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Book Review
| Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend. By James D. McLaird. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. xiii + 378 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $29.95.)
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Everything you might ever have thought or wondered about this western icon is thoroughly deconstructed, assiduously reassembled, and carefully presented in this fact-stuffed and well-illustrated biography of Jane, whose real name was Martha Canary. McLaird's purpose is to reveal the true details of her life and movements across the West and explain how the myth evolved, first at the hands of dime novel authors and Canary's own tall tales and later through twentieth-century media and charlatans. For the narrative, McLaird consulted hundreds of newspaper articles and other documents and cross-referenced them with primary and secondary claims of Canary's whereabouts and actions. Indeed, one of the more fascinating aspects of this study is the information contemporary newspapers actually carried about her and the descriptions of her actions, some of which McLaird includes. |
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Beginning with Canary's 1856 birth near Princeton, Missouri, McLaird takes us with painstaking attention through her life to her 1903 death. He discovered that Canary was illiterate, obnoxious, and battled alcoholism throughout her life, which would contribute to her financial problems and death. He also discovered that she ran a variety of businesses, including houses of prostitution and saloons. But she also donated her time and energy to helping community members affected by sickness and other difficulties. She did wear men's clothing, but McLaird notes that it was more for publicity; Canary generally wore dresses and skirts during her daily life, demonstrating that she did seem to live within certain societal expectations (though not all). The concluding three chapters delve into the misperceptions about her life and character that spread following her death, including the fascinating story about Jean Hickok McCormick's false claims and detailed hoax in 1941 that she was the daughter of Canary and Wild Bill. |
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What most intrigued me here were Canary's deliberate contributions to her own myth-making, since she certainly wasn't doing things other women wouldn't. She exaggerated details of her life and preened to false dime novel portrayals. Certainly, her problems with alcohol demonstrate that she was battling inner ghosts and perhaps craved attention. However, she was also an entrepreneur who managed to survive as long as she did as a woman in a region undergoing amazing transformation. Perhaps she sensed the "Old West" was fading and she deftly used the romantic images popular culture painted to pad her own often brutal and difficult past with a few dollars and a few hours of notoriety. Regardless, McLaird blows the legend out of the water, which may disappoint some who prefer their myths untested. For those who don't, his impeccable research and myth-busting analyses leave us with a far more complex and personal portrait of a woman's remarkable journey through a changing West. |
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| Evelyn A. Schlatter
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| Nashville, Tennessee |
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ISSN 1939-8603
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