Searching for Calamity Quotes

“They were ready to permanently resolve what they referred to as “the Indian problem.” As one western newspaper editorialized: “The American people need the country the Indians now occupy; many of our people are out of employment; the masses need some new excitement. An Indian war would do no harm, for it must come, sooner or later.”
― Linda Jucovy, Searching for Calamity: The Life and Times of Calamity Jane

“In an era when there were few options for women, she 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; carried guns; whooped, cursed, hollered, strutted, and smoked cigars. Eastern readers soaked up the freedom from restraints that characterized Deadwood; and Calamity, with her innate ability to draw attention to herself just by being herself, epitomized that freedom.”
― Linda Jucovy, Searching for Calamity: The Life and Times of Calamity Jane