A somewhat hagiographic biography of Annie Oakley; author Shirl Kasper notes she was inspired to write by the 1950s TV series Annie Oakley, which portrayed a female heroine who could outdraw and outshoot any male villain. (I vaguely recall seeing the show in my childhood; it bore no resemblance to the actual life of Annie Oakley). The real Annie – born Phoebe Ann Moses in 1860 – really did seem to be a pretty decent sort. Her early childhood was spent wandering around the woods near her Ohio home, but tragedy stuck with the death of her father in 1866 and her mother was forced to send her to the county poor farm, where she stayed until she was 15. On her return home, she discovered a local grocer who would buy game and Annie took up supplying it, making enough money to pay off the mortgage. She began taking part in local shooting contest – until she proved so good she was banned. One day another good shooter, Frank Butler, showed up for a contest in Greenville, Ohio. Butler laughed about it later, saying he felt it was a shame to take money from poor country people. He went up against Annie Moses and the rest, as they say, was history. Within a year Annie and Frank married.

It wasn’t clear why she chose Annie Oakley rather than staying Annie Moses or becoming Annie Butler. Butler seems to have been perfectly content living in Annie’s shadow; he loaded her ammunition, worked the trap, and threw the glass balls in the air. Annie adopted a “kittenish” stage persona, dressing younger than her actual age and skipping to her shooting stand. Most of her fame came with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show – although she was willing to work with anybody who paid her well. Some of her trick shooting was pretty amazing, including putting a bullet through an Ace of Hearts, then turning the card edge on and cutting it in half. She apparently had some sort of falling out with Cody and went off to other shows for a while, but they resumed their relationship eventually; on Cody’s death she said he was “…the kindest hearted, broadest minded, simplest, most loyal man she knew”. Unlike Cody, Oakley was always frugal with her money and saved enough for a comfortable retirement.

Oakley would not be politically correct nowadays; she didn’t believe women should vote but did believe they should learn to shoot and carry weapons; when she walked by herself she always had a pistol tucked in her umbrella. She once fended off a “tramp” who attempted to force his way into her house by drawing her pistol and putting two bullets through his hat as he ran away. She also slaughtered countless animals – a lot of her shooting contests used live birds. She once referred to Negro troops as “darkeys” and doubted that they would perform well, but on actually observing them in training she admitted she had been wrong and thought they would do just fine.

She and Butler seemed quite content together; they never had any children and none of her letters to friends and relatives reveal any hint of marital intimacy (however, Butler was quite fond of writing poems to her). However, Butler wasn’t present during her final illness; he had moved in with a relative in Michigan and died 18 days after his wife; her cause of death was listed as “pernicious anemia” and his as “senility”.

One thing that puzzled me is how she stood up to it. After shooting a box of shells, my shoulder always ends up black and blue, but Oakley – a slight woman, 5 feet tall and 110 pounds - could shoot thousands of rounds in a day – heavy 12 and 16 gauge, too – without any noticeable discomfort. Butler loaded her ammunition for her, so it may have been underpowered by hunting standards (probably prudent when shooting in an arena), but even a softly loaded 12 gauge has a kick.

Well illustrated and well documented; lots of endnotes. An easy read. The bibliography includes a number of books on guns, hunting and shooting, suggesting that the author wanted a thorough grounding. ( )