Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend
- ISBN-10
- 080618311X
- ISBN-13
- 9780806183114
- Series
- Calamity Jane
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography
- Pages
- 384
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2012-11-27
- Publisher
- University of Oklahoma Press
- Author
- James D. McLaird
Description
Forget Doris Day singing on the stagecoach. Forget Robin Weigert’s gritty portrayal on HBO’s Deadwood. The real Calamity Jane was someone the likes of whom you’ve never encountered. That is, until now. This book is a definitive biography of Martha Canary, the woman popularly known as Calamity Jane. Written by one of today’s foremost authorities on this notorious character, it is a meticulously researched account of how an alcoholic prostitute was transformed into a Wild West heroine. Always on the move across the northern plains, Martha was more camp follower than the scout of legend. A mother of two, she often found employment as waitress, laundress, or dance hall girl and was more likely to be wearing a dress than buckskin. But she was hard to ignore when she’d had a few drinks, and she exploited the aura of fame that dime novels created around her, even selling her autobiography and photos to tourists. Gun toting, swearing, hard drinking—Calamity Jane was all of these, to be sure. But whatever her flaws or foibles, James D. McLaird paints a compelling portrait of an unconventional woman who more than once turned the tables on those who sought to condemn or patronize her. He also includes dozens of photos—many never before seen—depicting Jane in her many guises. His book is a long-awaited biography of Martha Canary and the last word on Calamity Jane.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2018-04-15
- 256 pages
- Ebook
- Rowman & Littlefield
Similar books
-
Calamity Jane
The life story and adventures of a legendary American frontierswoman Calamity Jane, whose real name was Martha Jane Canary.
-
Calamity: The Many Lives of Calamity Jane
By Karen R. JonesJ. Leonard Jennewein Collection, Dakota Wesleyan University Archives, Mitchell, South Dakota. 3. Calamnity (i.e. Calamity) Peak. Near Custer City on B. & M. Ry. Title of the peak from the most noted character in the Black Hills.
-
Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane
By Calamity Jane, Peter JonalikLife And Adventures Of Calamity Jane After that campaign I returned to Fort Sanders, Wyoming, remained there until spring of 1872, when we were ordered out to the Muscle Shell or Nursey Pursey Indian outbreak.
-
Wild Bill Hickok & Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends
By James D. McLairdEvidently, Sarah Shull, his alleged mistress, lived in the original station buildings on the west side of the creek. James McCanles settled several miles away along the Little Blue River but moved farther east after his crops failed.
-
Calamity Jane
By Sara GilbertProfiles the life and legends related to the frontierswoman known as Calamity Jane.
-
Calamity Jane: Frontierswoman
By Alicia Z. KlepeisThe Wild West was home to many men and women looking for adventure and a new life.
-
The Life and Legends of Calamity Jane
By Richard W. EtulainMontana journalists appeared to sit on their hands if they could not find a story—or inventa tale—about Calamity totantalize their readers.Two otherstories, certainly exaggerated and perhaps apocryphal, captivated Calamity followers ...
-
Searching for Calamity: The Life and Times of Calamity Jane
By Linda JucovyEtulain, “Frontier Legend,” 178-179, places her in South Pass and Miner's Delight. On the two towns, see “Miner's Delight/Hamilton City”; and Wolle, 160-166. 45. On Esther Hobart Morris, see Scharff, Twenty Thousand Roads, 88-89; Gray, ...
-
Calamity Jane and Her Siblings: The Saga of Lena and Elijah Canary
By Jan CerneyBlack Hill pioneers Jesse Brown and A.M. Willard wrote a vague account involving Calamity and one of her unnamed brothers: For a time she [Calamity Jane] was an inmate of a resort in Green River, Wyoming, from which place her brother ...
-
Calamity Jane
By Stephen KrenskyTells some of the adventures of Calamity Jane such as outwitting robbers while riding for the Pony Express and as an army scout.