The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-06-10
M PETER EDISON

Rapid City, >. d., June lO.--( NEA)i
Clusters last stand needs no press |
agenting, but the fact that one OF
Clusters best scouts and mcssengcrsJ
was woman who dressed herself In \
mems clothes is not SO we'll known,
That woman was Calamity jane
Burke, nee Canary. .iissouriyl
preachers daughter who made aS
much history as any other on: indie
vidual in the Black Hills Of South
Dakota, where Calvin Coolidge will
spend his vacation this summer.
: In the 1898, when the gold field
north Of the present summer White
House. was still in its swaddiing
clothes, Jane Burke was an angel in
disguise, and the disguise was per-
feet. It was James boast that she
never went to bed sober and that she
never went to bed with a penny in her
pants pockets. And pants pockets
here is correct. Calamity Jane, all
/ through her Black Hills days, wore
masculine garb.
Queen of the Hills
| She got her name from the fact
/ that she brought calamity on all her
| adversaries. She lived as a man
among the toughest, hardest boiled.
! sun-baked men OF the toughest days
| in the dime move! capital Of the
/ world, and she held her own. She
was coarser than cordwood or finer
than SILK, depending on whether you
look upon her virtues or her vices.
III feyer-racked prospector in his
delirium called for sweet pickles
against the doctors orders, Jane saw
that he got the pickles, and then
brought him to health.
/ At the point of a gun she held up
store ut Confederate Gulch during
the smallpox sc0urge which hit the
hills IN 1878. She made the storea
keeper wrap her up an order Of fancy
4 groceries in such a way that shs
could carry the sack and still keep
\ her gun hand free. Backing outs Ut
the store she made for the mountain
isolation camp. Her patient get well
and was brought back to town amid
much shooting in the air by all the
population then able to get out of the
saloons. Jane then took up a c0ilec.
ton and got enough gold dust Il
, send the convalescent back to hi
family in the states.
Expert Pistol Shot 81;
A queer mixture of Lady Bountiful
t Florence Nightingale, EvanYelin.
' Booth, Buffalo Bill. Deadwood sDicl
i and plain old soak all rolled int,
one-a women who did everythipi
that men did years before .suffrag
o and the modern woman were dreanlea
0 of. She even chewed tobacco Whel
p she went on tantrum. the popula
/ ton took to the woods.
1 It was her hardness with .riti
and six-shooter that won her plac
G as teamster and later as a. scout f0
a.. Custer. AT the age Of IL this prt
e date flapper could throw an oyyte
Il can in the air and put two bGtlt
s holes in it from her revolver befOr
u the can touched the ground.
v On a scouting party once, tn
h troops were, surrounded by Indian
An officer was shot from his hOfs
and an Indian rushed up to seal
z him. Jane galloped up, shot the II
dian and hauled the limp officer
: her saddle. 81,
" She rode the Pony Express rout
: from Deadwood to Custer, all throug
the heart Of the bandit-irfested RI"
4 Hills. Her craftsmanship enable
the mails to 20 through safely.
/. Riding toward Crook City one da
!. she. found the Overland Mail, driver
less, plunging across the plain puI
!. sued by Indians. Calamity unloade
everything but the mail and the 81
n passengers and raced them to safet!
At another time, out riding Wit
Antelope Frank. she was an,bnshe
and pursued by Indians, Antelope
horse stumbled and, fell. He Gale
s to Calamity to ride for i and say
n herself. e7'
& Five BIT the Dust
if Damned il will" she cried. II
h stay right here with you and we'll Sc
t how many Of these Redskins-s we "a
d drop" IS.
r shooting five Indians and drivin
o the others off.
k With other short-range wsaDorv
!. she was equally adept. She lMoul
e bet good Black Hills gold dust thu
/ she could fleck fly off an ox'syes
with sitxeen-foot whiPlash thre
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