Distinctly Montana Magazine

55 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m T here have been a handful of people from the American West who were catapulted to fame in the nine- teenth century and form the bedrock of our lore of that time. Many of these became household names due to writ- ers and reporters of the time feeding exaggerated and sometimes outright fictitious accounts of their exploits to an Eastern public hungry for roman- ticized accounts of the wild, untamed West. These would include names such as Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, and in particular, Martha Ca- nary, better known as "Calamity Jane." What better way to tap into the nineteenth-century fascination of the perceived free, nonconformist Western lifestyle than a woman who dressed in men's clothes and did stereotypical men things, like army scouting, drinking whiskey and smoking ci- gars? In the twentieth century, many of these "legends" found their way onto the silver screen where these myths were perpetuated for another generation. Their portrayal bore little resemblance to their actual lives. Doris Day's musical, Calamity Jane, is just such an example. But who really was Calamity Jane, and how does Montana history intersect with hers? When it comes to Calamity Jane in particular, it is often diffi- cult to thresh the truth from the legend. What we do know is she was probably born in 1856. She spent her early child- hood on a farm in north central Mis- souri. It would be reasonable to assume she learned some of her horsemanship there. By late 1864, financial issues caused her parents to sell the farm and head to Montana's gold fields. According to Martha, the trip to Vir- ginia City took about five months. She claimed to often accompany the men on hunting and scouting trips away from the main wagon train. During that time she would further develop her skills on the horse, and maybe with a rifle, that she would draw upon in later life. The Canary family arrived in Alder Gulch some time in 1864. Unprepared for the inflated cost of living of a fron- tier mining town, like many, they were soon out of cash and nearly destitute. They lived in Nevada City, just down the road from Virginia City. It is evi- dent that the family quickly fell on hard times. An article in the Virginia City Newspaper from December 31, 1864 re- lates an account that is almost certainly of Martha: "Three little girls, who state their name to be Canary appeared at the door of Mr. Fergus on Idaho Street soliciting charity." James Fergus was one of the Madison County commis- sioners in charge of providing for the poor. The article continues: "The el- dest carried in her arms her infant sis- ter, a baby of about 12 months of age." Martha was described as wearing only a "calico slip" for warmth in the dead of an unusually cold winter. "Mrs Fer- gus, Mrs Castner and Mrs Moon kindly provided them with food and some clothing." They "returned to Nevada (City) where they have existed for some time." There is some evidence that her parents were not exactly con- sidered "pillars of the community." The article goes on to say that the girls' parents were "inhuman brutes who have deserted their poor, unfortunate children." It was "the most flagrant and wanton instance of unnatural conduct on the part of the par- ents." Furthermore, the father "is a gambler in Nevada" and the mother was "a woman of the lowest grade." Despite all this, the Canary family somehow survived and ap- parently moved on to another mining town to the north, Black- foot City. Martha stated that it was here that her mother died in the spring of 1866. According to Martha, that summer, her father and the six Canary children moved to Salt Lake City. The following year, 1867, she recalls her dad died, leav- ing her, the eldest at 12 years of age, orphaned with five younger siblings and probably destitute. Little is known about what happened to her brothers and sisters—perhaps adopted while she struck out on her own, though there is evidence that she kept at least sporadic contact with them. Such was the crucible that would forge who Mar- tha Canary would become. It would be nearly 30 years before she would return to Montana. In those inter- vening years she had been "discovered" by reporters visiting General Crook's troops in the Black Hills in 1875. A sur- viving photo of her from then shows a 19-year-old Martha definitely in men's clothing, reposing on a large rock. Sto- ries appeared in Eastern newspapers of the young woman tagging along with the soldiers. She was described as wear- by DOUG STEVENS Poster for the 1953 musical, "Calamity Jane", starring Doris Day as Jane The cover of one of Edward Wheeler's "Deadwood Dick" dime novels featuring the heroine, Calamity Jane.

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