The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-08
BRET HgRIE'S HEROINE
CALAMITY JANE, THE FAMOUS SCOUT,
HAS BECOME AN AUTHORIZES.
She Took Part I'm the Vigilance Conn
mittee's Lyncbfng Bees when Dead
wood Was I'm It's Prime.

Denver Times-~
A woman who has killed more than five
score of Indians. who has met and con-
quered a dozen bad men and has been in
more deadly rows than falls to the lot of
a hundred average men, is now earning a
living as a book agent. This is Calamity
Jane. Bret Harte made her famous in The
LUG. of Roaring Camp but the women
pictured by the novelist and the real Ca
lamity Jane are quite different person.
ages.
Many people have supposed that Calam-
ity Jane never existed, except in the imagi-
nation Of the writer. But she does exist.
and at this particular time she is tramping
from house to house in Helena. Mont. sell
ing a book-a book she wrote herself and
about herself. AS a literary gem it will new
er create a furore among posterity. but
this does not bother the authoress; all she
aspires TO is a sale sufficient to clothe and
feed herself until something better turns
up. She freely acknowledges that she
delved into literature only as a final re-
source. She was face to face with poverty.
so she wrote a book. Moreover. she wants
to educate her daughter. and if the sales
are numerous enough this will be done.
This real Calamity Jane is a woman of
forty-four years. Weighing less than LIS
pounds. and about five rect three inches in
height. She has gray eyes, brown hair, a
weather-beaten face and an ordinary raw
boned figure. There is nothing remarkable
about her, as far as looks go, but, as SHE
says, when IL comes down 10 cold cases, i
am there" This vague remark may mean
a great variety OF things, but its literal
meaning Is that when uanger comes her
way she won't funk
In private life she is Mrs. Clinton Burke.
having married a gentleman of that name
at Ill PaSo, Tex, some ten years ago. Her
maiden name was Martha Canary. Sne was
born in Princeton. No.. in 1852. and while a
baby her mother died. When ten years OF
age her father took her to Virginia City,
New, where the widest spirits of the West,
both white and red, congregated. From the
first she was thrown in contact with men
OF the desperate type, and shooting scrapeS
were ordinary events in her life. Naturally,
she learned to shoot and to look out for
her own welfare, for in that reckless COM
munity it was quite necessary that a wom-
an should be able to care for herself as
well as a man.
the Indians her father was killed, and the
family was broken up. Martha had TO shift
for herself, and as all she could do was to
ride and shoot, she got q position as scout
under General Crook. This was not a rare
thing among frontier women in those days.
They knew the ways of the Indians better
than the trained soldiers from the East.
and as they expected no favors on account
OF their sex. they were as efficient in the
work as men.
Martha Canary soon worked up to a lead
ership among these women. She was but
fifteen when she first became a govern
ment scout, and had all the audacity OF
youth. Resides, she was absolutely fearless
and had nerves Of rock. Nothing was too
hazardous for her to undertake. and in a
few years she had a reputation for reckless
courage which made her conspicuous
among people where that quality was COM
mon
To recount the number of ARRAYS in
which she figured would be a long task.
She earned her title of Calamity Jane by
a bit of gallantry deserving of handsOmer
recognition. 1t was during Clusters Nez
Perces campaign in 1S72-13. Wherever Gus
ter was there was plenty of fighting. and,
as fighting was her hobby, Calamity Jane
was there. too.
One OF the small scrimmages of this cam
paign is called the battle of Goose Creek
camp. A company of soldiers. commanded
by a Young captain named Egan. were sur
prised and surrounded by Indians. and the
soldiers were getting the worst of 1t. Ca
lamity Jane was outside the circle of In
dams watching the fight. and when her eK-
perienced eye told her hat it was only a
question of minutes when the soldiers
would be wiped out she managed to work
her way safely through the Indians to her
comrades. On reaching that point she dis
covered that the captain was wounded and
the soldiers demoralized There was only
one good horse left. and getting the cap
tain across the saddle. she got up behind
him and they cut loose. She knew the coun-
try better thar the Indians, and managed
to reach q point OF safety. The diversion
she created by the escape gave a few of
the soldiers a chance to get away. but the
bulk of them were massacred. 1t was Capt.
Egan who gave her the name of Calamity
Jane, and later her fame under that title
spread from the Dakotas to the western
line of Montana.
In the Black Hills. between Custer and
Deadwood. she was best known, and when
that region was in most lawless stages she
v-as a central figure. She was a leading
spirit in the vigilant committees. and Off
ciated at scores of lynching bees. She al
ways dressed in mems clothes and never
1nnQQrAd UyffhnIIf n nlyyn ~ rtAo DtA
she didn't hesitate to use either weapon
when her ire was aroused.
The tragedy Which ended John McCaul's
life showed this. McCaul was a stage coach
driver at Deadwood. and one day he shot a
man called Wild Bill in the back. Bill died.
He was one of the choice friends of Calam-
ity Jane. When she heard of the shooting
she rushed out of her shanty with a
butchers .~cleaver in her hand. She gave a
whoop. which brought all the stragglers in
town to her heels, and they Joined eagerly
in the chase for McCaul. He was found
half drunk: and the ,cleaver in the hands
of Calamity Jane almost scared him to
death. Some of the people proposed that
Jane should finish him with the cleaver,
lynched in the conventional way. attached
to the limb of a tree. with Jane standing
guard with the cleaver.
The curious part of all this is that six
months before Jane had saved McCaul's
life. She and six others were passengers in
VIVID Birch. Half way between the two
points the coach was surrounded bv In
dams and McCaul was shot through the
back. The other passengers lost their nerve
at this. but Jane grabbed uD the reins and
landed the coach safely at Wild Birch.
Later jane became q pony express rider
between Deadwood and Custer. and as the
country was overrun with hostile Sioux
the lob was an ~excitinr one. After that she
went TO ranching at Miles City. Mont. but
raising cattle did not suit her. so she
opened a small hotel. She was her own
bouncer. and when any bad man drifted in
in search Of trouble. she always met him
more than half way.
In 1885 she went to F. Paso. where she
married. Nine months ago she returned to
Deadwood. but It was not the Deadwood of
Old. There was nothing for her to do except
70 go on the variety stage. and this work
dissatisfied her. She gave it up to plunge
into literature