Calamity Jane

Mary Jane Canary
Better Known As "Calamity Jane"

Martha Jane Canary (1848-1903) was born in Princeton, Missouri.

She was born on May 1, 1852 as Martha Jane Canary in Princeton, Missouri, the oldest of six children, having two brothers and three sisters. Robert W. and Charlotte Canary are listed in the 1860 census living in Ravenna, Mercer County, Missouri. Robert Canary packed his family and moved by wagon train from Missouri to Virginia City, Montana in 1865. Charlotte Canary died along the way in Black Foot, Montana in 1866 of "washtub pneumonia". In the spring of that year, Robert Canary took his six children on to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City in the summer. The family lived there for about one year before Robert Canary died in 1867. At the tender age of 15, Martha Jane took over as head of the family, loaded up the wagon once more, and took her siblings to Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory. They arrived in May of 1868. From there they traveled to Piedmont, Wyoming, on the Union Pacific Railroad.

This hard drinking woman wore men's clothing, used bawdy language, chewed tobacco and was handy with a gun. She traveled from Arizona through the Dakota territories during her rough life. At her death, the "White Devil Of The Yellowstone" was remembered as a saint by the citizens of Deadwood, where she helped nurse the sick during a smallpox plague. She was buried near James “Wild Bill” Butler Hickock at Deadwood, South Dakota.

The following words about “Calamity Jane” are from a statement by William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody:

"I do not know much about her early life. I guess nobody else does but herself. Her maiden name was Martha Canary, and she was born in Princeton, Mo., in 1852. A few years after this her mother died, and in 1862, the family moved to Virginia City, Nevada, which was then in the early days of the boom. An Indian uprising separated her from her father and brothers, and at the age of 10 she was thrown on the world to make her own way alone.

"She had friends and very positive opinions of the things that a girl could enjoy, and she soon gained a local reputation for daring horsemanship and skill as a rifle shot.

"Before she was twenty General Cook gave her an appointment in the Army as Scout under my command. From that time on her life was pretty lively all the time. She had unlimited nerve and entered into the work with enthusiasm, doing good service on a number of occasions.

"Though she did not do a man's share of the heavy work, she has gone in places where old frontiersmen were unwilling to trust themselves, and her courage and good-fellowship made her popular with every man in the command.

From her autobiography of 1896, Martha Jane writes of this time:

"While on the way, the greater portion of my time was spent in hunting along with the men and hunters of the party; in fact, I was at all times with the men when there was excitement and adventures to be had. By the time we reached Virginia City, I was considered a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider for a girl of my age. I remember many occurrences on the journey from Missouri to Montana.

Many times in crossing the mountains, the conditions of the trail were so bad that we frequently had to lower the wagons over ledges by hand with ropes, for they were so rough and rugged that horses were of no use"

"We also had many exciting times fording streams, for many of the streams in our way were noted for quicksand and boggy places, where, unless we were very careful, we would have lost horses and all. Then we had many dangers to encounter in the way of streams swelling on account of heavy rains. On occasions of that kind, the men would usually select the best places to cross the streams; myself, on more than one occasion, have mounted my pony and swam across the stream several times merely to amuse myself, and have had many narrow escapes from having both myself and pony washed away to certain death, but, as the pioneers of those days had plenty of courage, we overcame all obstacles and reached Virginia City in safety."

"Her nickname was received in 1872 in a peculiar way. She was at that time at Goose Creek Camp, South Dakota, where Captain Egan and a small body of men were stationed. The Indians were giving a lot of trouble, and there was much fighting.

"One day Captain Egan was surrounded by a large band. They were fighting desperately for their lives, but were being steadily, but surely slaughtered. Captain Egan was wounded and had fallen off his horse.

"In the midst of the fighting, it is said that “the woman rode into the very center of the trouble, dismounted, lifted the captain in front of her on her saddle, and dashed out”. They got through untouched, but every other man in the gallant company was slaughtered.

"When he recovered, Captain Egan laughingly spoke of Miss Canary as 'Calamity Jane,' and the name stuck with her ever since; so that while thousands have heard of her, very few have ever heard her real name. It was from her that Bret Hart took his famous character of “Cherokee Sal” in “The Luck of Roaring Camp”.

In 1876, Jane, by a daring feat, saved the lives of six passengers on a stage coach traveling from Deadwood to Wild Birch, in the Black hills country.

The stage was surrounded by Indians, and the driver, Jack McCall, was wounded by an arrow. Although the other six passengers were men, not one of them had nerve enough to take the ribbons. Seeing the situation, Jane mounted the driver's seat without a moment's hesitation and brought the stage safely and in good time to Wild Birch.

n 1876, “Calamity Jane” settled in the area of Deadwood, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. There, she became friends with, and was occasionally employed by, Dora DuFran, the Black Hills leading Madame. She became friendly with James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok and Charlie Utter. She had traveled with them to Deadwood in Charlie Utter’s wagon train. Jane greatly admired and some say she was in love with Hickok, to the point she was obsessed with his personality and life.

After Hickok was killed during a poker game on August 2, 1876, “Calamity Jane” claimed to have been married to Hickok and that Hickok was the father of her daughter, Jane; who was born on September 25, 1873.

She would later put the baby up for adoption. Jim O’Neil and his wife were Jane’s adoptive parents. There are no known records that exist to prove the birth of a child.

The romantic twist to the relationship could very well be part of the “old west folklore”. It is said that “Calamity Jane” gave birth to “Jane” while working as a scout for the Army.

At the time of his death, James Butler Hickok was newly married to Agnes Lake Thatcher, formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

However, on September 6, 1941, the U.S. Department of Public Welfare did grant old age assistance to a Jean Hickok Burkhart McCormick (name of her third husband), who claimed to be the legal offspring of Martha Jane Canary and James Butler Hickok. “Jane” presented evidence that “Calamity Jane” and “Wild Bill” had married at Benson's Landing, Montana Territory, on September 25, 1873, documentation being written in a Bible and presumably signed by two reverends and numerous witnesses. The claim of Jean Hickok McCormick was later proved to be spurious by the Hickok family.

“Calamity Jane” also claimed that following Hickok's death, she went after Jack McCall, his murderer, with a meat cleaver, having left her guns at her residence in the excitement of the moment. However, she never confronted McCall. Following McCall's eventual hanging for the offense, Jane continued living in the Deadwood area for some time, and at one point she did help save several passengers of an overland stagecoach by diverting several Plains Indians who were in pursuit of the stage. The stagecoach driver, John Slaughter, was killed during the pursuit, and Jane took over the reins and drove the stage on to its destination at Deadwood. In late 1876, Jane nursed the victims of a smallpox epidemic in the Deadwood area.

Her Final years: 1881 – 1903
In 1881, she bought a farm close to Yellowstone Park where she kept an inn. After marrying the Texan, Clinton Burke, and moving to Boulder, she again tried her luck in this business. In 1887, she had a daughter, Jane, who was given to foster parents.

In 1893, Calamity Jane started to appear in “Buffalo Bill's” Wild West Show as a horse rider and a trick shooter. She also participated in the Pan-American Exposition. It was during this time that Jane suffered from depression and alcoholism.

By the turn of the century, Madame Dora DuFran was still going strong when Jane returned to the Black Hills in 1903. For the next few months, Jane earned her keep by cooking and doing the laundry for Dora’s brothel girls in Belle Fourche. In July 1903 she traveled to Terry, South Dakota. While staying in the Calloway Hotel on August 1, 1903, she died at the age of 55.

In her belongings were found bundle of letters to her daughter Jane that were never sent letters.

”Calamity Jane’s” final wish was to buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery , Deadwood, South Dakota, next to James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock.

To learn more about Martha Jane Canary visit the Library Of Congress or the History Channel.