Calamity Jane was born Martha Jane Canary / Cannary in Missouri, 1852.
This infamous dare-devil pioneer woman often cross-dressed as a man.
She was the oldest of six children born to a gambler and a prostitute.
When orphaned (between the ages of 12 – 14) she looked after her younger siblings. At various times she was employed as a cook, dishwasher, waitress, dance-hall girl, nurse, scout, ox-team driver, and prostitute.
Calamity Jane was illiterate and an alcoholic.
She married twice and had two daughters. Claims that she also wed Wild Bill Hickok were fabricated.
Her fame came from being both a coarse-mouthed sharp-shooter, but also as a kindly nurse.
She attended the sick in Deadwood during a smallpox epidemic, and is said to have rescued a stage-coach from a Cheyenne attack.
Claims that she fought in the Indian Wars have not been substantiated.
Calamity Jane was acquainted with Wild Bill Hickok and friends with Buffalo Bill Cody.
She performed in Cody’s Wild West Show and also appeared in the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.
She died in South Dakota in 1903.
In accordance with her own wishes, she was buried next to Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood.
There are several theories how the nickname “Calamity Jane” came about. She warned that to offended her was to “court calamity.” But as “the calamity” was also a pseudonym for venereal disease (usually syphilis), she may have acquired this title from working in brothels.
I look out and I see a land,
Young and lovely, hard and strong.
For fifty thousand years we’ve danced her praises,
Prayed our thanks, and we’ve just begun.
This is, this is my country –
Young and growing, free and flowing, sea to sea.
Yes, this is my country –
Ripe and bearing miracles in every pond and tree.
Her spirit walks the high country,
She is giving free, wild samples, and setting an example
How to give. Yes, this is my country –
Retching and turning, she’s like a baby learning how to live.
I can stand upon a hill at dawn,
Look all around me, feel her surround me,
Soldier blue, can’t you see her life has just begun?
It’s beating inside us, telling us she’s here to guide us.
Ooh, soldier blue, soldier blue –
Can’t you see that there’s another way to love her?
This is my country –
And I sprang from her and I’m learning how to count upon her
Tall trees, and the corn is high country.
Yes, I love her and I’m learning how to take care of her.
Whenever the news stories get me down,
I take a drink of freedom to think of
North America from toe to crown.
It’s never long before I know just why I belong here.
Ooh, soldier blue, soldier blue –
Can’t you see that there’s another way to love her?
Ooh, soldier blue, soldier blue –
Can’t you see that there’s another way to love her?
Soldier blue, soldier blue –
Can’t you see that there’s another way to love her?
