Scandal and Taking Down a Giant

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fame, feminism, guns, Hearst, law suits, newspaper, Oakley, rifle, scandal, sharpshooter, yellow journalism

Annie Oakley Part Three

In 1901, after working since childhood, Annie Oakley retired from Wild Bill Cody’s show for a quieter life. Then in 1903, her peace and reputation were destroyed by William Randolph Hearst’s vicious yellow journalism. A headline in one of his Chicago newspapers screamed that America’s favorite heroine was destitute and jailed for stealing to buy cocaine. Even though the source of the fraudulent story was soon unearthed—a burlesque performer using the name Any Oakely—the damage continued. The story took off and spread across the country.

Furious and horrified, Oakley did what few today dare to do. She challenged Hearst’s media monster and filed over fifty libel suits, suing each newspaper, starting a legal battle never seen before. Hearst had wakened a sleeping tiger, and Oakley had no plans to stop until her name was cleared and everyone at fault paid. Oakley forced retractions from newspapers all over the country, suing them in cases that continued for six years, while Hearst sent detectives to dig through her past and found nothing. Locals in Ohio made sure Hearst’s dirt-diggers weren’t welcome.

Her history of plain speaking was never more evident than when she spoke in her own defense, voicing outrage. When defense lawyers accused her of publicity seeking and lewd behavior on stage, Oakley defended herself on the stand with calm authority and courage. When opposing attorneys attempted to denigrate her lack of education, she claimed that education “is a very good thing when backed by common sense, and a very bad thing in the head of a cheap lawyer.” She had no patience, no respect for her detractors and left one courtroom, saying she’d give “you gentlemen who are such gallant defenders of a woman’s honor a chance to further your cowardice by shooting me in the back.”

Even though she won all but one case and hundreds of thousands of dollars, Oakley lost money after paying wages, fees and expenses, but she resurrected her good name. Some of the newspapers that had lost to her had the good grace to praise her again, running stories of her vindication.

Oakley’s legacy is one of determination to survive and achieve, no matter how fierce the odds. It’s estimated that she taught over 15,000 women how to shoot and protect themselves, and although not a feminist, championed every woman’s right to independence. She died in 1926, and her husband Frank Butler, joined her three weeks later.

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Fame, Feud, Rivalry

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feud, heroine, marksman, pistol, rifle, rivalry, sharpshooter, shotgun, Sitting Bull, Wild Bill Cody, wild west

Annie Oakley, Part Two

Oakley’s only female rival was Lillian Smith, brought into the Wild West show by Cody to spark interest with two competing sharpshooters. Cody comes across in what’s been written about him as never at ease with Oakley’s fame and ability to speak her own mind. It could be said that Oakley had the confidence to do so because of her husband’s (Frank Butler) support, but Oakley had developed a staunch character after surviving a rugged childhood. She was firm in her beliefs and didn’t mind expressing them when asked.

Cody made the mistake of enflaming the competition between the two women at the 1887 London exposition. He openly favored Lillian Smith, who was the opposite of Oakley. Smith was an experienced sharpshooter and well-known in California. She was also much younger, something that must have bothered Oakley, because it was during this time that Oakley, or Butler, who handled her publicity, cut six years off her age.

Youth might not have been the only reason Oakley didn’t care for Smith, who was a loud-mouthed, dedicated flirt. She wore flashy clothes and used coarse language. Female performers were looked down on, but Oakley never had her reputation or her morals questioned. Ladylike behavior was her hallmark. Smith was everything Oakley avoided.

Imagine her frustration when Cody threw Smith into the mix and purposely stirred up a feud. Smith wanted Oakley gone from the show and bragged that she could out-shoot her. Oakley proved that wrong at a Wimbledon shooting exposition, but something happened that conquered her patience. Oakley left the Wild West show at the end of the London tour and returned to the US, where she found herself famous. After Lillian Smith quit Cody’s show, Oakley returned for a three-year European tour. Smith, other than her connection to Oakley, sank into obscurity.

Oakley’s popularity continued to grow. In Munich, she tackled a Bavarian prince to save him from being run over by an escaped bronco. The Prince thought the wild horse was part of the show. The president of France offered her a commission in the army and the King of Senegal tried to buy her. She overwhelmed the French audiences, met the pope, and made sightseeing jaunts across Italy. When she returned to the US she found her fame had increased to what we would call today super-stardom. Newspapers adored her, a book had been written, everybody knew about Little Sure Shot, Sitting Bull’s pet name for her.

Cody had brought Sitting Bull into his show long before Oakley came on board. The Sioux leader had seen her in exhibition years before and was fascinated with her skill, giving her the name of Watanya Cicilla, Little Sure Shot. While he was part of the show, they enjoyed a friendship. Cody was on his way to free Sitting Bull from incarceration, and to ask him to rejoin the show, when the Sioux leader was killed by Indian police. Cody, who had an uneasy but successful relationship with Sitting Bull, said that he wished he could have made it there in time to save him. Oakley, with her usual honesty, stated that if Sitting Bull had been a white man, someone would have hung for his murder.

Next week: Scandal and a smear campaign by William Randolph Hearst. Guess who wins.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/trailer/oakley-ch-1/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/oakley-butler/

Please check out my interview on Judith Post’s blog. She has a new work coming out this week: Demon Heart (check out the uber-yummy cover)

http://writingmusings.com/

M.L.Rigdon
aka: Julia Donner
webpage: http://mlrigdon.com

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