October 15, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie
The little sure shot from Ohio.
Rich and I drove 45 miles south today to the birthplace of Annie Oakley. Located on Spencer Road in Yorkshire, Ohio is a small memorial dedicated to the site of her home. It’s a shame that the home itself wasn’t preserved.
The plaque reads that the log cabin was a little over 1,000 feet east which puts it in that cornfield behind the memorial.
Phoebe Ann Mosey, (there is some argument that the last name was Moses, not Mosey), better known by her stage name Annie Oakley, was one of the most famous sharpshooters of the Wild West era.
She was born on August 13, 1860, into poverty in southwest Ohio, but her skill with firearms helped her rise to international fame.
Oakley’s father died when she was young forcing her to learn to hunt and shoot to help support her family. She was so skilled that she was able to sell her wild game around the city of Greenville, Ohio. Some of it was even shipped off to market in Cincinnati.
She was so skilled that she won a shooting match in Cincinnati, Ohio against a professional marksman at the age of 15. That’s how she met the man she would eventually marry, Frank E. Butler.
After visiting her birthplace memorial we drove eight miles to Brock Cemetery just outside of Versailles, Ohio to visit the gravesite of Oakley and her husband Butler.
She adopted the stage name “Oakley” when she began performing with her husband in the early 1880s.
There are several theories about how she chose her stage name. One theory is that she took it from the town of Oakley, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, where she and her husband lived for a time.
In 1885, they joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. Oakley quickly became one of the show’s biggest stars, dazzling audiences with her amazing feats of marksmanship.
We left the cemetery and drove 12 miles south into downtown Greenville to the Annie Oakley Memorial Park. Being downtown there was not much parking available so we pulled into the alley and got out for a few minutes.
During her life, Oakley was a role model for women and girls everywhere. She proved that women could be just as good as men at shooting sports, and she inspired many women to learn how to shoot.
She was a strong advocate for women’s rights and equality, a national icon, and one of the most famous women in the world.
Oakley died of pernicious anemia on November 3, 1926, at the age of 66. Her ashes are buried in the Brock Cemetery near Greenville, Ohio. Her devoted husband, Frank Butler, died just three weeks later on November 21, 1926, and is buried right beside her.
Annie Oakley was a true American pioneer, a hunter, and a role model. She showed the world that women could do anything they set their minds to. Her legacy continues to inspire people. She is remembered as one of the greatest sharpshooters of all time and a pioneer for women’s rights.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos and learning about Annie Oakley — the little sure shot from Ohio.
