Good morning, today I am looking at a documentary on Calamity Jane. The run time for this documentary is 52:42 it is called Calamity Jane: Legend of the West.
The west was a vast plain that was inhabited by the First Nations. However, these lands would become invaded when gold was discovered. Thousands of pioneers went out west to make a new life. It was here that Calamity Jane found herself. She was the first legendary woman of the West. She had plays written about her. She was the most famous woman in America and a living legend. A peak in South Dakota was named for her. New York depicted her as the Queen of the Plains. Who was the real woman behind the legend? Calamity Jane was born Martha Canary. As a young woman, she dreamed about marrying and settling down. She would have two children: a son who died young and a daughter whom she adored. Unfortunately, she could not maintain a stable relationship because of her alcoholism. It may have been begun in childhood. Martha Canary was born in Princeton, Missouri on a small windswept farm. She was the oldest of nine children and her family were poor farmers. In the surrounding areas, her family had a bad reputation. Eventually, the Canary Family sold off the farm and moved further west to chase after gold. Martha would have been eight years old when the family pulled up roots and moved west. It would have been a long arduous journey. Martha would help take care of the horses, discovering that she enjoyed working with the horses. Unfortunately on this journey, her mother died and her father ran off. The children were divided and Martha was forced to do women’s work. She preferred soldiers to woman’s work. Eventually, she would find herself at the Three Mile Hog House and would become a prostitute. Then there was an interesting discussion on the different levels of prostitution in the West. In 1875, Martha Canary sneaked along with an expedition scouting the west. It was the first time she would make her way into history. A journalist took a picture of her and this picture caused a sensation. The Civil War prompted thousands of women to disguise themselves as men in order to fight. However, Martha found men’s clothing comfortable which shocked the people. Journalists described her as a strange creature and that the soldiers nicknamed her Calamity Jane. However, she was tossed out of the expedition. She was not deterred and she joined up with another regiment. It was here a variety of stories that came out about her. Many soldiers talked about how they met her but they could not remember where they met her. Eventually, she would join up with Wild Bill Hickock’s convoy on their way to Deadwood. Here, she became known as a storyteller, a skill that she excelled at. Wild Bill Hickock did not care about her and would disappear when she started telling a story. She was a colorful character and would soon become associated with Wild Bill Hancock. Deadwood would spring up when gold was discovered. It was crowded with people who lived in temporary houses and tents. The streets were filthy. It was smelly. There were plenty of saloons in this town. Calamity Jane would meet a journalist who would write about her and send stories about her east. Everyone enjoyed the stories and there was a writer who would put her story in a dime novels. These dime novels would contribute to the mythology of the West. How did Calamity Jane get her nickname? The one solid rumor was that she was involved in so many calamitous actions and that tragedy followed her seemed to hint at why she got the nickname. Eventually, she would help the miners through a smallpox epidemic. Eventually, she would leave Deadwood and would get married. She had a baby boy who died shortly after he was born. To learn more about Calamity Jane, continue to watch this episode to find out. Overall, this was a good look at Calamity Jane and her life. You felt bad that she could not turn her life around. This would be good for research.
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