
Born on a frontier farm in Missouri, she grew up racing horses and hunting with the men who roamed the open plains. By her early teens she had already earned a reputation as a fearless rider and a sharp shooter, skills honed during a grueling five‑month overland trek to Virginia City, Montana, where she faced raging streams, treacherous terrain and countless close calls. The loss of her mother on the trail only deepened her resolve, and she soon left the wilderness for Utah and Wyoming, where she began to carve out a place among the military outposts.
At Fort Russell she traded skirts for a soldier’s uniform and volunteered as a scout for General Custer, slipping into the rugged world of the Indian campaign. Her daring rides across hostile ground and uncanny marksmanship made her a legend among the troops, earning her the nickname that would follow her forever. Listeners will be drawn into her vivid first‑hand accounts of frontier life, daring rescues, and the raw, untamed spirit of the American West.
Language
en
Duration
~11 minutes (10K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
1996-04-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1856–1903
A larger-than-life figure of the American frontier, she became famous for her rough-edged storytelling, fearless image, and close association with the legends of Deadwood. The real Martha Jane Cannary is hard to separate from the myth, which is exactly what keeps her story so compelling.
View all books
by John Gibson Paton

by Friedrich Gerstäcker

by Ernest Thompson Seton

by Albert Bigelow Paine

by S. O. Susag