{Katie wrote this in 4th grade for her A Famous Missourian Report. she got an A!}
mom takes responsibility for any typos...
Martha Jane Cannary by Katie Dailey
Martha Jane Cannary Burke, also known as Calamity Jane, is my famous Missourian. Calamity Jane did what she could to support her family. She was known for being a reckless, daring rider who could out cuss and out shoot any soldier. Her heart was as big as her legend.
Martha was born on May 1st, 1852 in Princeton, Missouri. Her parents were Charolette and Robert W. Cannary. She had five younger siblings.
When Martha was very young, she was forced to go out on her own with her siblings because both her parents had died. She loaded everybody up and headed back to Wyoming. According to Calamity Jane, she was married to Wild Bill Hickock, whom she admired. This was doubted by those who knew the couple. Calamity had a daughter named Jane and said Wild Bill was the father. The girl was put up for adoption. In 1889, Calamity married Clinton Burke. She left him after having a child whose name was unknown.
She was respected by most men for her sharp shooting and hunting skills. She was better than most older men. Some of her many jobs included an ox driver, scout, soldier, nurse, a dishwasher, a cook, a waitress, a dance hall girl, and possibly a prostitute.
Calamity Jane was still wild in her middle age. She joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She was fired shortly after for her hardcore drinking, though.
Martha, or Marthy, had accomplished living a good, rough life. She nursed sick miners back to health. She saved 6 passangers lives who crashed in a stage coach. She became a well knkown figure across the country.
Martha Jane Cannary died on August 1st, 1903 in Terry, South Dakota. She was buried next to Wild Bill in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota. According to histories, a man who she had nursed back to health when he was a boy with smallpox closed her coffin.
