Annie Oakley
Life was not easy for a girl named Phoebe Ann Moses. She was born in Ohio in 1860, when Ohio was still considered "the frontier." Her family were Quakers, and Quakers didn’t believe in using guns, but they did allow members to carry guns on the frontier for survival purposes, so Phoebe’s father had a gun.
Phoebe was only 5 years old when her father died of pneumonia, and her mother was left to try and care for the family. Things were pretty tough for the family. According to legend, when Phoebe, whose nickname was Annie, was eight years old, she used her father’s gun (40 inch cap and ball Kentucky rifle) to bring down game. She sold the game and paid off the mortgage on her mother’s home in North Star, Ohio. But even that wasn’t enough to keep the family together.
For a time, Annie lived at the Darke County Infirmary, which was an orphanage. She helped with the children and learned how to sew, which later came in handy.
When Annie was fifteen years old, she was invited to take part in a Thanksgiving Day shooting match held in Oakley (which is now part of Cincinnati). It was here she met Frank Butler, a champion marksman. She won the match. He was divorced and in debt when they met. They married in 1876. Annie was 16.
In 1884, Annie and Frank joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Buffalo Bill called her "Missie" almost from the first. He wrote in her autograph book, "To the loveliest and truest little woman, both in heart and aim, in the world." He asked her to take a "stage name", and that’s when she became Annie Oakley.
Both husband Frank and Buffalo Bill Cody were important people in Annie’s life. Another important person in Annie’s life was Sitting Bull. He adopted her and called her, Mochin Chilla Wytonys Cecilia (my daughter, Little Sure Shot).
In 1887, Annie performed for Queen Victoria in London, England. Her early sewing lessons had come in handy, and Annie made all of her own stage clothes. While she was in London, her costumes gained attention in the fashion world.
Annie Oakley, the little girl who learned to shoot in the frontier state of Ohio, put her skills to good use her entire life. Even though she was famous, she didn’t forget her roots and she didn’t forget to give back to others. At one point, she even melted down her medals and gave the money to Children’s Hospital.
She lived by her motto, which was:
Take aim at the high mark, and you will hit it.
No, not the first time, and maybe not the second, and maybe even not the third.
But keep on aiming and keep on shooting, and soon you will hit the bullseye of success.
Maybe that’s a good motto for all of us.
This song was written with the help of a group of young people from Cody, Wyoming. I was in Cody several years ago at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, conducting children’s workshops, and the students decided to write about Annie Oakley. They did their research in the McCracken Research Library and that’s where they found Annie’s motto. They read about her relationship with Frank, Buffalo Bill, and Sitting Bull, and we decided to write one verse for each special person in her life and use a modified version of her motto for the chorus. I put the words to music, and it became the song "Annie Oakley."
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