Annie Oakley & Frank Butler
Annie Oakley was a poor farm girl who taught herself to shoot, just to help her family survive. At the
age of 16 she helped to pay off the mortgage on the family farm with the money earned by selling game to a local
grocer. She met her future husband, Frank Butler, while visiting her married sister, Lyda. Frank was
a sharpshooter performing locally and gladly accepted a challenge from a local favorite. He was quite surprised
when a young girl stepped up to the mark with him, enough so, he experienced the first loss of his career.
His interest was sparked and they were soon married. Annie didn't start shooting in public until the fateful
night Frank's partner became ill and Annie had to take his place. Frank's shooting was off that evening and
a man in the audience shouted, "Let the girl shoot." So shoot she did, and Frank recognized her
talent and audience appeal. It was then that Frank stepped out of the limelight to manage Annie's shooting
career. With his promotion and encouragement, she became a celebrity, spending 17 years with Buffalo Bill's
Wild West.
Annie Oakley Denver public Library
Photos West Collection
Careful study and a little sharpshooting lets the famous sharpshooting couple come to life
before your very eyes.
A reproduction of Annie's tent complete with antiques, photos,
and a collection of 1893 World's Fair memorabilia add to the display and feeling of stepping back in time.
Annie and Frank tell the story of their lives, do a little sharpshooting for fun, and answer questions for curious
spectators.
Doug and Marna Jean Davis of Hitchcock,OK have portrayed this famous sharpshooting couple
for historical societies and schools in several states, including the famous Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody,
WY.
Doug plays Frank Butler, Annies husband and promoter. Doug is-- as Frank was-- an accomplished
sharpshooter in his own right. Doug has worked as a professional cowboy on ranches in Wyoming and Missouri.
Doug's young life was spent dancing at pow-wows, teaching Indian lore, and collecting antiques. Other interests
include historic preservation through reenactment, storytelling and singing old cowboy songs, hunting, carving
custom gun stocks, and blacksmithing.
Marna is a devoted student of Annie Oakley's life and plays Annie's part in detail-- from
sewing her carefully recreated costumes, to her knowledge of Annie's life and experiences, and even her skill at
trick shots. Marna is a seamstress specializing in historical clothing. Her interests in costuming
grew from attending the many demonstration she would give as a teenager with a spinning wheel. She has traveled
all over the United States studying costume collections, and has been involved in many living history days at museums,
threshing bees, and rendevous. Her costumes have won awards for being authentically reproduced, and she was
also asked to recreate some of Annie Oakley's costumes for the Annie Oakley Foundation in Greenville, Ohio.
Some of her other interests are tatting, embroidery, felting, hunting, and riding side-saddle.
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