Information AboutCalamity Jane |
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.]] Martha Jane Canary-Burke, better known as '''Calamity Jane''' ( May 1 , 1852 (?) - August 1 , 1903 ), was a Frontier swoman most well known for her association with Wild Bill Hickok , after first gaining fame fighting Native Americans .'' 's Wild West show.]] She was born Martha Jane Canary in Princeton, Missouri . Her mother died in 1866 and her father died in 1867 (in Utah ). In 1870 , she signed on as a scout with George Armstrong Custer , and adopted the uniform of a soldier. It is unclear whether she was actually enlisted in the U.S. Army at the time. She was involved with a number of campaigns in the long-running military conflicts with Native Americans. In 1872 , she acquired the nickname "Calamity Jane," by rescuing her superior, Captain Egan , from an ambush near Sheridan, Wyoming . Calamity Jane accompanied the Newton-Jenney Party into the Black Hills in 1875 , along with California Joe and Valentine McGillycuddy . In 1876 , she settled in the area of Deadwood, South Dakota , in the Black Hills region where she was close friends with Wild Bill Hickok and Charlie Utter , all having traveled in Utter's Wagon Train . She later claimed to have been married to Hickok at some time prior to Hickok's death in 1876 , and that Hickok was the father of her child (born September 25 , 1873 , and later placed for adoption); however, this story is viewed with skepticism, Hickok having been newly married at the time and by all accounts completely infatuated with his wife. In 1876 , Jane nursed the victims of a Smallpox epidemic in the Deadwood area. In 1884 , Jane moved to El Paso, Texas , where she met Clinton Burke; they soon married in August 1885 and had a daughter in 1887 . The marriage, however, did not last, and by 1895 they were officially separated. In 1896 , Jane began touring with Wild West shows, which she continued to do for the rest of her life. Jane died from complications of Pneumonia in 1903 . In accordance with her dying wish, Calamity Jane is buried next to Wild Bill Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery , overlooking the city of Deadwood. Several films have been made about the life of Calamity Jane, the most famous being the Musical of the same name starring Doris Day . The TV series '' Deadwood '' gives a more realistic and unglamorous - albeit still flawed - depiction of Jane. SEE ALSO
REFERENCES TO CALAMITY JANE IN FICTION Wild ARMs features a character named Calamity Jane; however, she is, at best, very loosely inspired by the historical figure. Calamity Jane appears briefly in Thomas Berger's ''Little Big Man'' Another freely adapted version of the lady appears in a couple of Lucky Luke albums. (In one of these she apparently admits to being one of the sources of the conflicting information about herself - when Luke finds her telling some other characters the story of her life, he wants to take a Rain Check because he's heard it before, but she urges him to sit down and listen because "this is a new version!") EXTERNAL LINKS |
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