Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published July 31, 2002

Do you know Annie's real story?
Part II

Last week this column reviewed Annie Oakley's first 15 short years of preparation for what awaited her after Frank Butler came into her life on Thanksgiving Day, 1875. An Irishman of good nature, Butler was 10 years her senior and a man of the world. A shooting match had been arranged between Butler and Annie on that day in Cincinnati. He had not been told who his opponent was, and when he saw the young, slender girl he thought he had been the butt of a joke. But not for long. The two were shot for shot until the very last throw of the trap, when Butler hit only one but Annie got both and the $50 prize.

Frank's early life was similar to Annie's. He was born in Ireland and when he was 8, his parents and two younger children left for America. They placed Frank with an aunt until they had enough money to send for him, but it was not a happy arrangement. He ran away and worked for his passage to America on an old sailing ship, arriving in New York City in 1863. His family had moved farther west and he survived doing odd jobs.

Frank was clever in training dogs and that led to show business. Then he teamed up with a young man in a trick shooting act for vaudeville. He became a crack shot and wherever the show appeared, a match with a local shooter was arranged. He met his match with Annie. In the following months, the two fell in love and the next year on June 22, 1876, they were married. Frank always called Annie "my little girl."

Annie was content to be a wife, but one night Frank's partner was too ill to appear in the act. Annie stepped in and wowed the audience with her shooting skill. That night a star was born and she became the partner in "Butler and Oakley," the name she chose as her stage name. Six years later Annie was the sole star and Frank stepped aside to become her manager.

When the show performed in St. Paul, MN, in 1882, Chief Sitting Bull attended, and when he saw Annie shoot he said she had been endowed by a power on high or she could never shoot like that. Annie was the same age as his beloved daughter who had been killed at the Custer massacre. The chief adopted Annie into the Sioux tribe and to the old warrior she became "my daughter, Little Sure Shot."

After four years with the Sells Brothers Circus, Annie was lured away to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. For the next 17 years the couple was on the road most of the year in this country and abroad. Overseas they appeared in 14 different countries and in addition to her show appearances, Annie was always invited to shooting matches with royalty.

The show was in London during Queen Victoria's Jubilee Year and Annie was invited to the royal box. She admired the queen's gold and mother-of-pearl opera glasses. Victoria handed the glasses to her as a gift. Annie prized this gift all her life. She received many exquisite, valuable pieces of jewelry, trophies and medals everywhere they traveled in Europe.

Even though the couple was honored and entertained by royalty, neither ever forgot their humble beginnings. Both gave to the poor, especially children. In Annie's last years she had all her gold medals melted down and gave the money she received to a children's hospital in the South.

In 1901 the train carrying the Wild West show wrecked in West Virginia and Annie was thrown from her bed against a trunk, injuring her spine. Within 17 hours her hair had turned white from the shock. She never fully recovered but in November 1902, she dyed her hair and appeared on stage in the play The Western Girl for several months.

She and Frank were traveling by auto to Florida in 1921 when the car went off the road and Annie was injured badly. She never walked without a brace after months in the hospital. Several years later she was diagnosed with pernicious anemia and she returned to Ohio where she had grown up. Although confined to bed she knew Frank was not well and she insisted that he leave to spend the winter in Florida. On Nov. 3, 1926, Annie died peacefully in her sleep and as she had instructed, her remains were cremated and the ashes were placed in a silver loving cup the French had given her.

On Nov. 23 Frank died in Detroit where he had gone to meet the relative who was to accompany him to Florida. On Thanksgiving Day 1926, the two who had shared life for 50 years were buried side-by-side in a small cemetery at Brock, near Annie's birthplace. The two stones of russet marble carry the simple inscription "Annie Oakley 1926 At Rest and Frank Butler 1926 At Rest."

This remarkable couple's story will live on for generations through Berlin's musical Annie Get Your Gun.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.