you. If you're right, the Cincinnati hoteliers will be banging down your door for her expertly shot game.

12:33American History Tellers:After presenting a local grocer with her goods, Annie was soon making enough money to pay off her mother's mortgage, an accomplishment she was incredibly proud of. and it made it official Annie was now the family breadwinner, earning her living with a gun. One of the hotel owners in Cincinnati who bought Annie's game was a man named Jack Frost. He was so impressed with Annie's skills that later he set up a shooting match between her and a professional sharpshooter named Frank Butler. Butler, an Irish immigrant in his mid-twenties, was just starting to make a name for himself as a marksman. And when Frost first proposed the match, Butler balked at the idea that anyone could outshoot him.

13:09American History Tellers:Still, he agreed to the challenge and planned to easily walk away with a$100 prize. But when he arrived at the competition site, Butler was surprised to learn that his opponent would be a young girl. And as they began to shoot, he quickly noticed Annie's remarkable skill. In the end, she managed 25 shots to his 24, beating him fair and square. For most, a loss like that would have been humiliating, but Butler barely seemed to notice. By the time the match was over, he was so smitten with Annie that he didn't care he'd lost. Instead, Butler immediately began courting her. She liked his French poodle, George, so Butler flirted by sending her letters he claimed were signed by the dog.

13:50American History Tellers:Before long, Butler's humorous approach had won her over, and they were married a year after they met in 1876, when Annie was 16 and Butler was 26. For the next six years, they traveled across the country while Butler performed on the vaudeville circuit, But despite Annie's obvious prowess with a gun, Butler already had a partner for his act, so Annie remained behind the scenes. But that all changed one day in 1882, when Butler's partner fell ill and Annie stepped in to help with the show. Initially, she just stood in as Butler's assistant, holding targets for him. But although she was now 22 years old, her small stature and delicate features meant that to the audience, she still looked like a little girl.

14:32American History Tellers:But even with Annie acting just as his assistant, for some reason, that night Butler was thrown off his usual game and kept missing shots. Finally, a spectator heckled him, shouting to let Annie shoot instead. Knowing his wife's hidden talents, Butler agreed, and Annie stepped up. No one in the audience expected much of her, but then she hit one target, then another, and another. The crowd whooped and hollered, eating it up as she hit every target every time. Butler knew a good thing when he saw it, and he soon got rid of his old partner and instead started touring with Annie as the other half of his act.

15:07American History Tellers:Embracing her new role as a performer, she decided to adopt a stage name, eventually landing on the one she liked most, Annie Oakley. And with her new name would come an entirely new persona. Oakley was determined to shed her poor country girl past and become a new woman. But reinventing herself wouldn't be as simple as picking up a shotgun and showing off her trick shots. She would have to convince the public that she was more than just a girl fooling around with a gun. She was ready to make her mark on the world.

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16:48American History Tellers:By the mid-1880s, Annie Oakley had eclipsed her husband, Frank Butler, and become the star of their show. Even though she and Butler shared equal billing, Oakley was the one who really knew how to play to a crowd, endearing herself to audiences as they traveled the country on the vaudeville circuit. Oakley was determined to perform on her own terms. While many women in vaudeville shows appeared in scantily clad outfits, Oakley set herself apart by designing her own conservative costumes, featuring a calf-length skirt, leggings, and a long-sleeved top. Deep down, she was still a devout Quaker girl from Ohio, and she wanted her stage outfits to reflect that.

17:27American History Tellers:Oakley's demure and ladylike appearance was not an act, but she still had fun with it. She delighted audiences by blowing kisses to the crowds and pouting like a little girl, appearing to sulk after she missed a shot, even when it was intentional. She was a savvy performer who took advantage of her novelty as a woman sharpshooter while still playing to the social norms of the time. And that combination thrilled audiences, They'd never seen anyone like her. Oakley became best known for her skills with a shotgun, but she also used a rifle or pistols whenever a particular stunt called for it. Her specialty was hitting small targets from a distance, like when she would shoot the flame of a candle, snuffing it out, or shoot corks from the top of bottles.

18:07American History Tellers:To really put the audience on the edge of their seat, she would shoot a cigarette straight out of Butler's mouth. One night in March 1884, while Oakley and Butler were performing in St. Paul, Minnesota, their audience included the famous Lakota chief Sitting Bull. He was technically a prisoner of the U.S. government, blamed for the murder of General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn eight years earlier. But he was permitted to travel the country to attend certain events as long as he was accompanied by an Indian agent, as he was that evening. So sitting there in the audience, Sitting Bull was mesmerized by Oakley.

18:42American History Tellers:Not just her shooting abilities, but also her spirited demeanor. After the performance, he sent$65 to her hotel asking for an autographed picture. She sent back a signed photo but refused to take his money. Instead, she called on him the next morning personally. They became such good friends after their first meeting that he symbolically adopted her as a gesture of deep affection and admiration. And as part of that adoption, he gave her the Lakota name Wantanya Sisilla, or Little Shore Shot. After Oakley and Butler's performance in Minnesota, they managed to secure a 40-week gig with the Sells Brothers Circus, one of the most popular traveling shows in the country.

19:21American History Tellers:For the better part of 1884, the couple traveled all over, honing their act. But at the end of the year, the season came to a close in New Orleans. With their contract up, they knew that unless they could find something else, they would have to go back to the vaudeville circuit. But luckily for them, at the same time the circus entered New Orleans, a new show had come to town, Buffalo Bill's Wild West. The owner and ringleader of that show was William Buffalo Bill Cody, a famous frontiersman who had turned from hunting bison and serving as a scout for the U.S. military to show business. In 1883, he created a dramatized Wild West show to capitalize on the nostalgia for the frontier past.

19:59American History Tellers:The show was the first of its kind, although many copycats would soon emerge. Unlike traditional theater, Cody's Wild West show featured real Native Americans and cowboys who recreated famous battles in the Plains Indians Wars, including some Cody had been part of in his youth. It was a lavish production, which included elaborately choreographed shootouts and stagecoach attacks, and audiences flocked to the show, eager to get a taste of what life on the old frontier would have felt like, all from the safety of their seats. To Oakley, it seemed like a dream job. She and Butler could leave the vaudeville circuit for a stable position in a different kind of production, one they considered more legitimate.

20:38American History Tellers:and they might be able to earn a better living, meaning Annie could help support her family back in Ohio, with whom she remained close. So she wasted no time and applied, presenting herself as the main attraction and butler as her assistant. Initially, Cody turned her down, saying Oakley's fee was too high and that he doubted her stamina as a woman. Not only that, he already had a sharpshooter in his troop, the star marksman Captain Adam Bogardus. But luckily for Oakley, Only a few months later, Bogardus unexpectedly quit. So in April 1885, 24-year-old Oakley officially joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, with Butler accompanying her as her full-time manager and assistant.

21:20American History Tellers:By now, he knew that she was the star, and that the best thing for both of them was to let her shine. But initially, Cody put Oakley low on the billing, until after her first few performances, when even Cody couldn't deny that she was a crowd favorite. He moved her up to the first act after the opening procession. That season, 150 ,000 people saw Oakley perform, and there was another star drawing people in, one she was happy to share the stage with, her friend Sitting Bull, who joined the show for a four-month stint. His act wasn't strenuous. He merely appeared as himself, the famous or infamous to many white spectators, Lakota chief whose warriors destroyed Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

22:02American History Tellers:But for Oakley, as part of Buffalo Bill's show, her act became more complex and exciting. Up to that point, one of her most impressive tricks was splitting a playing card that had been turned sideways, but she soon started incorporating moving targets into her act, reminiscent of her time as a child shooting quail on the fly. In one of her stunts, after a clay target was released into the air, she would leap over a table, grab her gun, and shoot it from an upside-down position. In another, she would fire backwards at a target while looking into a mirror, and later in her act, she stood atop a galloping horse while still managing to expertly shoot clay pigeons out of the air.

22:40American History Tellers:For ten minutes, she never stopped moving or entertaining. Audiences came from far and wide to see her. And in 1886, when Buffalo Bill's Wild West show came to New York, it drew record crowds, thanks in large part to Oakley. She was making the kind of money she had once only dreamed of, Still, the memory of her years of childhood poverty kept her humble and frugal. She wouldn't spend much on herself, but she did send money and gifts home to her family in Ohio, along with letters detailing her many travels. Buffalo Bill's Wild West show drew such acclaim that Cody decided to take the show abroad.