Calamity Jane LWW-Calamity Jane_F.indd 1 6/22/10 11:30:22 AM Legends of the Wild West Sitting Bull Billy the Kid Calamity Jane Buffalo Bill Cody Crazy Horse Davy Crockett Wyatt Earp Geronimo Wild Bill Hickok Jesse James Nat Love Annie Oakley LWW-Calamity Jane_F.indd 2 6/22/10 11:30:26 AM Calamity Jane Adam Woog LWW-Calamity Jane_F.indd 3 6/22/10 11:30:31 AM For my dad, an honorary resident of the Old West Calamity Jane Copyright  2010 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Woog, Adam, 1953– Calamity Jane / Adam Woog. p. cm. — (Legends of the wild West) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-595-4 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4381-3450-5 (e-book) 1. Calamity Jane, 1852–1903—Juvenile literature. 2. Women pioneers—West (U.S.)—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Pioneers—West (U.S.)—Biography— Juvenile literature. 4. West (U.S.)—Biography—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. F594.C2W66 2010 978’.02092—dc22 [B] 2010009979 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Text design by Kerry Casey Cover design by Keith Trego Composition by EJB Publishing Services Cover printed by Bang Printing, Brainerd, Minn. Book printed and bound by Bang Printing, Brainerd, Minn. Date printed: August 2010 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. LWW-Calamity Jane_dummy.indd 4 8/12/10 3:28:31 PM CONTENTS 1 The Notorious Calamity Jane 7 2 Calamity Jane’s Early Years 14 3 Riding with the Army 24 4 Adventures in Deadwood 36 5 Wandering the West 52 6 Calamity Jane’s Final Years 68 7 Calamity Jane’s Legacy 85 chronology and timeline 96 Glossary 100 Bibliography 102 further resources 104 Picture credits 106 index 107 about the author 111 LWW-Calamity Jane_dummy.indd 5 7/16/10 10:54:16 AM LWW-Calamity Jane_F.indd 6 6/22/10 11:30:43 AM 1 the notorious Calamity Jane She was a good woman, only she drinked. —Charles Wroe, a cowboy who knew Calamity Jane in the 1880s Some people call her one of the most colorful and freewheeling characters in the Old West. Others say she was a pioneer for women’s rights, unafraid to wear trousers and do a man’s job in a time when that was scandalous behavior. Some people admire her generosity and selfless work in aid of the ill or destitute. And some believe that she was nothing more than an alcoholic, foul-mouthed, poverty- stricken, good-for-nothing scoundrel. But she was Calamity Jane, and—no matter what anyone says about her otherwise—she was still one of a kind: larger than life, self-reliant, and stubbornly free- spirited. Many historians feel that of all the legendary figures to emerge from the American frontier, Calamity Jane is one of the least under- stood. Thanks to such dubious sources as her brief autobiography, The Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane, by Herself, her legend has become so encrusted with false stories that it is almost impossible to separate the true from the fanciful. 7 LWW-Calamity Jane_F.indd 7 6/22/10 11:30:45 AM 8 calamity jane This is one important reason why she is so misunderstood. So few facts about her are clear. Even the most basic information, such as her exact birth date and the number of her siblings, is uncertain. Strong evidence indicates that she had at least one child of her own, but if so, the identities of their fathers are unclear. Furthermore, at least two other women in the Old West also went by the nickname Calamity Jane, and the three probably crossed paths on occasion, thus confusing the issue even further. Also, there are large gaps in the chronology of her travels and whereabouts. Even the frontierswoman’s real name is uncertain. It was prob- ably Martha Canary, though many variants have appeared: Martha Cannary, Marthy Jane Cannary, Martha Jane Canary Burke, Mattie King, and more. Nonetheless, most people, then and now, simply called her some variation of Calamity Jane. Meanwhile, adding to the misunderstandings about Calam- ity Jane, there are all those fanciful stories that she and others told. Jane loved to talk about herself, usually bragging and exaggerating shamelessly. As her fame grew, other hard-living dwellers in the Old West also embroidered her adventures—whether or not they actu- ally knew her. In the decades since, untold numbers of still more outlandish stories and fanciful yarns have been told about her. An article in the newspaper of one of the many towns the frontierswoman frequented, the Livingston, Montana, Enterprise, summed this up in 1887. The anonymous writer, while noting that many of the tales about her were somewhat less than squeaky-clean, commented, “A complete and true biography of Calamity Jane would make a large book, more interesting and blood-curdling than all the fictitious stories that have been written of her, but it would never find its way into a Sunday school library.” after the romantic adventures are removed In some ways, considering her widespread fame as a figure of the Old West, Calamity Jane is as remarkable for what she did not do as she LWW-Calamity Jane_dummy.indd 8 7/16/10 10:54:17 AM The notorious Calamity jane 9 Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane, lived a colorful, adventur- ous life. During her lifetime, Calamity Jane took any job she could, including work as a scout for the military, a cook, a waitress, a dance-hall girl, and a trick shooter for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. LWW-Calamity Jane_F.indd 9 6/22/10 11:30:50 AM