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= Calamity_Jane =
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Introduction
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Martha Jane Canary (May 1, 1852 - August 1, 1903), better known as
Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and
storyteller. In addition to many exploits, she was known for being an
acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Late in her life, she appeared in
Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.
She is said to have exhibited compassion to others, especially to the
sick and needy. This facet of her character contrasted with her
daredevil ways and helped to make her a celebrated frontier figure.
She was also known for her habit of wearing men's attire.
Early life
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Much of the information about the early years of Calamity Jane's life
comes from an autobiographical booklet that she dictated in 1896,
written for publicity purposes. It was intended to help attract
audiences to a tour she was about to begin, in which she appeared in
dime museums around the United States. Some of the information in the
pamphlet is exaggerated or even completely inaccurate.
Calamity Jane was born on May 1, 1852, as Martha Jane Canary (or
Cannary) in Princeton, within Mercer County, Missouri. Her parents
were listed in the 1860 census as living about 7 mi northeast of
Princeton in Ravanna. Her father Robert Wilson Canary had a gambling
problem, and little is known about her mother Charlotte M. Canary.
Jane was the eldest of six children, with two brothers and three
sisters.
In 1865, the family moved by wagon train from Missouri to Virginia
City, Montana. In 1866, Charlotte died of pneumonia along the way, in
Blackfoot, Montana. After arriving in Virginia City in the spring of
1866, Robert took his six children to Salt Lake City, Utah. They
arrived in the summer, and Robert supposedly started farming on 40
acre of land. The family had been in Salt Lake City for only a year
when he died in 1867. At age 14, Martha Jane took charge of her five
younger siblings, loaded their wagon, and took the family to Fort
Bridger, Wyoming Territory, where they arrived in May 1868. From
there, they traveled on the Union Pacific Railroad to Piedmont,
Wyoming.
In Piedmont, Jane took whatever jobs she could find to provide for her
large family. She worked as a dishwasher, cook, waitress, dance hall
girl, nurse, and ox team driver. Finally, in 1874, she claimed she
found work as a scout at Fort Russell. During this time, she also
reportedly began her occasional employment as a prostitute at the Fort
Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch. She moved to a rougher, mostly outdoor
and adventurous life on the Great Plains.
Acquiring the nickname
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Jane was involved in several campaigns in the long-running military
conflicts with Native Americans. Her claim was that:
"Captain Jack" Crawford served under Generals Wesley Merritt and
George Crook. According to the Montana 'Anaconda Standard' of April
19, 1904, he stated that Calamity Jane "never saw service in any
capacity under either General Crook or General Miles. She never saw a
lynching and never was in an Indian fight. She was simply a notorious
character, dissolute and devilish, but possessed a generous streak
which made her popular."
A popular belief is that she instead acquired the nickname as a result
of her warnings to men that to offend her was to "court calamity". It
is possible that "Jane" was not part of her name until the nickname
was coined for her. It is certain, however, that she was known by that
nickname by 1876, because the arrival of the Hickok wagon train was
reported in Deadwood's newspaper, the 'Black Hills Pioneer', on July
15, 1876, with the headline: "Calamity Jane has arrived!"
Another account in her autobiographical pamphlet is that her
detachment was ordered to the Big Horn River under General Crook in
1875. She swam the Platte River and travelled 90 mi at top speed while
wet and cold in order to deliver important dispatches. She became ill
afterwards and spent a few weeks recuperating. She then rode to Fort
Laramie in Wyoming and joined a wagon train headed north in July 1876.
The second part of her story is verified. She was at Fort Laramie in
July 1876, and she did join a wagon train that included Wild Bill
Hickok. That was where she first met Hickok, contrary to her later
claims, and that was how she happened to come to Deadwood.
Deadwood and Wild Bill Hickok
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Calamity Jane accompanied the Newton-Jenney Party into Rapid City in
1875, along with California Joe and Valentine McGillycuddy. In 1876,
Calamity Jane settled in the area of Deadwood, South Dakota, in the
Black Hills. There she became friends with Dora DuFran, the Black
Hills' leading madam, and was occasionally employed by her.
McCormick claim
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On September 6, 1941, the U.S. Department of Public Welfare granted
old age assistance to a Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick who claimed to
be the legal offspring of Martha Jane Canary and James Butler Hickok.
She presented evidence that Calamity Jane and Wild Bill had married at
Benson's Landing, Montana Territory (now Livingston, Montana) on
September 25, 1873. The documentation was written in a Bible and
presumably signed by two ministers and numerous witnesses. However,
McCormick's claim has been vigorously challenged because of a variety
of discrepancies.
McCormick later published a book with letters purported to be from
Calamity Jane to her daughter. In them, Calamity Jane says she had
been married to Hickok and that Hickok was the father of McCormick,
who was born September25, 1873, and was placed for adoption with a
Captain Jim O'Neil and his wife. During this period, Calamity Jane was
allegedly working as a scout for the army, and at the time of Hickok's
death, he had recently married Agnes Thatcher Lake.
Calamity Jane does seem to have had two or four daughters, although
the father's identity is unknown. In the late 1880s, Jane returned to
Deadwood with a child who she said was her daughter. At Jane's
request, a benefit was held in one of the theaters to raise money for
her daughter's education in St. Martin's Academy at Sturgis, South
Dakota, a nearby Catholic boarding school. The benefit raised a large
sum; Jane got drunk and spent a considerable portion of the money that
same night and left with the child the next day.
Estelline Bennett was living in Deadwood at that time and had spoken
briefly with Jane a few days before the benefit. She thought that Jane
honestly wanted her daughter to have an education and that the drunken
binge was just an example of her inability to curb her impulses and
carry through long-range plans (which Bennett saw as typical of Jane's
class). Bennett later heard that Jane's daughter did "get an
education, and grew up and married well".
After the death of Wild Bill Hickok
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Jane also claimed that, following Hickok's death, she went after his
murderer Jack McCall with a meat cleaver because she had left her guns
at her residence. Following McCall's execution for the crime, Jane
continued living in the Deadwood area for some time, and at one point,
she helped save numerous passengers in an overland stagecoach by
diverting several Plains Indians who were in pursuit of the vehicle.
Stagecoach driver John Slaughter was killed during the pursuit, and
Jane took over the reins and drove the stage on to its destination at
Deadwood.
In late 1876 or 1878, Jane nursed the victims of a smallpox epidemic
in the Deadwood area.
Final years
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In 1881, Jane bought a ranch west of Miles City, Montana, along the
Yellowstone River, where she kept an inn. According to one version of
her life, she later married Clinton Burke from Texas and moved to
Boulder, where she once again made an attempt in the inn business.
In 1893, Calamity Jane started to appear in 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West'
show as a storyteller. She also participated in the 1901 Pan-American
Exposition.
Her addiction to liquor was evident even in her younger years. For
example, on June 10, 1876, she rented a horse and buggy in Cheyenne
for a one-mile joy ride to Fort Russell and back, but she was so drunk
that she passed right by her destination without noticing it and
finally ended up about 90 mi away at Fort Laramie.
Death
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Jane returned to the Black Hills in the spring (April/May) of 1903,
where brothel owner Madame Dora DuFran was still running her business.
For the next few months, Jane earned her keep by cooking and doing the
laundry for Dora's girls in Belle Fourche. In late July, Jane traveled
by ore train to Terry, South Dakota, a small mining village near
Deadwood. It was reported that she had been drinking heavily while on
board the train and had fallen ill. The conductor, S. G. Tillett,
carried her off the train, a bartender secured a room for her at the
Calloway Hotel, and a physician was summoned. Jane's condition
deteriorated quickly, and she died at the hotel on Saturday, August 1,
1903, from inflammation of the bowels and pneumonia.
A bundle of unsent letters to her daughter was allegedly found among
Jane's few belongings. Composer Libby Larsen set some of these letters
to music in an art song cycle called 'Songs from Letters' (1989). The
letters were made public by Jean McCormick as part of her claim to be
the daughter of Jane and Hickok, but their authenticity is not
accepted by some, largely because there is ample evidence that Jane
was functionally illiterate.
Calamity Jane was buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery, South Dakota, next
to Bill Hickok. Four of the men who planned her funeral later stated
that Hickok had "absolutely no use" for Jane while he was alive, so
they decided to play a posthumous joke on him by burying her by his
side. Another account states: "in compliance with Jane's dying
requests, the Society of Black Hills Pioneers took charge of her
funeral and burial in Mount Moriah Cemetery beside Wild Bill. Not just
old friends, but the morbidly curious and many who would not have
acknowledged Calamity Jane when she was alive, overflowed the First
Methodist Church for the funeral services on August 4 and followed the
hearse up the steep winding road to Deadwood's boot hill".
Documentaries
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'Calamity Jane: Wild West Legend' directed by Gregory Monro in 2014
Games
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She appears as a side character in the computer RPG 'Worlds of Ultima:
Martian Dreams' (1991). In the KingsIsle Entertainment game
'Pirate101', Calamity Jane is one of the Magnificent 7. A character
named after Calamity Jane appeared as a side character in the
videogame 'Wild Arms' (1996).
In the RPG 'Fallout 3', the Lone Wanderer references Calamity Jane in
a dialogue option when first talking to Megaton sheriff and mayor,
Lucas Simms. A character named Calamity Janet appears in the card
board game 'BANG!' 'Calamity: The Natural World', a line of
educational games made in the 1990s for the PlayStation by Lightspan
Adventures, stars Calamity Jane. In the first-person shooter 'Hunt:
Showdown', she died during a Wild West show from a mysterious
accident. Also, there is a legendary rifle named after her.
She appears in the mobile game 'Fate/Grand Order' as a limited Archer
class servant during the Saber Wars 2 event.
Plays
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'Calamity Jane (A Musical Western)', an adaptation of the 1953 Doris
Day film with additional songs, premiered in May 1961.
Productions: 'Calamity Jane: The Play' by Catherine Ann Jones: Empire
State Theatre, Albany, New York; Promenade Theatre, New York, NY, with
Estelle Parsons; Santa Paula Theatre, Santa Paula, CA; Wimberley
Players, Wimberley, Texas; Plaza Playhouse, Carpenteria, CA. 'Calamity
Jane the Musical' by Catherine Ann Jones: South Jersey Regional
Theatre, Somers Point, New Jersey; Ojai Arts Theatre, Ojai, CA; Camino
Real Theatre, San Juan Capistrano, CA; One Eyed Man Productions, a
touring production (2017-18), Various Cities, Australia, with Virginia
Gay.
A UK tour, starring Carrie Hope Fletcher as Calamity Jane, ran January
- September 2025.
Books
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Calamity Jane was an important fictional character in the 'Deadwood
Dick' series of dime novels, beginning with the first appearance of
Deadwood Dick in 'Beadle's Half-Dime Library' issue #1 in 1877. This
series, written by Edward Wheeler, established her with a reputation
as a Wild West heroine and probably did more to enhance her
familiarity to the public than any of her real life exploits. There is
no evidence that she was consulted by Wheeler or approved the Deadwood
Dick stories, so the character in the stories was entirely
fictitious--as were the events described--but the fictional adventures
were muddled in the public mind with the real Jane.
Calamity Jane was the title character in a serial published in 'New
York's Street & Smith's Weekly' (1882) under the title, 'Calamity
Jane: Queen of the Plains', by the author "Reckless Ralph".
The science fiction writer A. Bertram Chandler included a character
named Calamity Jane Arlen in his far future novels set on the frontier
Rim Worlds, a space analogue of the Old West.
A fictitious fight between Calamity Jane and an impostor is depicted
in Thomas Berger's novel 'Little Big Man' (1964).
Jane is the central character in Larry McMurtry's book 'Buffalo Girls:
A Novel' (1990).
Jane is a central character in Pete Dexter's novel 'Deadwood' (1986).
J. T. Edson features Calamity Jane as a character in a number of his
books.
'In Calamity's Wake' (2013), a novel of historical fiction written by
Natalee Caple, Martha, or Calamity Jane, is one of two main narrators;
the other is Jane's daughter Miette.
'Calamity Jane, légende de l'Ouest', written by Gregory Monro (2010),
is the only French biography to this day.
Calamity Jane appears in Michael Crichton's novel 'Dragon Teeth'
(2017).
Comics
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Calamity Jane figures as a main character in an album of the same name
of the Franco-Belgian comics series 'Lucky Luke', created by Morris
and René Goscinny. She also features in the album 'Ghosthunt', created
by Morris and Lo Hartog van Banda.
Music
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Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok are featured in the song "Deadwood
Mountain" by the country duo Big & Rich. Some of her purported
letters were set to music in an art-song cycle by 20th-century
composer Libby Larsen, titled "Songs from Letters". Soprano Dora
Ohrenstein commissioned five pieces compiled under the title 'Urban
Diva', the second piece, Ben Johnston's 'Calamity Jane to Her
Daughter' is a theatrical setting of selected letters. "Calamity Jane"
is a song by Grant-Lee Phillips on "Virginia Creeper" (2004).
"Calamity Jane" is a song by Kiya Heartwood on Wishing Chair's
'Underdog' CD (2005).
Alain Bashung, Chloé Mons, Rodolphe Burger released the album 'La
Ballade de Calamity Jane' (2006) based on Jane's letters to her
daughter. "Kalamity Jane" is a song by Czech rock band Kabát.
"Calamity Jane" is a song by Chris Anderson on his album "The Crown"
(2004). The 1953 movie 'Calamity Jane' with Doris Day and Howard Keel
features the song "My Secret Love", which won the 1954 Academy Award
for "Best Music Original Song". Calamity Jane is mentioned in the 2016
song "The Lighter" by the French pop-rock band Superbus from the album
"Sixtape". Calamity Jane is mentioned in the song "Two Characters in
Search of a Country Song" by The Magnetic Fields.
In 1989, an all-female American grunge/punk band named Calamity Jane
(band) formed in Portland, Oregon. The only album they released before
breaking up in 1992 is called Martha Jane Cannary.
Radio
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'Frontier Gentleman' is a short-lived radio Western series originally
broadcast on the CBS radio network. In the episode "Aces &
Eights" broadcast October 12, 1958, the main character encounters
Calamity Jane while seeking information for a story on Wild Bill
Hickok, and subsequently witnesses Hickok's murder.
Television
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The long-running series 'Biography' featured Calamity Jane. The
episode is available on the Biography website.
The name "Calamity" is given to the children's character played by
Nancy Gilbert in the 1955-1956 television series 'Buffalo Bill, Jr.',
with Dick Jones as the fictitious Buffalo Bill, Jr. and Harry Cheshire
as Judge Ben "Fair and Square" Wiley.
In the episode "Calamity" (December 13, 1959) of the series 'Colt
.45', Dody Heath is cast as Calamity Jane and Joan Taylor as Dr. Ellen
McGraw. In the story, series character Christopher Colt, played by
Wayde Preston, hires Calamity Jane to drive the stagecoach containing
Dr. McGraw and the vaccine needed for the smallpox outbreak in
Deadwood. Colt is unsure if Calamity can handle the job because miners
and Indians seek to steal the valuable medication.
In an episode of 'Have Gun - Will Travel', "The Cure" (1961), she is
portrayed by Norma Crane. Among the liberties taken with the truth was
changing her surname to Conroy.
In an episode of 'Bonanza', "Calamity Over the Comstock" (1963),
Stefanie Powers plays Calamity Jane, who visits Virginia City along
with Doc Holliday. In this primarily comedic episode, she is rescued
by Little Joe, who at first thinks she is a male. She becomes
infatuated with him, and he receives threats from Doc, who covets Jane
for himself. At her urging (and threat), Doc demurs from facing down
Joe, and Jane and Doc exit town. No official or unofficial
documentation exists suggesting that Doc Holliday and Jane ever met
during their lifetimes. It is highly unlikely that they met
considering the geographical distances between them during their
lives.
In an episode of the television show 'Death Valley Days', "A Calamity
Named Jane", Fay Spain plays Calamity Jane as she joins Wild Bill
Hickok's (Rhodes Reasons) show. Her uncouth behavior causes Bill to
think he made a mistake, and when Bill tells her she should "act like
a lady", he soon realizes he made a bigger mistake.
In the 1966 'Batman' series, one of the villains in season three was
named "Calamity Jan" (played by Dina Merrill).
The television movie 'Calamity Jane' (1984) featured her life story,
including her alleged marriage to Wild Bill Hickok and the daughter
she purportedly gave for adoption. Actress Jane Alexander portrayed
Calamity and was nominated for an Emmy in 1985 for Outstanding Lead
Actress in a Limited Series or Special. The show featured an early
performance of Sara Gilbert as Calamity's daughter Jean at age 7.
Jane is the central character in Larry McMurtry's book 'Buffalo Girls:
A Novel' (1990), and in the 1995 TV adaptation of the same name, Jane
is played by Anjelica Huston, with Sam Elliott as Wild Bill Hickok.
In 1997, the cartoon series 'The Legend of Calamity Jane' depicted a
young Jane (voiced by Barbara Weber Scaff).
Robin Weigert played Calamity Jane in the series 'Deadwood'
(2004-2006) and in the HBO sequel 'Deadwood: The Movie' (2019).
In a season two episode of 'Bosch: Legacy' (2022-2023) a boat pivotal
to a case bears the name "Calamity Jane".
Films
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'The Plainsman' is a 1936 film starring Gary Cooper as Bill Hickok and
Jean Arthur as Jane. In 'Young Bill Hickok' with Roy Rogers (1940),
she was played by Sally Payne. She was played by Marin Sais in the
1940 serial 'Deadwood Dick', by Frances Farmer in the 1941 Western
'The Badlands of Dakota', and by Jane Russell in the 1948 Bob Hope
comedy 'The Paleface.' In 1949's 'Calamity Jane and Sam Bass', Jane
was played by Yvonne De Carlo and Sam Bass by Howard Duff; both
characters were heavily fictionalized.
'Calamity Jane' is a 1953 musical-Western film from Warner Bros.
starring Doris Day and Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok. The plot of
the film is almost entirely fictional and bears little resemblance to
the actual lives of the protagonists. It won the Best Song Oscar for
"Secret Love", by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster.
In the 1984 TV film 'Calamity Jane', she was played by Jane Alexander.
In the 1995 Disney movie 'Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of
Pecos Bill', she was portrayed by Catherine O'Hara as a mythic figure,
acquainted with Paul Bunyan and John Henry, and as Pecos Bill's jilted
sweetheart and as a sheriff or deputy of some sort.
In the 1995 film 'Wild Bill,' Calamity Jane was portrayed by Ellen
Barkin.
In 1995 in 'Buffalo Girls', she was played by Anjelica Huston.
In the 2009 French movie 'Lucky Luke', Jane was portrayed by Sylvie
Testud.
'Calamity Jane: Wild West Legend', a docu-fiction directed by Gregory
Monro and released in 2014, inspired French writer and editor Rémi
Chayé to create the feature-length animated movie, Calamity, a
Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary. The film was released in France in
2020 and won the Annecy International Animated Film Festival's Cristal
Award for Best Feature in June 2020. Its American premiere took place
on the opening night of the 2021 virtual Animation First Festival
presented by French Institute Alliance Française.
In the movie 'Our Brand Is Crisis' (2015), the leading character is
named "Calamity" Jane Bodine.
Robin Weigert played Jane for three seasons in the series 'Deadwood'
and in the HBO movie 'Deadwood: The Movie', released in May 2019.
A 2020 French-Danish animated family feature film titled 'Calamity, a
Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary' depicts young Jane's migration
across the Oregon Trail.
Jane in the 2024 film 'Calamity Jane' was played by Emily Bett
Rickards.
See also
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*List of female explorers and travelers
External links
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*
*
*
*[
https://www.biography.com/performer/calamity-jane#death-and-legacy
Calamity Jane at Biography.com]
License
=========
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamity_Jane
