Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane was a wandering American
frontierswoman who dressed like a man and frequented bars, telling stories of
her adventures. She was born Martha Jane Canary in Princeton, Missouri on May 1,
1852. She was orphaned by 1867 and began roaming the mining districts of the
west. In the late 1870s she was a familiar sight in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
In 1891 she married Clinton Burke, but he soon deserted her. She toured in Wild
West shows and claimed to have been a pony express rider and a scout with
General Custer's forces.
How Calamity Jane received her nickname is uncertain, like much else about
her legendary life. "Calamity" may have referred to her hard-luck times, to her
willingness to help those in trouble, or to the fate of her enemies (because of
her skill with a pistol).
Martha "Calamity Jane" Canary Burke died in 1903 in Terry, South Dakota. She
was buried in Mount Moriah cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota, next to Wild Bill
Hickok.
Although many fictional accounts pair Calamity Jane with Wild Bill Hickok,
the two were never romantically involved.
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