Show e First s Y J. J n r jJ I Ia Ii i Y A Y f C a py s a Pry 1 I ill v If II 4 1 k r t t Cit C tk j lt F a 4 e 1101 H 11 Im I'm it I J l ln J t rl Tt Y CT Rr cj Ise 11 of f By flY ELMO SCOTT WATSON III a t liE HE E mention of ot rifles and Buffalo BillJ Bill Billand rf and other romantic things caused J than one boy to read carefully more that notice o of Annie Oakley s 's death d n It caused a a. question which would r rte never have been thought of ot thirty i I years Tears ago But today Pop who was Annie Oakley o U n came the query In many a horn home when the short dispatch made mad madeO MI HI-MI O known the fact tact that Little Missy And In to many a home an Interrogated was Wall gone Of hadI had o father lather halted In his reading The room are Jr I faded In Its place a great amphitheater Co f 1 i stretched In a vastness of at distance of at flying I r. r forms of ot scenery of ot throng-packed throng tiers of ot teats seats At one side there waved and nodded lh the eagle plumed eagle plumed headdresses of ot the representatives of ot the Sioux the Kiowa the Cot Co- Co and the Cheyenne Yonder a stalwart hl t e man in flowing hair and straight brushed mJ etli goatee his buckskin coat fitting snug over dL de massive shoulders rode like a a. god upon his the old Deadwood Deadwood Deadwood Dead- Dead prancing horse Farther away wood stagecoach awaited the cue for tor the dally daily re encounter with the deadly aborigine of ot mountain moun moun- lain tain and plain And right out there there less less j than a score of feet away shooting against as of the i Johnny Baker for tor the fr Wild West West West- ti Who was Annie Oakley asked many a father tuber that night She was my first sweetheart sweet sweet- heart son son i Thus does doe Courtney Ryley Cooper end his book Acme Oakley Woman Oakley-Woman Woman at Arms Arras a biography by Duffield and company of New hew York this year rent a book boob which will recall to many of us that glamorous period of our youth when the I rL risk lt of Buffalo Bills Bill's Wild West Vest show was an F annual event e to be looked forward to almost as much as the Fourth of July Christmas or the last day of school hool Circus day Is not Included In that l' l Pit t of re red letter days for a very obvious reason reason- there was WH more than one circus But there was Iny one Buffalo Bill Bm and one Buffalo Bill show And there never was and never will be again but lot one Annie Little Little Miss Sure Shot I undoubtedly the greatest markswoman In history Cooper Is right In having many manya a a father that light say to his son son She was my first sweetheart sweet sweet- I i heart For lon long before the screen placed the tare lace of Mary PIckford before the eyes of ot millions of Americans t this ls girl born August 13 1866 1800 who was ns as christened Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee and who bo was destined to make the shortened form of ot r l her er name Annie Oakley known throughout the ther Ii world orld had won the right to the title of the first C Americas America's Sweetheart There Is more than one reason why Annie I Oakley has an enduring claim to that title Although Al Al- though not all of these reasons were generally known mown nt at the height of ot her popularity her biography biogy blog- blog Tny raphy shows that Young America did not guess I and Y Jong Wrong In making her his sweetheart offering to her such a n full measure of ot admiration t d Ind devotion The life lite story of Annie Oakley Is Isa l a combination Cinderella fairy story frontier melodrama albeit melodrama albeit a clean melodrama melodrama and and alor a C sort lor rt of female Horatio Al Alter fame to rIse fame to fame yarn The lie Cinderella part of It begins with the Pioneer home near a small roads cross-roads settlement t in Darke arke county Ohio where In a little log cabin 4 I lire l J d Ja Jake Mozee and his wife vIreo whom as a 8 oi child he be had rescued from a ah b brutal stepfather In Pennsylvania He had bad given givener h her er a n home rne with his sister and after marryIng making k her when n She was fifteen set out with her to tofi J CI irav crake like Th a 11 new home In the Ohio Ohl country In this fi n Sew home bom Mozee and his wife fought a constant b battle 1 e with prIvation and nd poverty Then Mozee r rein i from the mill mUl was frozen to death In a au t Hi u blizzard and upon th the e mother fell ell the whole task of n Providing for her ber seven children f I th the the A At t the n age e o of f six Annie begs began n het helping ping fill filly family y larder er by y trapping Capping qua quail an and a few e Jear fears r S i later the tineS She had bad made the first start on tine rifle career r that was to make her ber famous One of the he few ew poss Possessions which Jake Mozee had rou ouEl bg g It with him Mm from Pennsylvania w was a 40 So b cap p an and d ball Kentucky rifle which hung Ivr ter the e fireplace but which had never been used tied h because USG M Mozee ozee was a Quaker with the Quaker er prejudice against fir firearms arms The tomboy Male Annie ihn h however did not share that Prejudice saw iJ V In is the weapon an Instrument for get get- ting In more ore food for her brothers and sisters and ally gained her mothers mother's reluctant consent It woman But the begInning of her ber career as a marks marks- n tas seas soon Eoon Interrupted She went to the county Infirmary n to to attend e ary get th tho o chance and n whit while le a there a stranger appeared and d to to take one ne of the girls gIns at the l ri ury work for h her board and keep Annie was Witt v the theIN I IN lrI I U LI selected and In the home of this mun man mank U an a her k Ir Cinderella existence The man was a 11 virtual an n i his wife a u virago Annie was held as a RI sl ass U subjected objected to all nil sorts of cruel treat treat- ut- ut f Once When she Ehe fell asleeP over oer a ba basket lel ling the woman threw her tier out Into a n snow snow- oi iu Mv Face tuce a d- d dAter After Ater two y years yeara ears or of f this exIst she I e finally naly escaped and returned home lb Ore e she ne contInued her former role of pro pro- j 7 My a I r t Y fi Six IA cy YM r ra a C t C t Cr ash 1 s 4 C Eln f HId eider for tor the family with the rifle and thus laid the foundation for the marvelous skill which was to make her world famous News of ot her skill spread throughout Darke county and even to Cincinnati where hotel keepers had been buying the game which she killed When Annie was fifteen there came to Cincinnati the far famed team tearh of Butler and company performing deeds of ot daring and dexterity with firearms seldom exhibited before the eyes of ot an audience As a publicity stunt Frank E. E Butler was accustomed to Issue a challenge to all comers to a shooting match The challenge was taken up by one of ot Annies Annie's patrons who prevailed upon her to shoot against the professional The girl not only won the match but also won the heart of Frank Butler and a year or so later they were married She began taking part In her husbands husband's act and for some time they were billed as Butler and Oakley Then Butler who was a skillful showman showman began giving his wife more and more of ot the limelight and pushing himself more and more Into the background Within a short time she was a noted figure In the eastern theaters At one time while they were playing In St St. StPaul StPaul Paul a delegation of Sioux Indians who were on their way to Washington for a conference with the Great White Father attended the theater where Butler and Oakley were presenting their act One of ot the delegation was the famous Sitting Bull who gave evidence of ot his approval of ot the girls girl's marksmanship with many a U aste I Good Finally as she performed her most difficult difficult cult feat teat that of shooting the end from a cigarette held between the teeth of ot her husband S Sitting Bull arose In great excitement ment shouting Cicilia I 1 Little Sure Shot Little Sure Shot was the name of one of his daughters who had died and so greatly was he Impressed wit will willAnnie Annie Oakley's prowess that he sent a au ail Interpreter Inter Inter- preter to her after the show and asked l slon to adopt her as his daughter She consented cons and the ceremony took place at the hotel After that managers were more eager than ever to book the act of Sitting Bulls Bull's adopted daughter In the meantime Col W. W F. F Cody Buffalo Bill BlU had organized organised his his' Wild West show how but the first year had been almost a failure While It was playing In New Orleans Frank Butler and Annie Oakley who were then traveling with a circus visited the show and decided that they would prefer being a part of this outfit than of ot the circus Cody could not afford offord to pay the salary that Butler asked so nothing came of It at the time But the next year their trails crossed again at Louisville Ky and Nate Salsbury Buffalo Bills Bill's partner who happened to be passing by while Annie and her husband were rehearsing their act was so Impressed by It and lt Its Ito possibilities as a part of his show that he hired them themon on the spot So In the year 1885 Annie Oakley Joined the Buffalo Bill Wild West show and there began tegan that series of ot amazing trIumpH which this former Ohio waif walt was to share with one of ot the greatest figures gures the show allow world has ever known kno It was through her ber Influence that another feature feat feat- ure was added to the show which greatly enhanced Its popularity For some time Buffalo Bill nm had been trying to Induce Sitting Bull null to Join his company But the old Sioux leader lender steadfastly steadfastly stead stead- refused After Annie Joined the show Cody tried again lie He sent fent an nn Interpreter to Sitting Sitting Sit Sit- ting Bull with the wor word that was with his show and wanted wonted Sitting Bull llull to Join a also 10 There Thero was no further argument Sitting Sit ting Bull came forthwith 1 I And the crowds which turned out to see the reputed leader lender of the Indians at nt the Custer battle the great buffalo hunter and the great markswoman Increased n nevery at every city In which the show appeared After a successful sea season n of ot 1880 1886 on Staten Island and In io Madison Square garden N. N Y N A y t. t rf A srn's t a t I w P S t 1 V VA 1 A rp Q A y r L 4 yd Gary ry J Buffalo Bill began looking around for new worlds to conquer He found It first In England where he took his show on the aslon asdon of Qu Queen en Victorias Victoria's Jubilee In London It was during this engagement engagement engage engage- ment that Annie won her famous shooting match with the Grand Duke Michael of Russia a match which had been arranged by the prince of Wales later Edward VII Two years later Buffalo Bills Bill's Wild West was wag showing In Paris Cody had met with financial reverses and he be hoped to recoup his losses In the French capital But on the grand opening day with the President of France and other high officials present It soon became apparent that the show was doomed to be a flop The French simply couldn't get the meaning of It all the all the bucking horses the mimic warfare between the cowboys and the Indians whom Incidentally they thought were fakes But when Annie Oakley gave her exhibition of ot marksmanship then marksmanship then It was different Here was something they could understand and she s-he was given an ovation that a queen might be thrilled over For the French had bud never seen such shootIng shootIng shoot shoot- Ing as this Here are a few of ot the stunts that she performed In shooting clay pigeons she stood 20 feet back of the tire traps started with the pulling of ot the trap ran the 20 feet picked up bergun her ber gun and broke the pigeon while It was still sUll Inthe Inthe In Inthe the air Using three double shotgun she broke broko six glass balls thrown Into the air at once She shot a dime from between her husbands husband's husbands husband's husbands husband's hus hus- bands band's thumb and forefinger at 30 paces Perhaps the most famous of ot her stunts was that of ot shootIng shootIng shooting shoot- shoot Ing the ashes from a cigarette In the mouth of ot Kaiser Wilhelm then the Crown Prince of ot Ger Ger- many Had her ber aim been a little less true the World war might never have bave been fought 1 Annie Oakley ended her career with the Buffalo Buffalo falo Bill show In n 1001 Then tragedy came Into her life Ufe again On the last Journey of the season the show train was wrecked wreck In North Carolina Annie Oakley was desperately injured But the same courage that had always carried her through every emergency carried currIed her through five operations and years of agony Although the doctors doctors doc doe i tors had said she could never handle bandle a gun again she staged a come back 1 and at PInehurst N. N C. C In April 1022 1922 she broke clay targets straight shooting from 10 16 yards lards Annie Oakley had many other r Interests besides her shooting Although at one time she was making makIng mak mak- ing 1000 1001 a week her estate at her death last year was comparatively small Perhaps the fact that she supported and educated an nn adopted fam farn- family ily lly of 18 children as well as giving generously to many charities had bad something to do with that i When the news of her death was flashed from Dayton Ohio on November 4 4 1926 to revive her name and fame It also started a discussion as to why free passes to ton a circus or theater are now universally known as Annie In this book ook Mr Cooper Cooper- gives the origin of the phrase as us follows One of t her feats teats was to place a playing card the ac ace ac of hearts beans as a target at a distance of ot 26 U yards Then firing 25 shots In 27 seconds she would obliterate that ace of ot hearts In the tho center I leaving only bullet holes in Its Us place A card thus thull shot by Annie Oakley formed quite a souvenir In Inthe the eighties There c came me Int being a baseball magnate who looked with some disfavor upon passes as passes as all baseball managers look upon these avenues of ot free tree admission It is the custom that the door tender may know the ticket to be free tree to punch a hole or two In the card thus saving a miscount when th the th proceeds of ot the day were checked One day daya a a. card came to the gate which had been boen thoroughly thoroughly thor thor- perforated Tho The magnate remarked laconically laconically lacon lacon- Hu Looks Look Ilk like Uk Anal AUDia Oakland ahot shot at It IU- IU |