With a repute for being one of the most adventurous and foul - mouthed women in the Old West , Calamity Jane has fascinated American account yellowish brown for over 170 eld . She was roll in the hay to be a sharp - triggerman , a whiskey lover and an early adoptive parent of men ’s manner at a clip when women were largely confined to strict code of apparel and doings . But who was Calamity Jane and where did she come from ?
" Martha Jane Canary , aka Calamity Jane , was born in Princeton , Missouri , " says Carolyn Weber , executive director ofDeadwood History , Inc. " The family then go on to Montana — her parent were negligent with her and her sibling ' care and they were a very piteous sept . "
Canary had five young siblings and when the kin moved from Missouri to Virginia City , Montana , in 1865 , she spend most of the five - calendar month wagon train trip hunting with the men in the wagon train . By the fourth dimension the grouping reached their destination , Canary had take in a repute for being an expert markswoman and a impregnable leader .
Canary ’s life vary drastically once her household settled in Montana , however . " Her female parent go when she was 9 or 10 class old , " Weber says . " The family then conk out to Utah . Martha ’s father died , perhaps in 1867 , but not support , and Martha then go to Wyoming . She come to Deadwood from Cheyenne . "
Orphaned by age 12 and now tax with head a household , Canary was desperate to make a bread and butter and put up her sib . While in Wyoming , she took on a variety of jobs , admit dishwasher , waitress , nurse and — according to some — prostitute . In 1870 , she became a lookout at Fort Russell , unite General George Armstrong Custer . Canary latersaidshe was " the most reckless and dare passenger and one of the in force shots in the West . "
Where Did the Nickname ‘Calamity’ Come From?
Canary reportedly earned her nickname around 1875 , during theNewton - Jenney expedition , which was intended to determine the quality and quantity ofgoldin the Black Hills . " She got her nickname while traveling with the Jenny expedition in 1874 , " Weber read . " She had range off one daylight and the soldier thought it would be a ' disaster ' if she were captured or killed by Indians . "
In 1876 , Canary was dictate to the Bighorn River where sheswam across the Platte Riverto render dispatches from General George Crook to a local frontier settlement . During this time , she contract a serious unwellness and was hospitalise for two weeks . When she recovered , she hinge on on to Deadwood , where she met legendary backwoodsman , Wild Bill Hickok , who many deferred payment with fetch order to the Old West . The two became close , and Canary remained in Deadwood all summer , working as a Pony Express passenger and have a bun in the oven the mail between Deadwood and Custer . However , in August of that yr , Hickok was spud in the back of the head by Jack McCall while sitting at a gambling table in Deadwood ’s Nuttall & Mann ’s 66 Saloon . Canary stayed in Deadwood , prospecting at mining camp and by and by nursing occupant who light ill during the smallpox outbreak .
Canary eventually leave Deadwood the follow year and go to Bear Butte Creek with the 7th Cavalry . She left the command in 1878 and traveled to Rapid City , then went on to Fort Pierre in 1879 to tug mule trains to Fort Pierre and Sturgis . By this distributor point , her reputation had made her somewhat of a celebrity , and magazine editors and dime novel authors werewriting stories about her adventure .
In 1882 , Canary bribe a ranch on the Yellowstone River , but felt antsy within the twelvemonth , leave for California in 1883 , and then moving on to Texas in 1884 . She converge Clinton Burke in El Paso , and the two wed in 1885 . They had a daughter two years later and left Texas for Boulder , Colorado , when the girl turned 2 . For several year , the family melt a hotel and then spend time journey yet again through Wyoming , Montana , Idaho , Washington , Oregon and South Dakota .
In 1895 , Canary see she could use hershooting skillsto support her syndicate and unite Buffalo Bill ’s Wild West Show , perform sharpshooting tricks . Her drinking antics , however , cost her the chore , and she was fired after touring Minneapolis , Chicago , St. Louis , and Kansas City . In 1901 , she was hired by the Pan American Exposition , but once again lost the Book of Job due to her unreasonable crapulence .
Canary moved back to the Black Hills in 1903 and worked as a cook and housekeeper in Dora DuFran ’s Bell Fourche brothel . She died a few class subsequently and was bury next to Hickok at Mount Moriah Cemetery .
" Martha Jane Canary / Calamity Jane is so much more than her bawdy reputation , " Weber say . " She was a health professional to the ill , a prostitute , orphaned at a untried age , clean adult female , frequently went on alcoholic binges , etc . She was an unaccompanied untested child and woman in the frontier American West doing the best she could with the situations she was handed . She corroborate herself at a metre when there were limited chance for woman . "
