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Searching for Calamity: The Life and Times of Calamity Jane
“Who in the world would think that Calamity Jane would get to be such a famous person?” one of the pallbearers at her funeral asked an interviewer many years later. It seemed like a reasonable question. Who else has accomplished so little by conventional standards and yet achieved such enduring fame?
But conventional standards do not apply. Calamity was poor, uneducated, and an alcoholic. For decades, she wandered through the small towns and empty spaces of the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. But she also had a natural talent for self-invention. She created a story about herself and promoted it tirelessly for much of her life. The story emphasized her love of adventure and the heroic role she played in key events in the early history of the American west. She became that story to people around the country who read about her. And she became that story to herself. The details about her exploits were rarely accurate, but a larger truth lay beneath them. In an era when there were few options for women, Calamity had the audacity to be herself. She lived as she pleased, which is to say that she allowed herself the same freedoms her male contemporaries assumed as their birthright. She spoke her mind. She flouted the rules. She dressed as a man when it was illegal for women to wear pants; hung out in saloons although that was unheard of for any woman who was not a prostitute; did men’s work; cursed, hollered, and smoked cigars.
Although Calamity’s name is imprinted in history, most people know little about her. This highly readable biography brings Calamity to life against the backdrop of the American west and of women’s determination to break free from their historical constraints.
17 photographs
6 maps, including 5 maps of Calamity's travels through the west
But conventional standards do not apply. Calamity was poor, uneducated, and an alcoholic. For decades, she wandered through the small towns and empty spaces of the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. But she also had a natural talent for self-invention. She created a story about herself and promoted it tirelessly for much of her life. The story emphasized her love of adventure and the heroic role she played in key events in the early history of the American west. She became that story to people around the country who read about her. And she became that story to herself. The details about her exploits were rarely accurate, but a larger truth lay beneath them. In an era when there were few options for women, Calamity had the audacity to be herself. She lived as she pleased, which is to say that she allowed herself the same freedoms her male contemporaries assumed as their birthright. She spoke her mind. She flouted the rules. She dressed as a man when it was illegal for women to wear pants; hung out in saloons although that was unheard of for any woman who was not a prostitute; did men’s work; cursed, hollered, and smoked cigars.
Although Calamity’s name is imprinted in history, most people know little about her. This highly readable biography brings Calamity to life against the backdrop of the American west and of women’s determination to break free from their historical constraints.
17 photographs
6 maps, including 5 maps of Calamity's travels through the west
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2012
91 people are currently reading
1251 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 18, 2023
Calamity Jane is a figure I'd heard of mostly from the Doris Day musical. This book tries to separate the person from the myths - many of which Calamity had started herself. Born Martha Canary, Calamity Jane lived her life according to how she wanted to do so. Not one to be constrained by gender rules, she wore 'men's clothing', rode astride horses rather than side-saddle, swore, drank, & spent more than one night in jail. She sounds like a riot when partying but her life was actually kind of sad: she spent a lot of it in perpetual motion travelling round the American West, she was also usually poverty-stricken & living hand to mouth for much of the time before she eventually drank herself to death.
This was an interesting & informative read, with some great black & white photos of Calamity, but at times my attention wandered a little. Readers find out amongst other things that she only knew 'Wild Bill' Hickok for a short time & they were never lovers, & that she only spent a small amount of time in Deadwood itself. The author discusses the contemporary dime novels that Calamity appeared in as a more sanitised version of herself, but I was surprised that the author didn't discuss the more recent versions of Calamity such as the musical. It seemed an odd omission to me. 3.5 stars (rounded down)
This was an interesting & informative read, with some great black & white photos of Calamity, but at times my attention wandered a little. Readers find out amongst other things that she only knew 'Wild Bill' Hickok for a short time & they were never lovers, & that she only spent a small amount of time in Deadwood itself. The author discusses the contemporary dime novels that Calamity appeared in as a more sanitised version of herself, but I was surprised that the author didn't discuss the more recent versions of Calamity such as the musical. It seemed an odd omission to me. 3.5 stars (rounded down)
May 1, 2013
My book group read this last month, and it was a huge hit. It's so interesting about Calamity Jane, and about the history of the Old West and the challenges women have had to deal with. It's filled with information and also a great read.
February 25, 2013
A great biography. I wish there were more like it. A fast-moving narrative based on thorough research, the book is always interesting about both Calamity Jane and the history of the American west, and there are also wonderful photographs of her and very useful maps.
August 18, 2018
For the pop sugar challenge, I needed to read a book about a real person. I picked a person from the South Dakota history books. I have grown up with stories of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, stories from Deadwood. I have also been to their gravesites in Mount Moriah Cemetary.
I commend the author for attempting to research and write a book about Calamity Jane. It is hard to seperate fact from fiction. Dime store novels did not care about facts, they wanted to sell books. Calamity Jane was also a master story teller.
Calamity jane was always a hero to me. Not because she could cuss and drink with the men. She was a woman of the old west that paved her own way, just trying to support herself. She could drive any kind of animal team. She claimed that she dressed as a man and became a scout for General Custer. There is no evidence to support that claim.
What I found most interesting was the woman that claimed she had letters and diaries of Calamity Jane. She was the daughter of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock. They gaver her away at birth. There is no evidence that Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock were lovers. She is most likely a fake.
I do have some criticism. I realize this is a tough book to write, but a whole chapter about Annie Oakley seemed like filler.
The ending was very good, the author is looking for the town of Terry. It was a gold mining town that disbanded in the 1920's. It is also the town where Calamity Jane died.
I commend the author for attempting to research and write a book about Calamity Jane. It is hard to seperate fact from fiction. Dime store novels did not care about facts, they wanted to sell books. Calamity Jane was also a master story teller.
Calamity jane was always a hero to me. Not because she could cuss and drink with the men. She was a woman of the old west that paved her own way, just trying to support herself. She could drive any kind of animal team. She claimed that she dressed as a man and became a scout for General Custer. There is no evidence to support that claim.
What I found most interesting was the woman that claimed she had letters and diaries of Calamity Jane. She was the daughter of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock. They gaver her away at birth. There is no evidence that Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock were lovers. She is most likely a fake.
I do have some criticism. I realize this is a tough book to write, but a whole chapter about Annie Oakley seemed like filler.
The ending was very good, the author is looking for the town of Terry. It was a gold mining town that disbanded in the 1920's. It is also the town where Calamity Jane died.
September 11, 2023
This is a factual account of the life and experiences of Calamity Jane. At times it is a little dry due to a lack of evidence of her exploits but there are tales about what she's alleged to have done.
It's interesting to learn how quickly the gold mine towns grew and then collapsed as the prospectors (and others) moved to the next get-rich-quick town. I think it would have been interesting to know more info about how 'normal' people lived at this time, and to get more info about the young girl who was with Calamity Jane at one point.
It's interesting to learn how quickly the gold mine towns grew and then collapsed as the prospectors (and others) moved to the next get-rich-quick town. I think it would have been interesting to know more info about how 'normal' people lived at this time, and to get more info about the young girl who was with Calamity Jane at one point.
August 4, 2025
A Great Read!
Linda Jucovy writes well! She relates Calamity Jane's tale of her life in an interesting, understandable way. I didn't realize until I reached the end of the book that she included Jane's autobiography in an appendix. I had found it on Project Gutenberg but didn't realize I didn't need to. The maps are a wonderful addition! I was really glad those were created. I recommend this book!
Linda Jucovy writes well! She relates Calamity Jane's tale of her life in an interesting, understandable way. I didn't realize until I reached the end of the book that she included Jane's autobiography in an appendix. I had found it on Project Gutenberg but didn't realize I didn't need to. The maps are a wonderful addition! I was really glad those were created. I recommend this book!
July 16, 2019
Disappointed
More a book on disputing anything favorable on Calamity Jane. There probably wasn't much truly "famous" about her but surely not every undocumented statement or action was a lie.
More a book on disputing anything favorable on Calamity Jane. There probably wasn't much truly "famous" about her but surely not every undocumented statement or action was a lie.
July 30, 2018
Interesting
While I don't question the veracity of the book, I was hoping to learn more about her children...it is believed my husband is her great-grandson.
While I don't question the veracity of the book, I was hoping to learn more about her children...it is believed my husband is her great-grandson.
September 8, 2020
I appreciated the passion of the author for Calamity and the honesty. But I wanted to know more. This won’t be the last book I read about Calamity Jane but it was a good head start
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August 8, 2021Western History
A study in the Western way of life, along with the life of calamity Jane makes for a good story.
A study in the Western way of life, along with the life of calamity Jane makes for a good story.
April 14, 2022
Quite a story!
Would have been great to be more detailed but I'm sure it was difficult finding out true facts. I'm sure many of the stories were embellished!!
Would have been great to be more detailed but I'm sure it was difficult finding out true facts. I'm sure many of the stories were embellished!!
November 17, 2015
This was my South Dakota pick for the Around the USA book challenge. It's rather difficult to find a book set in this state, and after wracking my brain, I thought I'd seek out a biography of one of the personalities of old Deadwood. I didn't know much about Calamity Jane, so this book seemed like a good choice.
Unfortunately, after much research, it seems the author didn't know much about Calamity Jane, either. Orphaned at 15, young Martha Canary made her way from Missouri to places untamed in the north: Wyoming, Montana, and Dakota in the late 1800's. She seemed to be a big personality, but a very unconventional one. She like to dress as a man, drink as a man, work like a man, and swear like man. People said she told great stories. I don't think there was a single instance that propelled her into stardom. She simply was a curiosity, and a likable curiosity at that. She enjoyed her notoriety, and worked to embellish her own narrative. She wasn't a showman like Buffalo Bill Cody or Annie Oakley, but she wasn't above selling herself (sometimes prostitution, sometimes her story or photographs of herself) when she was short of cash. She had a big heart, and there are a few stories of Calamity going out of her way to help others. Like the time when she secured groceries (at gunpoint) from a grocer to give to locals who were too sick to work, or the time when she forced a local card dealer (also at gunpoint) to pay the prostitute whose services he'd taken advantage of in real gold dust, rather than the bag of dirt he fraudulently gave her.
The author admits that most stories about Calamity Jane are fiction and so it is difficult to find out the truth about this old west celebrity. Much of the book is padded with stories about the area and stories about other western notables. Jucovy often repeats information several times. With such limited data, the author should not have tried to write a whole book on such a narrow subject. I kept wishing she had written this as a combination biography/memoir, writing about her own experiences of traveling to all these places Calamity Jane had lived, researching information about her, and the author's own thoughts and reflections about this elusive subject. That would have made for a more interesting and fuller book. 2 1/2 stars.
Unfortunately, after much research, it seems the author didn't know much about Calamity Jane, either. Orphaned at 15, young Martha Canary made her way from Missouri to places untamed in the north: Wyoming, Montana, and Dakota in the late 1800's. She seemed to be a big personality, but a very unconventional one. She like to dress as a man, drink as a man, work like a man, and swear like man. People said she told great stories. I don't think there was a single instance that propelled her into stardom. She simply was a curiosity, and a likable curiosity at that. She enjoyed her notoriety, and worked to embellish her own narrative. She wasn't a showman like Buffalo Bill Cody or Annie Oakley, but she wasn't above selling herself (sometimes prostitution, sometimes her story or photographs of herself) when she was short of cash. She had a big heart, and there are a few stories of Calamity going out of her way to help others. Like the time when she secured groceries (at gunpoint) from a grocer to give to locals who were too sick to work, or the time when she forced a local card dealer (also at gunpoint) to pay the prostitute whose services he'd taken advantage of in real gold dust, rather than the bag of dirt he fraudulently gave her.
The author admits that most stories about Calamity Jane are fiction and so it is difficult to find out the truth about this old west celebrity. Much of the book is padded with stories about the area and stories about other western notables. Jucovy often repeats information several times. With such limited data, the author should not have tried to write a whole book on such a narrow subject. I kept wishing she had written this as a combination biography/memoir, writing about her own experiences of traveling to all these places Calamity Jane had lived, researching information about her, and the author's own thoughts and reflections about this elusive subject. That would have made for a more interesting and fuller book. 2 1/2 stars.
August 13, 2014
I enjoyed this biography of Calamity Jane, although the source material seemed slim enough that there was a whole chapter's worth of Annie Oakley, and plenty about many of the other "usual suspects" from the Old West of popular lore. I realized, reading this, that I didn't know anything at all about Calamity Jane. I read lots of biographies of Annie Oakley as a girl, but this is the first one I ever came across about Jane. I learned a lot about her life, which was haunted by alcohol and wandering. I wish there were more actual letters and eyewitness accounts from her time, because the pieces she left behind are so intriguing. Nicely written with a beautifully expansive bibliography, and quite a few photos. Recommended.
August 13, 2015
Well researched, good illustrations, however it lacked description. It was written more like a factual article than a book. I finished it after 3 months despite it being 256 pages including the index. I just could not stay focused on it for very long.
Linda Jucovy did her homework. She actually visited many of the locations that Calamity frequented. I just wished that the book was more descriptive. I wanted to be transported there in my mind, to see, smell and hear what Calamity experienced. This book was quite disappointing for that reason.
Linda Jucovy did her homework. She actually visited many of the locations that Calamity frequented. I just wished that the book was more descriptive. I wanted to be transported there in my mind, to see, smell and hear what Calamity experienced. This book was quite disappointing for that reason.
October 13, 2015
After visiting South Dakota and seeing many references and books about Calamity Jane, I was excited to read about her. I was very disappointed in this biography. Calamity was way more myth than fact. She was a large woman who could easily dress, cuss, and work like a man. She was an unstoppable wonderer and a pathetic alcoholic. She just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to insert herself into history. Many of the fables about her were created by her. Don't waste your time with this one.
August 10, 2013
I enjoyed the history of the West however Calamity Jane was nothing but a sad life. And it is interesting how the same vices and behaviors women find inexcusable in men are venerated when found in women.
March 22, 2016
Searching for the facts.
This book is helpful in separating the facts from the legend that is attached to Calamity. I used it to answer questions I had while watching the series Deadwood.
This book is helpful in separating the facts from the legend that is attached to Calamity. I used it to answer questions I had while watching the series Deadwood.
April 3, 2014
Loved this book. It brings together the life of Calamity Jane and the history of the Old West. A great read, and the photos are an additional pleasure.
October 31, 2014
I received this as part of First Reads. This was a well written book about Calamity Jane. She had such an interesting life and the book did a great job describing it.
May 26, 2015
Short and breezy
I liked it, a fast read. I would consider it an overview or summary of Jane's life from the pictures that are available.
I liked it, a fast read. I would consider it an overview or summary of Jane's life from the pictures that are available.
August 24, 2015
A very good, and interesting book containing details of travelling done by famous Calamity Jane. The pictures are as could be expected; need good eyes to examine them closely.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews