CALAMITY JANE
Calamity Jane at age 43.
Photo by H.R. Locke.
Born
May 1, 1852
Died
August 1, 1903
Also Known as
Martha Jane Cannary Burke
Occupation
Bullwacker, Army Scout, Labourer,
Mule Skinner, Showgirl
Mini-Biography
Martha Jane Cannary (Calamity Jane)
was born in Missouri on 1st, May, 1852.
The family moved from Missourri to Virginia City, Montana, in 1865.
She worked as a bullwacker and in 1870
joined General George A. Custer as an army scout.
She took part in the Indian Wars and it was during
one skirmish she saved the life of Captain Egan.
She later wrote that "I lifted him onto my horse in front of me
and succeeded in getting him safely to the Fort.
Captain Egan on recovering, laughingly said:
"I name you Calamity Jane, the heroine of the plains.
'' I have borne that name up to the present time."
Over the years she developed a reputation for her skill
at riding and shooting.
Dressed in buckskin, Calamity Jane
was also well-known for her hard-drinking.
One man who knew her claimed that she was different from
other women as "she swore, she drank, she wore men's clothing."
Calamity Jane was always on the move and worked
as a labourer on the Union Pacific and as a mule skinner.
In 1872 she joined the army as a scout and over the next few years
served under George Crook and Nelson Miles.
However, in 1875 she was dismissed after it was discovered she was a woman.
Soon after this incident she went to Deadwood, Dakota,
during the Gold Rush in the Black Hills, where met Wild Bill Hickok.
Calamity Jane later claimed they were lovers but this story
is doubted by those who knew the couple.
She was obviously very attached to Hickok and after
he was murdered in 1876 she often visited his grave.
There, after , she claimed that he was the father of her child
and that they'd been married.
(The child, if it existed, was said to have been
born September 25, 1873, and given up for adoption.)
1876
Calamity Jane was noted for her habit of dressing in men's clothing.
She nursed victims of a smallpox epidemic in 1878, also dressed as a man.
She was something of a local legend because the Sioux Indians
left her alone (as well as because of her other eccentricities).
In 1891 Calamity Jane married Clinton Burke,
after they'd lived together for at least six years.
Two years later she gave birth to a daughter.
The marriage broke up and Calamity Jane returned to the road.
In 1896 she starting appearing on the stage as "Calamity Jane!
The Famous Woman Scout of the Wild West."
The following year she publushed a small pamphlet,
Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane.
Jane at Buffalo Bill's Show
In her later years, Calamity Jane appeared in Wild West shows,
including the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, around the country,
featuring her riding and shooting skills.
..
But her chronic drunkenness and fighting caused many problems,
and after she was fired in 1901 from a show, she retired to Deadwood,
Calamity Jane died in Terry, South Dakota in 1903
and is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood.
Jane was buried next to Wild Bill Hickok
Calamity Jane at Wild Bill’s grave July 1903
Compiled and edited by ethanedwards
Information and Photogaphs from wikipedia