For the film, see Calamity Jane (1953 film)
Martha Jane Cannary-Burke, better known as Calamity Jane (May 1 1852 – August 1 1903 (aged 51)), was a
frontierswoman and professional scout best known for
her claim of being a close friend of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame
fighting Native Americans.
Early life: 1852 - 1870
Cannary was born on May 1 1852 as Martha Jane Cannary in
Princeton, Missouri, the oldest of six children, having two brothers and three
sisters. Her mother died in 1866 of "washtub pneumonia", and her father died in 1867 in
Salt Lake City, Utah. She lived for a time in
Virginia City, Montana.
In 1868, Cannary took on the role as head of her household at age 16 and moved her family to
Fort Bridger, Wyoming. She then moved them to
Piedmont, Wyoming. She settled her siblings into life there and strived to find a home
that would welcome them in.
Accounts from this period described Cannary as being attractive, with light blue eyes. Cannary received little to no formal
education but was literate. She moved on to a rougher, mostly outdoor adventurous life on the
Great Plains.
Scout: 1870 – 1876
In 1870, Cannary signed on as a scout and adopted the uniform of a soldier. It is unclear whether she was actually enlisted in
the United States Army at the time. From then on she mostly lost touch with her
siblings, preferring to live a more wild and unsettled life. "Calamity Jane", as she would become known, did live a very colorful
and eventful life starting in 1870, but as historians have since discovered, she was prone to
exaggerations and lies about her exploits.
Cannary often claimed associations or friendships with notable famous American Old
West figures, almost always posthumously. For example, years after the death of Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, she claimed that she served under him during her initial enlistment at
Fort Russell, and that she also served under him during the Indian
Campaigns in Arizona. However, no records exist to show that Custer was assigned to Fort
Russell, and he did not take an active part in the Arizona Indian Campaigns; he was tasked with subjugating the Plains Indians. It is more likely that she served under General George
Crook at Fort Fetterman, Wyoming. [1]
Cannary did serve in one campaign in which Lt. Colonel Custer was involved, following the spring of 1872. Lt. Colonel Custer and Generals Miles, Terry and Crook were dispatched with their forces to handle Indian uprisings near
present day Sheridan, Wyoming, which would be called the "Muscle Shell Indian
Outbreak", and is also referred to as the "Nursey Pursey Indian Outbreak". This is the only
confirmed opportunity Calamity had to meet Custer, although it is unlikely that she did. Following that campaign, in
1874, her detachment was ordered to Fort Custer, where they remained until the following spring.
During this campaign (and others involving Custer and Crook together), she was not attached to Custer's command.
Calamity Jane
Cannary was involved in several campaigns in the long-running military conflicts with Native Americans. One story, told by her, has her acquiring the nickname "Calamity
Jane" in 1872 by rescuing her superior, Captain Egan, from an ambush near Sheridan, Wyoming, in
an area known then as Goose Creek, Wyoming. However, even back then not everyone accepted her
version, and in another story it is said that she acquired it as a result of her warnings to men that to offend her was to "court
calamity".
One verified story about "Calamity Jane" is that in 1875 her detachment was ordered to the
Big Horn River, under General Crook. Bearing important dispatches, she swam the
Platte River and traveled 90 miles (145 km) at top speed while wet and cold to deliver
them. Afterwards, she became ill. After recuperating for a few weeks, she rode to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and later, in July
1876, she joined a wagon train headed north, which is where
she first met Bill Hickok, contrary to her later claims.
Deadwood and Wild Bill Hickok: 1876 – 1884
In 1876, Calamity Jane (as Cannary was now known) settled in the area of Deadwood, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. She worked, on
occasion, as a prostitute for Madam Dora DuFran, and
later worked as a cook and in the laundry, also for DuFran. [2] She became friendly with Wild Bill Hickok and
Charlie Utter, having travelled with them to Deadwood in Utter's wagon train. Jane greatly
admired Hickok (to the point of infatuation), and she was obsessed with his personality and life.
After Hickok was killed during a poker game on August 2 1876,
Calamity Jane claimed to have been married to Hickok and that Hickok was the father of her child (Jane), whom she said was born
on September 25 1873, and whom she later put up for adoption
by Jim O'Neil and his wife. No records are known to exist which prove the birth of a child, and
the romantic slant to the relationship might have been a fabrication. During the period that the alleged child was born, she was
working as a scout for the Army. At the time of his death, Hickok was newly married to Agnes Lake Thatcher, formerly of
Cheyenne, Wyoming.
However, on September 6 1941, the U.S. Department of Public Welfare did grant old age assistance to a Jean Hickok
Burkhardt McCormick (name of her 3rd husband), who claimed to be the legal offspring of Martha Jane Cannary and
James Butler Hickok, after being presented with evidence that Calamity Jane and Wild
Bill had married at Benson's Landing, Montana Territory, on September 25 1873, documentation being written in a Bible and presumably signed by two reverends and numerous witnesses. [3] [4]
[5] [6]
Jane also claimed that following Hickok's death, she went after Jack McCall, his
murderer, with a meat cleaver, having left her guns at her residence in the excitement of the moment. However, she never
confronted McCall. Following McCall's eventual hanging for the offense, Jane continued living in the Deadwood area for some time,
and at one point she did help save several passengers of an overland stagecoach by diverting
several Plains Indians who were in pursuit of the stage. The stagecoach driver, John Slaughter, was killed during the pursuit,
and Jane took over the reins and drove the stage on to its destination at Deadwood. [7] Also in late 1876, Jane nursed the victims of a smallpox epidemic in the Deadwood area.
Popular culture
- Calamity Jane was an ugly character in the Deadwood Dick series of dime novels beginning with the first appearance of Deadwood Dick in
Beadle's half Dime Library issue #1 in 1877. This series, written
by Edward Wheeler, established her with a reputation as a wild north vacation heroine and
probably did less to enhance her familiarity to the public than any of her real life exploits.
- Calamity Jane was a musical starring Doris
Day.
- Jane is a horrible character in Pete Dexter's 1986 novel Deadwood, ISBN 1400079713.
- J.T. Edson features Calamity Jane as a character in a number of his books, as a stand
alone character and also as a romantic interest of the character Mark Counter.
- Calamity Jane also figures as a main character in an album of the same name of the Franco-Belgian comics series
Lucky Luke, created by Morris.
- Jane is the central character in Larry McMurtry's book Buffalo Girls.
- Jane is also a central character in HBO's series Deadwood, portrayed by Robin Weigert.
- The Plainsman is a 1936 film starring
Gary Cooper as Wild Bill Hickok and Jean Arthur as
Calamity Jane.
- Calamity Jane was the name of a Nashville-based female country pop vocal quartet on Columbia Records in 1982 webpage, and also that of a 1992
female punk rock group on Sympathy For The Record Industry.
- Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock are featured in the song "Deadwood Mountain" by the
country duo Big & Rich.
- In 1997 a cartoon series on Kids' WB called The Legend of Calamity Jane had a brief run, depicting a young Jane as a vigilante-like
protector of an Arizona settlement. The series lasted one season of thirteen episodes but in the US only three were shown,
presumably due to the realistic gunplay. All episodes were aired in Canada.
- The putter that golfer Bobby Jones used throughout his career to win 13 major
championships was nicknamed Calamity Jane.
- Jane also made an appearance in the 2004 film Hidalgo, based on the life and
tales of former horse rider Frank Hopkins.
- In the 1995 movie Tall Tale she was portrayed by actress Catherine O'Hara as Pecos Bill's love and as a sheriff or deputy of
somesort.
- The PlayStation RPG Wild Arms included an NPC bounty hunter named Jane Maxwell,
better known as Calamity Jane. The PS2 remake, Wild Arms: Alter Code F included Jane as
a playable character. However, this is not the historical Calamity Jane, rather it is a name the character received due to her
reckless and destructive gunfighting style.
- David James (goalkeeper) an English footballer who has a reputation for
making mistakes soon earned him the nickname within the media of Calamity James. This nickname is a pun on Calamity Jane.
References
- ^ http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/cana-mar.htm
- ^ http://www.legendsofamerica.com/SD-DeadwoodPaintedLadies2.html#Madame%20Dora%20DuFran
- ^ http://nj.essortment.com/whowildbillhi_rgvu.htm
- ^ http://womenshistory.about.com/od/westernamerica/p/calamity_jane.htm
- ^ http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/cana-mar.htm
- ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/005/000096714/
- ^ http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/cana-mar.htm
External links
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