Above: Annie Oakley.
Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860, died November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoverished family in western Ohio. At 15, she won a shooting contest against experienced marksman Frank E. Butler, whom she later married. The pair joined Buffalo Bill in 1885, performing in Europe before royalty and other heads of state. Audiences were astounded to see her shooting out a cigar from her husband's lips or splitting a playing-card edge-on at 30 paces, and she earned more than anyone except Buffalo Bill himself.
After a bad rail accident in 1901, she had to settle for a less taxing routine, and toured in a play written about her career, as well as instructing women in marksmanship, believing strongly in female self-defense. Her stage acts were filmed for one of Thomas Edison's earliest Kinetoscopes in 1894. Since her death, her story has been adapted for stage musicals and films, including Annie Get Your Gun.
As the Spanish-American War loomed in April of 1898, Annie decided to donate her resources to the government by sending the following letter to then-U.S. President William McKinley. The offer was simple: Oakley would supply the military with a fifty-strong army of female sharpshooters so talented as to be indispensable at war. Much to her dismay, the powers-that-be politely declined, but undeterred and forever the patriot she later repeated the offer prior to World War I. The response was the same.
The letter:
Nutley N J
Hon Wm. McKinley President
Dear Sir, I for one feel confident that your good judgement will carry America safely through without war. But in case of such an event, I am ready to place a company of fifty lady sharpshooters at your disposal. Every one of them will be an American and as they will furnish their own Arms and Ammunition will be little if any expense to the government.
Very truly
Annie Oakley
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