One of the greatest female sharpshooters in American history Annie Oakley took a shot at fame in Cincinnati and launched her career here.
Oakley was born today, Aug. 13, 1860, in Patterson Township, Ohio as Phoebe Ann Oakley Moses. She visited Queen City on Thanksgiving 1876 to participate in a shooting match against traveling exhibition sharpshooter named Frank Butler. A Cincinnati hotel keeper had heard about Oakley's marksmanship and arranged the match.
According to the History Channel website, History.com, Oakley managed to outshoot the professional by one clay pigeon.
Oakley’s skills and attractive appearance impressed Butler, and he continued to correspond with her as he traveled, the History Channel said. By June 1877, the two were married, and Oakley joined her husband’s act as “Annie Oakley” the “peerless wing and rifle shot.”
In 1885, the couple joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, and Oakley soon became one of the most popular acts.
A typical show, according to History.com, consisted of Oakley shooting a cigarette out of her husband’s mouth or a dime from his fingers. She also did backward trick shots where she sighted her target only with a mirror.
Oakley demonstrated an uncanny gift for marksmanship at an early age.
“I was 8 years old when I made my first shot,” she later recalled, according to the History Channel. “And I still consider it one of the best shots I ever made.”
After spotting a squirrel on the fence in her front yard, the young Oakley took a loaded rifle, steadied the gun on a porch rail, and shot the squirrel through the head, skillfully preserving the meat for the stew pot.
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