Calamity Jane

She was born on May 1, 1852 in Princeton, Missouri. Her real name is Martha Cannary. She was the oldest of five other siblings in her family. The family moved from Missouri to Montana. She enjoyed riding horses and being outdoors. On their journey to the West, she did a lot of hunting and spent a lot of time with the men. After her mother died they moved to Utah, and her father died later in the year. Since she was the oldest, she became in charge of the house. She decided to take the family back to Wyoming. She had many different jobs, because she had to make money and provide for the family. Some of her jobs were a nurse, cook, dishwasher, waitress, an ox-team driver, and a prostitute. She began dressing like a man when she joined General Custer as a scout at Fort Russell, Wyoming. She thought of herself as reckless and one of the best shots in the West. When they returned from Arizona, she was order to the Muscle Shell Indian outbreak. This is where she earned her name, "Calamity Jane." Over the next few years, she was ordered around, still continuing to dress and act like a man. She was found out to be a woman after being seen swimming nude. Later, she got severely sick and was in the hospital for 14 days. After regaining her strength to ride she went on to Fort Laramie.

Then she met Wild Bill Hickok. They got along well, because they were both heavy drinkers and over exaggerated a lot. He was heading to Deadwood, South Dakota, and she decided to follow him. She got a job with the Pony Express, riding 50 miles from Deadwood to Custer. After the death of Wild Bill, she stays in Deadwood. Smallpox broke out, and she helped nurse many patients.

In 1885, she was married to Clinton Burke, and their daughter was born later that year. Some question who the father of her daughter is, thinking it could've been Hickok. She became a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to raise money, although she was later fired for being an alcoholic. Her drinking and