Calamity Jane
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| Calamity Jane | |
|---|---|
| Martha Jane Canary | |
| Birthday | |
| Birthplace | Princeton, Missouri |
| Died | |
| Nationality | United States |
Calamity Jane
(kəlăm`ĭtē jān`), c.1852–1903, American frontier character, b. Princeton, Mo. Her real name was Martha Jane Canary, and the origin of her nickname is obscure. Little is known of her early life beyond the fact that she moved with her parents to Virginia City, Mont., in 1865 and that she grew up in mining camps and rough frontier communities. In 1876 she appeared in Deadwood, S.Dak., dressed in men's clothes and boasting of her marksmanship and her exploits as a pony-express rider and as a scout with Custer's forces. In her later years she toured the West in a burlesque show and appeared at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. She died in poverty and obscurity in Deadwood, where she is buried beside Wild Bill Hickock.Bibliography
See biographies by D. Aikman (1927) and Mrs. G. Clairmonte (1959); R. J. Casey, The Black Hills and Their Incredible Characters (1949).
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Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary
or Martha Burke, 1852–1903) frontierswoman; mannish prophetess of doom. [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 71]
See: Pessimism
Calamity Jane
(Martha Jane Canary or Martha Burke, 1852–1903) mannish prophetess of doom. [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 71]
See: Prophecy
Calamity Jane
(Martha Jane Canary Burke, c. 1852–1903) extraordinary markswoman and pony express rider. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 418]
See: Wild West
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Calamity Jane
real name Martha Canary. ?1852--1903, US frontierswoman, noted for her skill at shooting and riding
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Calamity Jane
See Burk, Martha Jane (Canary).The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.