Legacy

At the age of eight she got her first kill, a squirrel on the orchard fence with a nut in it’s mouth. “It was a wonderful shot, going right through the head from side to side.”
Her family was poor, as many rural families, so she took it upon herself to help provide. Her abilities as a shooter and hunter not only provided for the home larder but also extra to sell to area wild game eateries. Enough to actually pay off and secure an overdue mortgage. She was 15 years old.
On Thanksgiving Day the 15 year old, small for her age at only an even 5 ft., entered a shooting contest being held outside the city of Cincinnati. Organized by one of the finest male marksman in the country, it held a sizable purse.
She was up against a professional gunman, a man of extraordinary skill and abilities. He had bested all comers from around the country. The paying audience, quite large, was here to see him preform, to be astonished and admired.
He lost. The little teenager from nowhere bested the great shot and prevailed, winning the cash prize and the hearts of all.
The dethroned marksman knew when he had met his better. He soon after put away his guns and began to promote this wonderful lady, proclaiming of her gift to all that would listen. Within a few years they were married.
She toured America as the highest paid preformer of the time. Then came the British Isles and Europe, shooting before and to the delight of the Queen of England, the Crown of Italy and the President of France and other heads of state and royalty.
As time progressed and she slowly stopped traveling she turned her talents to  giving back with what she knew best.
It’s estimated that she taught over 15,000 women gun handling and shooting. She felt it was imperative that women knew how to use a gun for protection. “I would like to see every woman know how to handle guns as naturally as they know how to handle babies.”
This remarkable lady? Born Phoebe Ann Moses, but known to all as Annie Oakley, 1860-1926.
The reason for my narrative is this: Unusual then, commonplace now! All that she achieved are things women now do everyday.  Her legacy lives on, expands and multiplies with all that today’s women do. ~ Wade Pennell