Born August 13th, 1860, in Ohio, Phoebe Ann Mosey, later known by a variety of stage names but most famously as Annie Oakley, became America’s most famous sharpshooter. Equally proficient with pistol, rifle and shotgun Oakley made her name with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show which toured the US and the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Oakley learned to shoot from her father and frequently hunted as a child. As an adult she debuted as a sharpshooter in 1875, when she beat her future husband Frank E. Butler, a professional sharpshooter, in a shooting match. Oakley and Butler first performed together in May, 1882 with Oakley standing in for Butler’s normal partner. They began touring the US as a double act before joining Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1885.
During her long career Oakley was said to have used guns from a variety of American and European makers including shotguns from Lancaster, Purday, Spencer, Scott, Ithaca and Webley. As well as rifles from Winchester, Stevens, Marlin and Remington. She favoured Colt, Stevens and Smith & Wesson pistols.
In April 5, 1898 Oakley wrote to President William McKinley offering to form a company of fifty lady sharpshooters in the event of war with Spain. While the US did go to war with Spain her offer was not taken up. Later in 1917, she would again offer to form a female sharpshooting corps, her offer was not accepted.
Edison Kinetoscope footage of Annie Oakley and her husband Frank Butler in action in 1894 (source)
Oakley won numerous shooting prizes, competitions and awards throughout her career including the Police Gazette Championship medal. By 1890 she had star billing and was a household name. The sharpshooting couple left Buffalo Bill’s show in 1901 but continued to perform.
After William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers printed a story reporting Oakley as a cocaine addict in 1904, Oakley embarked on a six year legal battle to clear her name sueing Hearst for libel. She won 54 out of 55 cases and was awarded $27,000 in compensation. The truth was that a burlesque dancer, using Oakley’s name, had been arrested in Chicago for theft to feed her habit.
The couple retired in 1913, in her later years Oakley gave shooting lessons to women and advocated equal pay for equal work but was reluctant to support universal suffrage. She intermittently returned to performing until the end of her life. When the US entered World War One in 1917, Oakley volunteered her time to the National War Council of the Young Men’s Christian Association, War Camp Community Service, and the Red Cross.
In the early 1920s Oakley’s shooting demonstrations continued to draw large crowds but a car accident in 1923 left her severely weakened. In November, 1926 both Oakley (aged 66) and her husband (aged 79) died, just three weeks apart. Oakley remains the most famous female sharpshooter, her proficiency with firearms has entered legend.
Annie Oakley, HistoryNet, (source)
Annie Oakley (1860 – 1926), Buffalo Bill Center of the West, (source)
Annie Oakley, Annie Oakley Center Foundation, (source)
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