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 large and hungry family. Thanks to her command of the rifle and shotgun, she paid off the mortgage on the Mosey homestead thru the sale of surplus wild game to a Cincinnati hotel owner.
The fame of this superb tiny shooter exploded through Ohio and the mid-west when she conquered Frank Butler, vaudeville's champ 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 were 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 attracting far more in the way of attention than he as she surprised audiences with her phenomenal precision. He shortly brought her to the notice of Nate Salsbury, the genius executive of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Frank withdrew from competition to focus on handling Annie's career.
Touring Europe with the Wild West Show in 1887, Annie twice gave non-public 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 sad 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, deserving younger girls, or actors.
Annie Oakley's feats as a sharpshooter are legendary. At 30 paces she shot a penny from between her better half'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 rapid fire demonstration and, at the age of 56, using three double-barreled guns, punctured in midair 6 balls sprung from as many traps.
Her ability was immortalised in the lingo 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 copied the holes Annie shot in flying playing cards. Annie Oakley died in Greenville, Ohio on Nov 3, 1926. Frank Butler died eighteen days later . 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 delightful broadway musical scripted in 1946 has delighted audiences around the world and is still a great draw for theatres around the country.
The fame of this superb tiny shooter exploded through Ohio and the mid-west when she conquered Frank Butler, vaudeville's champ 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 were 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 attracting far more in the way of attention than he as she surprised audiences with her phenomenal precision. He shortly brought her to the notice of Nate Salsbury, the genius executive of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Frank withdrew from competition to focus on handling Annie's career.
Touring Europe with the Wild West Show in 1887, Annie twice gave non-public 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 sad 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, deserving younger girls, or actors.
Annie Oakley's feats as a sharpshooter are legendary. At 30 paces she shot a penny from between her better half'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 rapid fire demonstration and, at the age of 56, using three double-barreled guns, punctured in midair 6 balls sprung from as many traps.
Her ability was immortalised in the lingo 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 copied the holes Annie shot in flying playing cards. Annie Oakley died in Greenville, Ohio on Nov 3, 1926. Frank Butler died eighteen days later . 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 delightful broadway musical scripted 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 people came together to dedicate the Rocori Highschool Auditorium to long time humanities fan and Cold Spring resident Glanville Smith. Work commenced on our first production and the Great Northern Theatre Company was officially incorporated in 1992.
