WEBVTT - How Did Calamity Jane Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum Here. Calamity Jane, with her reputation for being

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most adventurous and foul mouthed women in

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<v Speaker 1>the Old West, is the stuff of American legend. She

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<v Speaker 1>was known to be a sharpshooter, a whiskey lover, and

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<v Speaker 1>an adopter of men's fashion at a time when women

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<v Speaker 1>were largely confined to strict codes of conduct. But, as

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<v Speaker 1>with many figures from this era, teasing out real detail

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<v Speaker 1>from mythologized self marketing and romanticized yellow journalism isn't easy. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>let's look into the person behind the tall tale of

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<v Speaker 1>Calamity Jane. Calamity Jane was born as Martha Jane Canary

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<v Speaker 1>around Princeton, Missouri, in the eighteen fifties. The exact date

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<v Speaker 1>is unknown, but some historians think it was in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>fifty six. The family didn't have much money, and around

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixty five they sold their farm and followed the

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<v Speaker 1>promise of the mining boom West with the wagon train

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<v Speaker 1>of other settlers. By then, Canary was the oldest of

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<v Speaker 1>three two six siblings. Accounts very she spent most of

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<v Speaker 1>the five month migration hunting with the men in the caravan.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time the group reached their destination, a Virginia City, Montana,

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<v Speaker 1>Canary had earned a reputation for being, in her own words,

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<v Speaker 1>a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider for a

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<v Speaker 1>girl of my age. Sadly, they arrived without Canary's mother.

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<v Speaker 1>She had died along the way. Her father passed two

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<v Speaker 1>around eighteen sixty seven, leaving Canary to support herself. By

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<v Speaker 1>about the age of twelve, her siblings seemed to have

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<v Speaker 1>wound up in Utah. She moved on to Wyoming. While

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<v Speaker 1>wandering there, she took on a variety of jobs, reportedly

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<v Speaker 1>everything from dishwasher, waitress and cook to nurse to dancer.

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<v Speaker 1>She may have been a scout for General Custer and

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<v Speaker 1>a writer in the Pony Express, at least that's what

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<v Speaker 1>she later said in her semi fictional autobiography Life and

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<v Speaker 1>Adventures of Calamity. She wrote that by the eighteen seventies

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<v Speaker 1>she was quote the most reckless and daring rider and

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<v Speaker 1>one of the best shots in the West. It seems

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<v Speaker 1>that she may really have been an army scout around

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<v Speaker 1>this time, though not for Custer and the Pony Express

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<v Speaker 1>stories are unconfirmed. Canary reportedly earned her nickname around eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy five during the Newton Jenny Expedition, a scientific party

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<v Speaker 1>that set out to map the Black Hills and determine

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<v Speaker 1>the quality and quantity of gold there. Apparently, she wandered

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<v Speaker 1>off one day, and her fellow party members hoped no

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<v Speaker 1>calamity had befallen her. It was with this nickname that

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<v Speaker 1>she arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota, in eighteen seventy six,

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<v Speaker 1>alongside another much pathologized frontier figure, wild Bill Hiccock. You

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<v Speaker 1>may have come in on the same wagon train. They

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<v Speaker 1>became friends, though probably not more than friends, as some

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<v Speaker 1>stories claim. Their relationship was short lived. In August of

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<v Speaker 1>that year, Hickock was shot in the back of the

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<v Speaker 1>head by Jack McCall while sitting at a gambling table

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<v Speaker 1>in a Deadwood saloon. Canary stayed in Deadwood, prospecting at

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<v Speaker 1>mining camps and later nursing residents who fell ill during

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<v Speaker 1>the smallpox outbreak. She finally left Deadwood the following year

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<v Speaker 1>and traveled around South Dakota taking odd jobs. By this point,

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<v Speaker 1>her reputation had made her somewhat of a celebrity, and

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<v Speaker 1>magazine editors and dime novel authors were writing increasingly wild

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<v Speaker 1>stories about her adventures. In eighteen eighty two, Canary bought

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<v Speaker 1>a ranch on the Yellowstone River, but felt fancy within

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<v Speaker 1>the year, leaving for California and then moving on to Texas.

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<v Speaker 1>She met a man by the name of Clinton Burke

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<v Speaker 1>in El Paso, and the two married around eighteen eighty five.

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<v Speaker 1>They had a daughter, Jesse Elizabeth, and left Texas for Boulder, Colorado,

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<v Speaker 1>when the girl was a toddler. For several years, the

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<v Speaker 1>family ran a hotel and then spent time traveling yet

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<v Speaker 1>again throughout the Northwest. By eighteen ninety five, Canary realized

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<v Speaker 1>she could use her shooting skills to support her family

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<v Speaker 1>and joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, performing sharp shooting

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<v Speaker 1>tricks on tour around the Midwest, but her drinking habit

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<v Speaker 1>cost her the job. She published her autobiography a year later,

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<v Speaker 1>then in nineteen oh one, she was hired by the

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<v Speaker 1>Pan American Exposition, but once again lost the job due

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<v Speaker 1>to her alcohol misuse. Canary moved back to the Black

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<v Speaker 1>Hills in nineteen oh three and worked as a cook

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<v Speaker 1>and housekeeper in a brothel. She died a few years later,

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<v Speaker 1>probably due to issues stemming from her drinking, and was

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<v Speaker 1>buried next to Hiccock at Mount Mariah Cemetery. It's tough

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<v Speaker 1>to know how many of the details surrounding Canary's life

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<v Speaker 1>are true and how many were fabricated, either by the

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<v Speaker 1>media or by Canary herself. Even pieces of her personal

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<v Speaker 1>life are questionable because there's no existing marriage license confirming

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<v Speaker 1>her union with Burke and no birth certificate for her daughter.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen forty one, a woman claiming to be the

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<v Speaker 1>child of Canary and Hiccock came into the public eye,

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<v Speaker 1>but her claims were later proven to be false. Canary's

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<v Speaker 1>tombstone itself displays what historians have found to be the

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<v Speaker 1>incorrect name and birth date for her. Before the article

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<v Speaker 1>this episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Carolyn Webber, executive director of Deadwood History Incorporated. She said,

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<v Speaker 1>Martha Jane Canary or Calamity Jane, is so much more

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<v Speaker 1>than her body reputation. She was an unaccompanied young child

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<v Speaker 1>and woman in the frontier American West, doing the best

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<v Speaker 1>she could with the situations she was handed. She supported

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<v Speaker 1>herself at a time when there were limited opportunities for women.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article Calamity Jane Roadhard

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<v Speaker 1>drank even harder and became a Wild West legend on

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuffworks dot Com, written by Michelle Constantinofsky. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot

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<v Speaker 1>Com and is produced by Tyler Klang and Ramsey Young.

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<v Speaker 1>Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app,

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