Free The Life and Legacy of Annie Oakley by Glenda Riley Page B

Wild West left for a tour of other parts of Europe. In November, the troupe reached Marseilles. Here Annie took the opportunity to visit the Mediterranean island of Montecristo. Everywhere, she saw deceit and poverty. She claimed that the authorities freed a counterfeiter after he proved his money contained more silver than government issue and that beggars abounded.
In Italy, Annie and Frank visited Mt. Vesuvius, the ruined city of Pompeii, the Vatican, and the Coliseum. But Frank wrote that Naples ranked as "one of the dirtiest cities in the world" and that Italy itself was devoid of "good gun makers." Butler much preferred Florence, "a very pretty city, containing a great many Americans," and Milan, "the home of all that is artistic and beautiful."
But it was Barcelona that most deeply engraved itself in Annie's and Frank's memories. Here the company lost its beloved announcer, Frank Richmond, to Spanish flu. Several Native American members of the Wild West troupe also died, but Annie and Frank successfully battled the disease. Butler arranged the shipment of Richmond's body back to the States and then collapsed into bed while Annie "worked for an hour weakly trying to get into [her] costume, and took [her] place in the arena that afternoon." Annie then "had the flu in earnest." Most of the company spent the Christmas of 1890 in quarantine, then finally moved to winter quarters in Alsace-Lorraine.
     

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Here Annie read a newspaper report that she had died in "a Far-Off Land" sometime early in December. Supposedly, she had fallen victim to pneumonia in Buenos Aires. Annie recoiled when she saw her picture draped in flags. Cody, back in the United States for the winter, wired Frank Butler in alarm. When Frank assured him that Annie had just finished a substantial meal, Cody wrote back, "I am so glad our Annie ain't dead, ain't you?"
Rather than complaining about the error, Frank placed a notice in the newspapers stating that Annie was "alive and enjoying splendid health," although "affected terribly" by the report of her death. Annie felt special concern for her mother, who reportedly cried for two days when she heard of Annie's death. Although mother and daughter had retained their affectional ties, regular communication proved difficult. Consequently, Susan had believed the newspaper reports and had begun to grieve the loss of her daughter.
Annie also wrote numerous letters to her family, friends, and concerned fans assuring them of her well-being and to reporters thanking them for their gracious obituaries. She marveled over "how many good traits" she had and must have felt especially gratified that the Breeder and Sportsman , which had previously run the scurrilous letter from "A California," had written that her death caused "the deepest sorrow throughout the entire sporting circle." It turned out that the death of Annie Oatley, an American singer, lay at the root of the confusion.
The following year of 1890 soon proved memorable not only for Annie Oakley and Frank Butler but for the United States as well. In retrospect, 1890 proved a turning point of sorts. During 1890 the U.S. Census Bureau announced the end of the American frontier by virtue of population density. In addition, a number of social commentators lamented that the age of the telephone, linotype, steam turbine, internal-combustion engine, electric elevator, and hand camera was corrupting the United States. Some observers even predicted the decline of American civilization.
To Cody and Salsbury, such news must have held a degree of promise. They had already made giant strides toward achieving acclaim and wealth before 1890 by immortalizing the rapidly disappearing western frontier, by playing long engagements rath-
     

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er than short stands, by producing a show in Madison Square Garden, and by taking the Wild West to Europe. Now, with the American frontier "officially" dead, the years ahead offered fertile ground to entertainers, impresarios,