Annie Oakley: The Girl with the Golden Gun

American Heroine Sharpshooter and Role Model

Annie was born into poverty due to the death of her father and having NINE siblings. At age 8 she began trapping and hunting to pay off the family farm mortgage which she did (single handedly) at age 15 using her sharpshooter skills. When a local sharpshooter challenged her to a contest, the 5 ft. Annie outshot him and won $2800 and fame. She went on the road with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show earning more money than anyone but Buffalo Bill himself. She performed all over the world including shooting the cigarette ash off a cig held by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Involved in two accidents, she overcame her injuries (broken spine in one case) to continue on shooting well into her 60s. She became friends with Sitting Bull, the Lakota chief, who called her “Little Sure Shot” and adopted her as his daughter symbolically. Her fame and money were used in many charities to orphans and she taught over 15,000 women to shoot.

She remains to this day an American household name and an icon of achievement. Valor is in you. Set it free.