What was Annie Oakley’s birth name, before she became a famous sharpshooter?

Annie Oakley’s birth name was Phoebe Ann Moses.

She was born in Darke County, Ohio, in 1860 and learned to shoot as a child while helping support her family. Her marksmanship eventually brought her to vaudeville and then to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, where she became one of its best-known performers.

Oakley married fellow performer Frank E. Butler in 1876. Her stage name, Annie Oakley, became far more famous than her birth name, and publicity often emphasized feats such as shooting small targets while performing on horseback.

She was a professional entertainer rather than a frontier outlaw or law officer. Her career helped make women sharpshooters a major attraction in late nineteenth-century popular culture.