Bull's-eye

The Annie Oakley of stage and television is a rough-and-tumble heroine who little resembles the real-life woman. Born Phoebe Ann in 1860, she was the sixth daughter of a farming couple from Ohio and showed an unusual spirit at a very young age. The loss of her father when she was five left Annie's mother to raise her children alone and Annie took responsibility for chores far beyond what would be expected for a child her age. From the ages of 10 to 14, hardship forced her mother to place Annie in other homes to earn her keep. At 14, she returned to her family and found an aptitude for hunting, killing game for the family table and for sale. At 15, her first shooting match against an expert marksman led to her career as a performer in traveling shows and to her long-term marriage to the sharpshooter, Frank Butler. Annie became internationally famous drawing thousands of people who came to see performances of marksmanship in the Buffalo Bill Wild West show. Always spirited and independent, Annie believed that "God intended women to be outside as well as men" and devoted time to teach at least 500 women to shoot. Photographs, publicity stills, copies of programs, the lively text, and quotations from Annie, herself, reveal the extraordinary woman behind the myth. A chronology, bibliography, index, and author's note on historical research complete the package. (Nonfiction. 10-14)