Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: January 18, 2014
Caption: Calamity Jane
Additional Description: This c. 1896 photo on printing-out paper of Calamity Jane by George W. Potter hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“Born Martha (Jane) Cannary, Calamity Jane earned her nickname for her riotous behavior and her 'unlady­like' appearance. Much of her life is shrouded in myth, but it is known that she moved frequently from one small town to another, working in a series of menial jobs. She spent several years in Deadwood, South Dakota, where she was known for her dalliances in brothels, her romantic association with Wild Bill Hickok, and her appetite for alcohol. Yet Calamity Jane also demonstrated genuine concern for the poor and the sick, offering sympathy and relief when others failed to help. At age twenty-five she gained a national profile when she was featured as a sidekick to the character of Deadwood Dick in the first of several dime novels. She died in 1903, most likely of alcoholism, and is buried next to Hickok in a Deadwood cemetery.” — National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: November 11, 2016, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p368896
File Size: 1.378 Megabytes

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