November 3, 2025
On this day in history, 3 November 1926, Annie Oakley – the famed markswoman who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, befriended Sioux Chief Sitting Bull, and was known and admired by monarchs in Europe – died of pernicious anemia in Greenville, Ohio, at the age of 66.
Born Phoebe Ann (“Annie”) Mosey (1860-1926) in a log cabin in Ohio, her father died when she was five years old. Annie began trapping when she was six, and by age eight was an accomplished shooter, hunting game to support her widowed mother and siblings.
Through diligent practice she became remarkably accurate with her rifle, and her fame grew. The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, has an Annie Oakley exhibit that features this quote from her:
“Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bull’s-eye of success.”
In 1882 Annie married marksman Frank E. Butler, and the couple joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1885. Annie met fellow Wild West performer Chief Sitting Bull, who befriended her and gave the five-foot sharpshooter the nickname “Watanya Cicilla,” which the press reported as “Little Sure Shot.”
In this Wild West poster, Annie is called “The Peerless Lady Wing-Shot.”
Annie’s accuracy stunned crowds. She seemed to never miss objects thrown into the air, and shot a cigar her husband held in his teeth.
Oakley’s death was reported in newspapers across the U.S. Many reports, such as the obituary shown below, contained stories of her legendary shooting ability.
This article reports:
GREENVILLE, O., Nov. 4. – In the hills of Darke County, Ohio, where the girl, Annie Oakley, learned to handle a rifle, will rest the ashes of the noted markswoman who was perhaps the greatest woman shooter of all time.
Mrs. Frank Butler, better known as Annie Oakley, markswoman and show woman, died here last night at the home of friends. She was 66 years old. The body will be cremated, in accordance with her wishes, and the ashes interred in a cemetery at the village of Brock, just a few miles from Woodington, Ohio, where she was born.
She was the friend of monarchs and the confidante of Chief Sitting Bull. Acquaintanceships with sovereigns of Europe colored her brilliant career, but one of the most picturesque episodes of her life was her close friendship with the taciturn old Indian chief who greatly admired her shooting ability.
Sitting Bull called her “Watanic Cicilia,” or “Little Sure Shot,” and when he died he left her all his personal belongings.
During one of her European tours, King George V of England told her she was the “best rifle shot in the world” and awarded her a medal. Once in the early eighties Annie Oakley, with a bullet from her rifle, flicked the ashes from a cigarette held in the lips of Crown Prince Wilhelm, of Germany.
She won fame as a show woman with “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s troupe.
Note on the header image: Annie Oakley, c. 1899. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.