Calamity Jane--Old West Legend Quiz

Answer: Missouri

Born in Princeton, Missouri, in 1852 Martha Jane Cannary was the daughter of Robert W. and Charlotte Cannary. She was the oldest of six children, and she had two brothers and three sisters. As a teenager she was part of a wagon train that moved from Missouri to Virginia City in Montana.

Answer: Fort Russell

After her mother died of pneumonia and her father passed away a year later, 15-year-old Martha Jane worked a number of odd jobs as the new head of the family. These included dishwasher, dance hall girl, and nurse, until she finally landed her first job as a scout at Fort Russell in Wyoming. Scouts traveled with cattle drivers and sometimes armies, helping to watch for Native American war tribes and easy traveling spots on the journey.

Answer: She survived both a barn fire and smallpox.

She returned her commander Captain Egan to the fort in Goose Creek, Wyoming, after he was injured in an Indian attack. When he recovered--according to her writings--he dubbed her "Calamity Jane." She also allegedly warned men not to offend her, as it would "court calamity" for them. One verified account was that she acquired the nickname after safely delivering important orders over 90 miles on foot to General Crook at the Big Horn River.

Answer: Jane

Calamity Jane claimed that her daughter Jane was the offspring of Wild Bill, although this claim was never proven. She maintained that she later put the child up for adoption, and in 1941 the U.S. Department of Public Welfare did issue old age assistance to a woman named Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick, who claimed to be the daughter of Jane and Wild Bill. (See the Wikipedia article on Calamity Jane).

Her daughter Jane was likely the real daughter of her eventual husband Clinton Burke.

Answer: Saved a stagecoach that had been attacked by Indians.

Jane pursued a stagecoach that had been attacked by Plains Indians and safely returned it to Deadwood, after the driver John Slaughter was killed. She reportedly pursued but never found Hickok's killer, one Jack McCall. The other two choices were fabricated.

Answer: Buffalo Bill

Calamity Jane went to work for Buffalo Bill's "Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World" show. She participated as a trick shooter and rider, alongside such big names as Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull. The show went on to become a huge success for Bill, but not for Jane, as she eventually left it to work for the Pan-American Exposition at the World's Fair in Buffalo, New York.

Answer: Cooking and doing the laundry at a brothel.

With few opportunities, Calamity Jane returned to the Black Hills town of Deadwood to work as a cook and laundress at Madame Dora DuFran's brothel. Despite her many talents, her struggles with both her emotions and the bottle would lead to her eventual demise.

Answer: Pneumonia

Ironically, Jane died of pneumonia just as her mother did. Unsubstantiated reports claimed that she collapsed following a night of binge drinking and passed away after being carried off a train.

Answer: Edward Wheeler

Edward Wheeler wrote the series of dime novels--called such because of their often racy content and low price--beginning in 1877, calling them the "Deadwood Dick" series. Jane's character was a prominent fixture in the novels which told the story of a fictional character from the South Dakota town of Deadwood.

Many of the stories often credited to Calamity Jane are believed to have come from these novels.

Answer: Robin Weigert

Robin Weigert played the character of Jane Cannary in the HBO miniseries. She was nominated for an Emmy in 2004 for the role, and she also appeared on such hit shows as "E.R." and "NYPD Blue." In her "Deadwood" role, she portrayed Calamity Jane as foul-mouthed and drunk--but with a heart of gold.