The Real "Calamity Jane"
~~~~~~
Out of the old Wild West,
came a well known name.
There stood a legend of a woman
named "Calamity Jane"
~~~
Born in Princeton Missouri,
May of eighteen fifty two.
She was wild and tough.
That tobacco she did chew.
~~~
She loved to rough the outdoors,
and she craved adventure.
She became a scout for the military,
To "Fort Russel" she did venture.
~~~
It wasn't too long she'd
give up her feminine ways.
Earned respect of soldiers and scouts,
Now "Clamity Jane" is the name she portrays.
~~~
She grew up to be tall,
A lean muscular gal.
She wore men's clothes,
And slept in a horse corral.
~~~
She drank and she swore,
and acted like a man.
She was the eldest of six,
She was the roughest of the clan.
~~~
She worked as a "Mule Skinner"
a "Bull Whacker" too.
She rode with General G. Crook,
and fought against the "Sioux".
~~~
She became a well known figure,
as the years went by.
She was drinking and living hard.
in "Brothels" she worked for her money supply.
~~~
She earned her reputation for,
horsemanship and gun play.
She brought the house down,
But hard drinking led her in disarray.
~~~
She earned her second nickname as
"The White Devil Of The Yellowstone".
Martha Cannary Burke
"Calamity Jane" whom she's better well known.
~~~~~~
"Calamity Jane's" End:
~~~
Having gained fame throughout,
the country and earning her second nickname,
"The White Devil of the Yellowstone".
for her exploits, Calamity Jane met,
Buffalo Bill Cody and signed on with,
"Buffalo Bill"s Wild West in 1895.
She had secured a reputation for,
horsemanship and gun play and was making a good,
living performing sharp-shooting exhibitions.
Calamity always brought the house down,
however, during this time Jane was a raging alcoholic,
and was fired for fighting and being too rowdy.
She married Clinton Burke in 1889 but,
left him a few years later.
By the turn of the century Calamity Jane,
was broke with no prospects and her attempts,
to sell her biography for enough money to retire,
on were unsuccessful.
She returned to the Black Hills in 1903;
Where she earned her keep doing menial chores,
such as laundry and cooking.
On August 1, 1903 she developed pneumonia.
She died shortly thereafter at the age of fifty-one.
The people of South Dakota remembered her kindness,
during the epidemic of 1876 and gave her a hero's burial.
She was laid to rest at Mount Moriah Cemetery.
And her wish was to be buried by her long time friend,
and comrade "Wild Bill Hickok.
~~~
Sandra Winright
May 7, 2010
~~~