Phoebe Ann Mosey (often misspelled as Mozee or Moses) was born in a log cabin in Darke County, Ohio, in 1860. She fired her first shot at the age of 8 and by age 12 was the chief provider for her big and hungry family. Thanks to her control over the rifle and shotgun, she paid off the mortgage on the Mosey homestead through the sale of surplus wild game to a Cincinnati hotel owner.
The celebrity of this amazing little shooter exploded through Ohio and the mid-west when she conquered Frank Butler, vaudeville's champion marksman and trick shot. Butler not only lost the match, he lost his heart to this shy tiny shooter. One year later on Frank and Annie got married. Frank felt certain husband and wife teams would face difficulty being booked by agents, and he and Annie decided that she should have a professional name. Annie selected "Oakley," after a kind and generous man who had befriended her in an earlier time of crisis.
As Annie Oakley's fame grew, Frank realized his bride was captivating far more in the way of attention than he as she shocked audiences with her phenomenal accuracy. He shortly brought her to the awareness of Nate Salsbury, the genius executive of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Frank withdrew from competition to work on managing Annie's career.
Touring Europe with the Wild West Show in 1887, Annie twice gave personal demonstrations for Queen Victoria, defeated Grand Duke Michael of Russia in a match organized by the Prince of Wales, and in Berlin shot a cigarette from the lips of Kaiser Wilhelm. After a tragic train accident, Annie retired from the Wild West Show in 1901. She featured in a Broadway play, THE WESTERN GIRL, in 1902 and '03. She also continued to perform at Charity events? Annie Oakley never refused a Charity request if the beneficiaries were either orphaned girls, meriting younger women, or actors.
Annie Oakley's achievements as a sharpshooter are legendary. At 30 paces she shot a dime from between her husband's thumb and forefinger with a .22 rifle and with this weapon could hit two-inch flying balls by sighting them in the shiny surface of a bowie knife. Once she hit 943 out of 1000 flying balls in a fast fire demonstration and, at the age of 56, using 3 double-barreled guns, punctured in midair 6 balls sprung from as many traps.
Her prowess was enshrined in the language of Broadway when, in the pre-computerized days of hard tickets, complimentary tickets identified by the holes punched in them were called "Annie Oaklies" since they replicated the holes Annie shot in flying playing cards. Annie Oakley died in Greenville, Ohio on November 3, 1926. Frank Butler died 18 days later on. They're buried side-by-side in Brock Cemetery, only one or two miles from her birthplace.
The stories of Annie and Frank have been immortalized in Irving Berlin's musical Annie Get Your Gun. This action packed broadway musical written in 1946 has delighted audiences around the world and is still a great draw for theatres around the country.
The celebrity of this amazing little shooter exploded through Ohio and the mid-west when she conquered Frank Butler, vaudeville's champion marksman and trick shot. Butler not only lost the match, he lost his heart to this shy tiny shooter. One year later on Frank and Annie got married. Frank felt certain husband and wife teams would face difficulty being booked by agents, and he and Annie decided that she should have a professional name. Annie selected "Oakley," after a kind and generous man who had befriended her in an earlier time of crisis.
As Annie Oakley's fame grew, Frank realized his bride was captivating far more in the way of attention than he as she shocked audiences with her phenomenal accuracy. He shortly brought her to the awareness of Nate Salsbury, the genius executive of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Frank withdrew from competition to work on managing Annie's career.
Touring Europe with the Wild West Show in 1887, Annie twice gave personal demonstrations for Queen Victoria, defeated Grand Duke Michael of Russia in a match organized by the Prince of Wales, and in Berlin shot a cigarette from the lips of Kaiser Wilhelm. After a tragic train accident, Annie retired from the Wild West Show in 1901. She featured in a Broadway play, THE WESTERN GIRL, in 1902 and '03. She also continued to perform at Charity events? Annie Oakley never refused a Charity request if the beneficiaries were either orphaned girls, meriting younger women, or actors.
Annie Oakley's achievements as a sharpshooter are legendary. At 30 paces she shot a dime from between her husband's thumb and forefinger with a .22 rifle and with this weapon could hit two-inch flying balls by sighting them in the shiny surface of a bowie knife. Once she hit 943 out of 1000 flying balls in a fast fire demonstration and, at the age of 56, using 3 double-barreled guns, punctured in midair 6 balls sprung from as many traps.
Her prowess was enshrined in the language of Broadway when, in the pre-computerized days of hard tickets, complimentary tickets identified by the holes punched in them were called "Annie Oaklies" since they replicated the holes Annie shot in flying playing cards. Annie Oakley died in Greenville, Ohio on November 3, 1926. Frank Butler died 18 days later on. They're buried side-by-side in Brock Cemetery, only one or two miles from her birthplace.
The stories of Annie and Frank have been immortalized in Irving Berlin's musical Annie Get Your Gun. This action packed broadway musical written in 1946 has delighted audiences around the world and is still a great draw for theatres around the country.
About the Author:
GNTC is 1 the community support they receive. Membership grows with each production and draws volunteers from Eden Valley, Watkins, Albany, Paynesville, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park, Kimball, St. Martin, St. Joseph, St. Cloud and beyond. A community theater in Cold Spring, Minnesota was formed in September of 1991 when interested folk came together to dedicate the Rocori Highschool Auditorium to long time humanities supporter and Cold Spring resident Glanville Smith. Work began on our first production and the Great Northern Theatre Company was officially incorporated in 1992.
