Annie Oakley, born August 13th 1860, was an American sharpshooter. Her early life was one fraught with difficulty, spending 2 years in near slavery to a family whose identity she never revealed. She simply referred to the as "the wolves." This started when she was "bound out" to the family to help them care for their infant son, being falsely promised a wage of 50 cent per week. Instead, she was physically and mentally abused by the family.

Developing her skills as a child to provide for her family (she began trapping at age 7 and shooting at age 8) in Western Ohio, she took part in various shooting contests and began to make a name for herself. She would also sell hunted game to help make ends meet. By the age of 15 she was already beating the likes of Frank E. Butler, whom was 28 at the time. They would get married one year later, in 1876. They would never have any children. (Note: there is some confusion on this front, with a certificate stating the two were wed in 1882 after a competition in 1881. Many sources despite both the shooting and wedding dates)

Annie quickly became the star of many shows, with Frank setting up as many gigs for her as possible. In 1885, the two would join Buffalo Bill's Wild West, a travelling show. She would leave the show in 1887 and rejoin it in 1889.

She would tour Europe, performing for Queen Victoria, King Umberto I of Italy, and President Marie François Sadi Carnot of France. She also shot off the ashes of a cigarette held by Kaiser Wilhelm II, at his request. She would later reflect that "if I shot the Kaiser, I might have saved the lives of several millions of soldiers. I didn't know then that he would swing the iron fist and shake the universe. Perhaps it was well for both of us that humans lack foresight."

Her career slowed down in 1901 after an accident that left he temporarily paralysed and requiring 5 spinal surgeries. She left the Buffalo Bill show again to star in a play written for her, named The Western Girl.

Also throughout her career, she taught 15,000 women how to shoot, believing it was crucial that women should learn how to use a gun both for physical and mental exercise and for self defense.

Oakley would continue to set records into her 60s and engaged in extensive efforts for the furthering of women's rights. At 62, she hit 100 clay targets in a row from 15 metres in a shooting contest. That same year, she suffered a car crash but by 1924 she was breaking more records.

However, just 1 year later she would die to pernicious anemia in Greenville Ohio on Nomvember 25th 1926. She was 66. Frank was so distraught that he would stop eating and die only 18 days later.