Women's History Month Featured Leader: Calamity Jane

In March, we’re featuring an influential woman every day in honor of Women’s History Month.
​
Today we’re celebrating:

Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary)

Frontierswoman and sharpshooter (1825? – 1903)
​

• Excellent markswoman, rider, and gender non-conformist who chose not to wear women’s clothing
• Lost her parents around age 12 and drifted around mining districts in Montana
• Settled in Deadwood, South Dakota
• Cared for the sick during the smallpox epidemic
• Her nickname “Calamity Jane” may have referred to her compassion for the less fortunate or for the warning she gave men who crossed her