Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1995
Abstract
Riley proves an excellent writer, adeptly disclosing the personality of this private woman. Poverty ridden as a child, Oakley learned to hunt and became an expert markswoman. She married the first man she beat in a shooting competition, Frank Butler. Frank, perhaps the ideal husband, managed Annie and their engagements with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Throughout the years they maintained high moral standards; neither smoked, drank or cursed. Annie, ever the Victorian lady, always wore a dress and always rode side-saddle while proving herself a worldclass sharpshooter. She never forgot those less fortunate than herself, providing gifts to orphanages and relatives.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly 15:4 (Fall 1995). Copyright © 1995 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.