Calamity Jane(1852 — 1903)
Calamity Jane
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Martha Jane Cannary (c. 1852-1903), known as Calamity Jane, was a scout, stagecoach driver, and iconic figure of the American conquest of the West. A legend in her own lifetime, she performed in Wild West shows and was associated with the gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born around 1852 in Princeton, Missouri, under the name Martha Jane Cannary
- Settled in the 1870s in the Black Hills and the mining town of Deadwood, South Dakota
- Associated with the legend of Wild Bill Hickok, killed in Deadwood in 1876
- Performed in the late 19th century in traveling Wild West shows (Buffalo Bill)
- Died in 1903 in Terry, near Deadwood, and was buried beside Wild Bill Hickok
Works & Achievements
Dressed as a man, she accompanied expeditions, mule drivers, and soldiers across the Western territories — a rare occupation for a woman of her time.
She tended to smallpox victims whom many others fled from, an act that earned her genuine local recognition.
An autobiographical pamphlet that she wrote and sold herself, a key document in the building of her own legend.
She performed in leather costume and bearing arms, becoming a living attraction of frontier memory.
Even in her own lifetime, she became a character in dime novels and a lasting symbol of the free woman of the American West.
Anecdotes
In 1896, Calamity Jane had a small eight-page pamphlet printed, *Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane, By Herself*, which she sold for a few cents during her appearances. This account, in which she presents herself as a fearless scout, blends real events with spectacular exaggerations: it did much to forge her legend during her own lifetime.
According to a story she liked to tell, her nickname “Calamity” was given to her by an officer she supposedly rescued from an ambush, after she warned that defying this woman would bring down “calamity.” Historians regard this version as unverifiable: the nickname more likely came from her rowdy temperament and her boisterous reputation.
During the smallpox epidemic that struck the mining camp of Deadwood around 1878, several accounts report that Martha Jane nursed the sick whom many others fled out of fear of contagion. This generosity, in sharp contrast with her reputation as a brawling drunkard, earned her genuine affection across the region.
Late in her life, she performed in traveling “Wild West” shows and dime museums, such as those run by Kohl & Middleton, where she posed in a leather outfit with her guns. The public paid to see “the real Calamity Jane,” turned into a living attraction of the conquest of the West.
When she died in 1903, she was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, right beside the grave of Wild Bill Hickok. It is said this was her final wish; since she had always implied a great closeness with the famous gunslinger, this shared burial place permanently sealed their association in legend.
Primary Sources
“My maiden name was Marthy Cannary. I was born in Princeton, Missouri, May 1st, 1852.” (a heavily embellished account that she sold herself)
Period articles recounting the presence and antics of “Calamity Jane” in the streets and saloons of Deadwood during the Black Hills gold rush.
Mentions of a woman, dressed as a man, accompanying the columns of soldiers and mule drivers heading toward Sioux territory.
Key Places
Town where Martha Jane Cannary is said to have been born around 1852, into a poor family that later set off westward.
Mining camp where her family migrated during her childhood, at the heart of the Montana gold rush. Orphaned young, she learned there how harsh frontier life could be.
A major military post along the western trails, a starting point for expeditions into Indian territories. Calamity Jane is said to have gravitated around these columns of soldiers and mule drivers.
Turbulent gold camp in the Black Hills where she settled in 1876 and built her reputation. It is the town with which her name remains most closely associated.
Small mining settlement near Deadwood where Martha Jane died in 1903, sick and destitute.
Cemetery where she was buried in 1903, right next to the grave of Wild Bill Hickok. The site has become a place of memory for the legend of the Old West.
