Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley & Frank Butler

Phoebe Ann “Annie Oakley” Moses was born on 13 August 1860 in Darke County, Ohio.

At an early age she went to live with the superintendent's family at the county poor farm. At one point during her stay at the poor farm, she was "lent out" to a local farm family as a servant. According to her autobiography, this family abused her mentally and physically. After two years, she returned to the county poor farm until her early teens. During her stay at the county poor farm she received her education.

When Annie returned to her family, she found that they had been suffering through a very difficult period. Annie’s father has passed away in 1866. Her mother would remarry twice. Upon Annie's return home, she soon learned the financial struggle her family was enduring. Using her father's old Kentucky rifle, Annie hunted and sold small game to the hotels and restaurants in Greenville. Prior to leaving for the poor farm Annie had taught herself how to use the rifle.

By the time Annie was age fifteen she was very successful at hunting that she was able to pay the entire mortgage on the family farm with the money she had earned from the sale of her game. In her autobiography she wrote "Oh, how my heart leaped with joy as I handed the money to mother and told her that I had saved enough to pay it off!"

As a result of her accurate shooting, Annie gained a reputation in the region. She was particularly noted for her ability to place the shot in the head of the animal so as to leave the meat unspoiled by the shotgun pellets or bullets. Because of her unique ability, Annie received an invitation from the owner of a hotel in Cincinnati, to participate in a shooting contest near that city against a well-known marksman, Frank E. Butler.

Butler was in Cincinnati on a tour with several other marksmen. Frank Butler always offered a challenge to local shooters, claiming he could out-shoot anyone. She agreed to the competition and, along with a brother, put up $50.00 as an entry fee. Annie won the match with twenty-five shoots out of twenty-five attempts. Frank Butler missed one of his shoots. The two shooters began a relationship and were married on 23 August 1876.

Annie Oakley and Frank Butler first appeared in a show together on 1 May 1882. Butler's usual partner was taken ill and Annie filled in by holding objects for Frank to take shots at; and she also did some of her own shooting. It was at this time that Annie adopted the stage name of Oakley. For the next couple of years, the Butlers traveled across the country giving shooting exhibitions with their dog, George, who had become part of the act.

It was at a performance in March 1884 in St. Paul, Minnesota, that Annie befriended Sitting Bull. He was impressed with Annie's shooting and with her appearance and manner. She was only five-foot tall and always appeared on stage and in public in modest clothes. Annie was always confident with herself her position. Sitting Bull arranged a meeting. After many long conversations, Sitting Bull adopted her as his own daughter. Sitting Bull has previously lost a daughter after the Little Big Horn. Annie would become known as "Little Sure Shot."

Later in life, Annie Oakley would use the name, "Little Sure Shot," as part of the advertising for her shooting skills for the Wild West shows. The relationship between Annie and Sitting Bull became distant for a long time. In later years the relationship she had with Sitting Bull would become an important part of her life and the lore that developed around her later in life and after her death.

In 1884, the Butlers joined the Sells Brothers Circus as "champion rifle shots." Although the Sells Brothers Circus was successful and competed against some of the larger shows such as Barnum and Bailey, Butler and Oakley felt that the working conditions were not safe. At one point, Oakley led a protest against unsafe equipment. They would leave the show after only one season.

After a brief period on their own, Butler and Oakley joined "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." They had been rejected on their first attempt to join the "Wild West" because the show already had an impressive collection of champion shooters, Captain Adam H. Bogardus and his sons. Adam Bogardus left the show in 1885 and Oakley and Butler were signed to replace him.

Signing with “Buffalo Bill” soon became a significant turning point in Annie Oakley's life and in her relationship with Butler. Until this time Frank Butler had received top billing or they had shared the limelight. However, with the "Wild West," Oakley was the star. It was her name that was on the advertising posters as "Champion Markswoman." From this time forward, Butler was her manager and assistant; Annie Oakley was the star. However, in private and off the stage, she was always Mrs. Frank Butler. Oakley and Butler prospered with the "Wild West" and stayed with it until 1901.

The "Wild West" was a unique production that played to audiences all over the world. First popular in the United States, the production was designed to showcase the talents and stories of Buffalo Bill Cody and his band of cowboys, scouts, and Indians. Many of the performers in his production had been with Buffalo Bill during his adventures in the west, others had become legends of their own because of dime novels or because they were true historical figures.

Another reason for them to have left the "Wild West" was a 1901 train accident that injured her back. She required five operations on her spine to correct the injuries. During this period, Butler signed a contract as a representative for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company in Connecticut. This was a position that allowed both Butler and Oakley to make endorsements for the company and to continue their shooting exhibitions. Finally, in 1913, the couple retired from the arena and settled down in Cambridge.

During the next decade the "Wild West" and Annie Oakley toured the world to offer both Americans and others a look at the Wild West. “Buffalo Bill” often used the phrase "a visit West in three hours to see scenes that have cost thousands their lives to view" as part of this advertising. During this period, Oakley was a featured performer, usually second on the program. She was especially popular with women and was used by “Buffalo Bill” to demonstrate that shooting was not harmful and that the extensive gunfights and other shooting exhibitions were not too intense for women and children.

With all of her success and travels, Oakley wanted another side of life for herself and her husband, a permanent house. In 1892, she and Butler bought property in Nutley, New Jersey, about thirteen miles south of New York City. They lived in the house between tours. Sometimes the house was rented during their longer travels. Oakley and Butler both acknowledged that they enjoyed home ownership but that Oakley was not a housekeeper and was not happy having servants and not being in control of her domestic arrangements. They finally sold the house in Nutley in 1904. It was demolished in 1937.

One event, which is worth noting during this period, is Oakley's performance in an early film. “Buffalo Bill” and Thomas Edison were good friends. Edison had personally designed the electrical plant for the "Wild West," claimed to the largest in the world at the time. In 1894, Edison had “Buffalo Bill” and fifteen of his Indians appeared in an Edison film. Later, Oakley would demonstrate her shooting skills for Edison. He was particularly interested in the potential for his cameras to follow the flight of a bullet. Edison had these films made into nickelodeons.

Oakley and Butler's period of home ownership and their desire for a change in the extensive travel required by the "Wild West" caused them to leave the show in 1901. Oakley continued to perform and eventually joined another Wild West show, "The Young Buffalo Show" in 1911.

Another reason for them to have left the "Wild West" was a 1901 train accident that injured her back. She required five operations on her spine to correct the injuries. During this period, Butler signed a contract as a representative for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company in Connecticut. This was a position that allowed both Butler and Oakley to make endorsements for the company and to continue their shooting exhibitions. Finally, in 1913, the couple retired from the arena and settled down in Cambridge.

During their years with the "Wild West" and while on their own, Oakley and Butler had been careful with their money. They had also made large sums of money. A significant portion of that income had been sent to Annie's family in Ohio, particularly to her mother and her nieces and nephews. She had also sent money to orphans and to others that had come into her life. Annie was so generous with free passes to her shows that this type of pass is known in the theater as an "Annie Oakley."

The years they with the "Wild West" and with the "Young Buffalo Show" Oakley and Butler had been to Cambridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Butler had liked the rural location and the hunting potential and had suggested that they retire to the community. Butler described Cambridge as a town with "four banks, several fine churches, but no saloons." They bought several properties in Cambridge, the first in 1912, and the second in 1913. The latter purchase consisted of two lots and would include the lot on which they built their retirement home.

Annie Oakley had considerable design advice to provide the builders. The rooms were to be square with no projecting closets and the sink and work areas in the kitchen were to be suitable for a five-foot woman. The unusual plaster cove cornice in the dining room was also, most likely, a suggestion from her because it is not common to other early twentieth century houses in Cambridge. There is little information on the furnishings of the house beyond photographs of Oakley and Butler sitting on casual furniture on their front porch. One visitor did note that "she'd placed her trophies here and there around the house and piled her scrapbooks on a table."

While enjoying their retirement in Cambridge, the Butlers hunted and fished. Frank Butler referred to Cambridge as a "sportsman's paradise" and wrote a poem about the Eastern Shore of Maryland and its people. Both Butler and Oakley invited their friends to come to Cambridge for the hunting and fishing. They apparently had many responses to their offers. At one point, Annie Oakley wrote to American Field that "While there has been a great deal of game bagged here, I am pleased to say that there is plenty left over. When I say that there were more than 1,700 game licenses taken out in this county, the reader can imagine the amount of hunting that was done."

The Butlers were popular with the local community. Several residents remember the Butlers walking through town and corresponded with Annie Oakley after she left the community. Annie gave shooting exhibitions at the Dorchester County Fair and helped raise money for the fair. The Butler's also spent time at the Alfred I. DuPont estate just outside of Cambridge. DuPont and other wealthy sportsman had hunting preserves in the surrounding countryside, a tradition that remains today.

While living in Cambridge, Annie Oakley wrote her first autobiography. Titled “Powders I Have Used”, it was published in 1914 by the DuPont Powder Company. She also wrote articles for sportsmen's and other magazines on the pleasures of shooting and hunting and encouraged other women to take up the sport. She encouraged women to learn to shoot as a means of self defense.

While in Cambridge, the Butlers welcomed a new member into their family, their dog Dave. Named for a friend Dave Montgomery, of the comedy team of Montgomery and Stone, Dave was to be a constant companion to the Butlers until his death. When they returned to the arena, Dave was to become an important part of the act. One of the most well-known tricks was for Annie to shoot an apple from the top of Dave's head. There are numerous photographs and advertising pieces commemorating that particular trick.

Although life was pleasant for the Butlers in Cambridge, Annie found it difficult to settle down. After a year of retirement, Annie became somewhat restless. As a solution to the boredom, Butler took her and her niece, Fern, for a motor trip across the country. While on the tour in 1915, they came upon “Buffalo Bill”. He had sold his production in 1913 and was performing in others' shows.

During their retirement, the Butlers began to travel south, particularly to Leesburg, Florida and to Pinehurst, North Carolina for shooting and hunting. While they enjoyed Leesburg, Annie found the bugs and snakes unpleasant. As a result, the Butlers began to spend more time in Pinehurst. There they found an active social life at the resort and found that they were in demand for shooting and hunting exhibitions and that there was a large demand, especially among the women, for shooting lessons.

During 1915 and 1916, the Butlers traveled between Pinehurst, Cambridge, and Newcastle By The Sea, New Hampshire. The later was a small resort owned by the owner of their hotel in Pinehurst. Finally, in 1917, the Butlers sold their home in Cambridge and moved to Pinehurst. That same year, “Buffalo Bill Cody” died. Annie Oakley wrote a long eulogy for him and for the passing of the Wild West era.

With “Buffalo Bill” gone, Annie Oakley continued to press on with her own career. Although she did not return to the traveling arena, she continued to give performances and to remind people how she had fought for her right as a woman to compete with men and to be a performer. She also took great care to remind her fans that she had always been careful to be a lady and to act and dress as such. She and Butler were often unhappy about the costumes and manners of performers in other shows and would never associate with them. However, Annie also made a great effort to make a distinction between her efforts for women's rights and the woman's suffrage movement.

When the United States was pulled into World War I, Annie Oakley offered to raise a regiment of woman volunteers to fight in the war. She had made the same offer during the Spanish-American War. Neither offer would be accepted. She also offered to teach marksmanship to the troops. She did travel across the country for the National War Council of the Young Men's Christian Association and War Camp Community Service. At stops at training camps, she gave shooting demonstrations. She also raised money for the Red Cross. The Butlers' dog, Dave, became the "Red Cross Dog" by sniffing out donations of cash hidden in handkerchiefs.

After the war, the Butlers returned to Pinehurst. They continued to give shooting exhibitions and lessons to the guests at the hotel in which they stayed. In 1922, Annie began to make plans for a comeback. She performed before 100,000 people in Brockton, Massachusetts. She also attracted crowds in New York and other major cities. In addition, she had plans to star in a motion picture. Unfortunately, at the end of the year, she and Butler were severely injured in an automobile accident. The next year their dog, Dave, was killed in an automobile accident in Leesburg.

It would take Annie approximately 18 months to recover from her injuries. By 1924, she was performing and setting new records. Unfortunately, her recovery did not last long. By 1925, she was frail and in poor health. She and Butler moved to her hometown in Ohio so that they could be near to her family. They attended shooting matches in the local area and Oakley began to write out some of her memoirs. These were published by newspapers across the country.

In 1926, both Annie and Frank would pass away only a few days apart from one another. Annie died on November 3, 1926 and Frank on November 21, 1926. Both passed away from natural causes after living a long adventurous life.

Annie Oakley, a champion shooter and star of “Buffalo Bill's” Wild West, is remembered as a western folk hero and American legend. She has been the subject of numerous books, television shows, movies, and the stage exploits with a gun. Some of these accounts are accurate while other accounts are fiction. However, the myths and legends that have developed around Annie Oakley have become somewhat more important that the actual facts, which are considerable in their own right.

The Annie Oakley House in Cambridge, Maryland is the only surviving residence that was either owned or occupied by Annie Oakley as a primary and permanent residence.