Living the Legend

Tags

Betty Hutton, Bill Cody, Frank Butler, marksman, Oakley, Ohio, pistols, poor farm, rifle, sharpshooter, shotgun, wild west

Part One

I can’t remember the first time I heard about Annie Oakley. It might have been the film “Annie Get Your Gun” with Betty Hutton. I adored Hutton and had the joy of meeting her in the seventies, a complicated, talented, frenetic comic actress. But back to Ms. Oakley, star of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West, who achieved stardom with shotguns, rifles, and pistols. She also survived horrific childhood abuse, a vicious smear campaign, and a car accident. She could hit targets while riding full out, use a mirror to hit a target behind her, shoot the centers out of a playing cards at rapid fire, and the cigarette out of her husband’s mouth and never miss.

(Check out the link below, a brief film from 1894 of her amazing skills.)

The musical with Ethel Merman, IMHO is the antithesis of the real Oakley. The portrayal, show, and later film, are far from accurate. Merman’s brash, loud and boastful rendition was nothing like Oakley, who sewed her own plains-style costumes. The contention between Oakley and sharpshooter Frank Butler in the musical and in the film never existed, since theirs was a lifelong marriage.

Born in Ohio in the mid-eighteen hundreds as Phoebe Anne Moses, the petite and resilient Annie learned to shoot while hunting with her father, who sold whatever they bagged. I’ve omitted her birthday since she may have had a part in manipulating the date at one time in her life. More on that later.

When Annie’s father died, her mother was forced to send ten-year old Annie to the poor house. (Think Dickens and Oliver Twist to get an idea of the horror.) From there, Annie was placed with a farming family where she was cruelly treated to put it mildly. She eventually escaped and returned to her mother, earning enough to support the family as her father had, shooting game and selling to local buyers.

She never divulged the name of the malicious people who treated her so horribly. In later years, others figured out the possible names, but Annie never identified them as anything other than “the wolves.” She had no problem speaking her mind, but with the exception of one time in her life when she had to defend her reputation, she spoke with stoic, ladylike conviction, courage, and was universally respected for her moral character, even when she played the ribald vaudeville circuits.

Irish immigrant Frank Butler made his living as a marksman and respected competitor. He often issued challenges to local champions. When Frank accepted a challenge at a Cincinnati competition from a local, it’s written that he was astonished that his challenger was a fifteen-year-old girl. Some have suggested that Frank purposely missed his 25^th shot and allowed Annie to win. He may have done, since he did marry her after a year of courtship.

Annie went on the road with her husband, and when Butler’s shooting partner in his stage act became ill, Annie took his place. That was the start of her career and soon to be the end of Frank’s. As her fame outstripped his, he gave up the stage to become Annie’s manager and promoter, which was probably a good idea. Annie had little schooling as a girl and picked up her education later in life. At no time was there any suggestion of Frank feeling bitter about being outdone by a woman. His support was unconditional and unwavering.

Part Two next week: the star of Cody’s Wild West Show, touring the world, a rival, saving a prince, and how she became known as Little Sure Shot.

In this 1894 film, it looks like she missed one, but the target has a hole in it and is stuck to the board.  In exhibition, targets were never that close. Not sure if the man is Frank or her assistant. You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the article to find the video.

http://www.annieoakleyfestival.com/about-annie-oakley.aspx

webpage: http://mlrigdon.com
blog: https://historyfanforever.wordpress.com/
M.L.Rigdon aka: Julia Donner

 

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Bullets or Blades

Tags

dueling, fighting, honor, pistols, regency, swords

The next book in my regency Friendship Series is The Duchess and the Duelist, so I had to read up on dueling. For me, lots of research is involved when it comes to firearms, but I did take fencing in college. Probably should have taken dance, since I’m such a klutz, but I loved the classes. Back then, I was in good physical shape but fencing is a strenuous workout. Doesn’t look like it, but by the time class was over, I was a bit sore and felt I’d burned some calories. I never excelled because I’m neither competitive nor a strategist. Both are required to do well.

Since it’s the regency period, my protagonist is into pistols. By that time, swords were not often the weapon chosen by the challenged, who had the right of choice. The challenged also chose the ground, and the challenger, the distance. Don’t know that I’d like looking down a pistol barrel from five feet away or starting at a predetermined point, advancing, and firing until struck down.

Gentlemen of the aristocracy and nobility were trained for swords and pistols, and to use either (both) hands. The rules were specific, and if not expressly followed, led to legal problems. Dueling was against the law, especially in the military, where one could achieve promotion by skewering a direct superior. But the law never stopped men of a certain station, or profession, from hacking or shooting at each other for slights real or imagined. No man risked his reputation by declining.

Seconds (a good friend or family member) handled the arrangements and might reach an understanding between the parties prior to an actual encounter, or it ended one way or the other on the field, often at dawn.

Duels were not a rarity. Most weren’t heard about unless a death occurred. When this did happen, intentionally or not, the courts were lenient, especially if seconds had made sure all rules were followed. In The Duchess and the Duelist, I wanted a situation out of the ordinary. A lady’s honor—actually the lack of it—is the cause of the duel. Also, the challenge is delivered to the protagonist with a blow, which is strictly out of line. Challenges were verbal for the most part. To physically strike someone usually meant an immediate fistfight, no waiting around for bullets or blades. The blow is part of a plot twist in my story. I like the unusual and unexpected.

The protagonist, Alfred Bates, Viscount Grieves, is an extraordinary marksman—a male version of Annie Oakley—who is also known as Arm-winger Freddy. Instead of beating into a jelly a fellow crude enough to actually strike him, Lord Grieves must suppress his outrage and meet the already dishonorable lout on the dueling field. Yes, there is a nefarious plan afoot.

Dueling rules were gruesomely precise, how to shoot, how many times, distances, to the death or not. Swords were a bit more grisly, such as a simple “pinking” or the nasty bit of slashing and stabbing each other to death, and if not carried out, the second waiting to step in and finish it off. Carrying it a bit too far in our present day point of view, but back then, a man was expected to defend his honor and those he loved.

If you’re interested in reading more, I’ve included a few sites. The Code Duello, established in 1770 in Ireland was the most often followed.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/sfeature/rulesofdueling.html

http://www.janeausten.co.uk/to-punish-or-defend-the-regency-duel/

http://caraking.com/Duelling.html