# UX181 - 1994 19c Annie Oakley Postal Card
Annie Oakley Shatters Women’s Trap Shooting Record
Born Phoebe Ann Mosey in Ohio in 1860, Annie Oakley learned to shoot at an early age. She showed remarkable skill with guns and would often shoot and sell wild game to local restaurants to help support her impoverished family. When an admirer suggested she compete against professional marksman Frank Butler in a shooting exhibition, 15-year-old Annie reluctantly agreed. To the cheers of the amazed crowd she defeated Butler on the last shot, 25 to 24. The two sharpshooters married in 1876. Taking the stage name Oakley, she toured with vaudeville shows and circuses.
In 1916, Oakley and Butler moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina. They joined the staff of the Carolina Hotel and the Pinehurst Gun Club. Oakley gave shooting lessons and exhibitions twice a week, teaching some 125,000 men and women over the course of four years. During one of these demonstrations, on March 5, 1922, Oakley hit 98 out of 100 clay targets from 16 yards away. (Some sources say she hit all 100.) This broke all existing records, showing that at age 62, she was still one of the best shooters in the world.
The popular Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun was loosely based on Oakley’s life. Although the musical portrays her as an outspoken tomboy, she was actually a quiet person who practiced needlepoint in her spare time.
Annie Oakley Shatters Women’s Trap Shooting Record
Born Phoebe Ann Mosey in Ohio in 1860, Annie Oakley learned to shoot at an early age. She showed remarkable skill with guns and would often shoot and sell wild game to local restaurants to help support her impoverished family. When an admirer suggested she compete against professional marksman Frank Butler in a shooting exhibition, 15-year-old Annie reluctantly agreed. To the cheers of the amazed crowd she defeated Butler on the last shot, 25 to 24. The two sharpshooters married in 1876. Taking the stage name Oakley, she toured with vaudeville shows and circuses.
In 1916, Oakley and Butler moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina. They joined the staff of the Carolina Hotel and the Pinehurst Gun Club. Oakley gave shooting lessons and exhibitions twice a week, teaching some 125,000 men and women over the course of four years. During one of these demonstrations, on March 5, 1922, Oakley hit 98 out of 100 clay targets from 16 yards away. (Some sources say she hit all 100.) This broke all existing records, showing that at age 62, she was still one of the best shooters in the world.
The popular Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun was loosely based on Oakley’s life. Although the musical portrays her as an outspoken tomboy, she was actually a quiet person who practiced needlepoint in her spare time.