29c Annie Oakley stamp

Remembered as a legend of the American West, Annie Oakley was born in Ohio in 1860 and played no role in the settlement of the United States beyond the Mississippi. Her fame grew out of her skills as a sharpshooter as they were displayed in several traveling circus shows including "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" and "The Young Buffalo Show." Her show-business career earned her world-wide renown as she performed her feats of marksmanship throughout the United States and across Europe.

She offered during both the Spanish-American War and World War I to raise a regiment of women volunteers to fight in the war, but both offers were rejected by the War Department. Neither was she permitted to teach marksmanship to the troops, though she did travel for the National War Council of the YMCA, performing at training camps and raising money for the Red Cross with her shooting demonstrations.

Later in life, suffering from severe injuries sustained in an automobile accident, Annie Oakley gave up her career in show-business and retired with her husband to her hometown in Drake County, Ohio. She died in 1926 at the age of 66.

Scott Catalogue USA: 2869d
mint

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Museum ID: 1995.2075.87