Calamity Jane : the life and legend of Martha Jane Cannary

Young Martha Jane Cannary began life as a camp follower and street urchin. Parentless by the age of twelve, she morphed into the mother of two who just as often took employment as a waitress, laundress, or dance hall girl as she did an Indian scout or bullwhacker. Just as likely to wear a dress as she was buckskins, she was impossible to ignore no matter what she wore, particularly after she’d had a few drinks! And she shamelessly parlayed into a legend the aura of fame that Edward L. Wheeler’s dime novels crafted around her. Perhaps most amazing of all, in an era where women had few options in life, Calamity Jane had the audacity to carve them out for herself. The gun-toting, tough-talking, hard-drinking woman was all Western America come to life. Flowing across the untamed small towns and empty spaces of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana like the wild running rivers of the American West, she helped create the legend of Calamity Jane from scratch. Part carnie barker, part actor, part sexually alluring siren, part drunken lout--she was all of these and much more. Calamity Jane Follows The Life Of Martha Jane Cannary, A Nineteenth-century Woman Who Went From Penniless Orphan To One Of The Most Famous Figures Of The American West. In An Era When Women Had Few Options In Life, Calamity Jane Had The Audacity To Carve Them Out For Herself. The Gun-toting, Tough-talking, Hard-drinking Woman Embodied The Western American Spirit.--provided By Publisher. Calamity: An Autobiography -- A Family Affair -- Wagons Ho! -- Love, Life, Death, And Wyoming -- A Rude Awakening -- The Jenney Expedition And Deadwood -- Wyoming And The Union Pacific -- The Borners: Passing In Time -- Brother Lige -- The Taming Of A Shrew -- An Unanticipated Endorsement -- A Star Is Born -- Turning Of The Tides -- Calamity's Last Ride -- On Death And Dying. D. J. Herda. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 199-201). "Calamity Jane follows the life of Martha Jane Cannary, a nineteenth-century woman who went from penniless orphan to one of the most famous figures of the American West. In an era when women had few options in life, Calamity Jane had the audacity to carve them out for herself. The gun-toting, tough-talking, hard-drinking woman embodied the Western American spirit." ... Provided by publisher