Annie Moses ~ Female Activist

 

Annie Moses AKA Annie Oakley was an advocate for women and proved that women could hold their own in a man’s world.  She wanted all women to know how to defend themselves and took the initiative to teach women to shoot. 

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She offered President McKinley the services of fifty sharpshooting women if there was a war with Spain.

Annie was in a shooting contest against marksman Frank Butler at the age of fifteen. After beating him, she married him approximately a year later.  The Butler’s joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and toured Europe. One of her acts in the show was to shoot a cigar or cigarette that her husband had clamped in his mouth.  She could also shoot over her shoulder, while holding a mirror to see what she was aiming at. Except for Buffalo Bill himself, she was the highest paid performer in the show. She became close friends with Sitting Bull, who claimed her as an adopted daughter. He called her Watanya Cicillia-Little Sure Shot. (FYI: Depending on the article, there are different spellings for Cicillia.)

She grew up in an impoverished family and started hunting as a child to put food on the table.

Annie was only five foot tall. She made her own costumes for the shows, embroidered in her spare time and spent much of her earnings on her family and charity.

Annie Oakley:  an inspiration to us all.

Sandra

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