To survive he took on
numerous jobs, driving a milk wagon, cleaning up horse manure, selling
newspapers, and tried blowing glass. He even managed an on-stage dog show. He then developed a shooting act where he and
his partner would become part of a variety show along with ventriloquists,
jugglers and magicians. At some point in
his early career he married, fathered two daughters and was divorced.
In November 1875, while the
show was in Cincinnati, Frank threw out a challenge to any local sharpshooting
champions. Someone accepted and Frank
was told there would be a match nearby on Thanksgiving Day, with a prize of one
hundred dollars.
Frank was surprised to find
his opponent was a five foot tall fifteen year old farm girl named Phoebe Ann Moses,
who scored twenty-five hits in twenty-five attempts. Frank missed his last target and the
match. “I was a beaten man the moment
she appeared,” Frank later said, “for I was taken off guard.”
He gave Annie and her family
free tickets to his show, and started courting her. Annie’s Quaker mother
approved of Frank for he never drank, smoked, or gambled. They were married August 23, 1876.
Frank continued to perform
with his partner until May 1, 1882 when his partner was sick and Frank asked
Annie to hold the targets. When Frank missed his shots, someone in the audience
yelled. “Let the girl shoot.” Annie took
the stage name of Oakley from Oakley, Ohio and the team of Butler and Oakley
was born.
Gradually Frank spent less
time on stage and more time dealing with the finances, logistics and acting as
Annie’s press agent. Annie joined a
vaudeville act with Sells Brother’s circus. Frank never begrudged Annie’s
success and was content as her manager.
In the spring of 1885, Annie
and Frank joined “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.” Over the next seventeen years
the Butlers toured the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Spain
and Italy. As her manager, he built her up into one of the greatest shooting
stars the world has ever known.
Then in the early morning
hours of October 29th, 1901, the specially chartered Buffalo Bill
train crashed into a a freight train near Lexington, South Carolina. Annie was
one of the few injured.
The Butler’s were forced to
leave the show while Annie endured months of hospitalization.
She was soon back on stage in
a melodrama, The Western Girl. While Annie became involved in a complex
libel suit with William Randolph Hearst, Frank took on the bread-winner role as
a representative for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company. She joined another
Wild West show after 1910 and performed until 1913.
They wintered in North
Carolina, hunted together and went on automobile trips. They became involved in
orphan charities, took care of Annie’s mother and Frank’s daughters, and raised
money for the Red Cross during World War I.
In 1922 the Butlers settled
in Leesburg, Florida, but a few years later Annie wanted to return to Darke
County, Ohio and in 1926 the Butlers moved to Dayton.
Then on November 2, 1926,
Annie Oakley passed away. Broken hearted, Frank died on November 23, just
eighteen days after his beloved wife. Their marriage had been a happy one,
lasting fifty years.
Frank, who enjoyed writing
poetry, once wrote about Annie, “Her presence would remind you, Of an angel in
the skies, And you bet I love this little girl, With the rain drops in her
eyes.”
