Calamity Jane (1852--1903), the nickname of Martha Jane Canary, also known as Mrs. M. Burke, a United States woman who became famous for her adventures on the Western frontier. She was constantly in trouble because of heavy drinking and a tendency to get into barroom brawls. Many of the stories about her—including one that she was the mistress or wife of “Wild Bill” Hickok—lack verification.
Calamity Jane was born in Princeton, Missouri. She went to Montana in 1865, and wandered over much of the west. She worked as a wagon-train teamster in a military campaign against the Indians in 1876—until it was discovered that she was a woman. She then went to Deadwood, South Dakota, where she nursed miners during a smallpox epidemic in 1878. Although she continued her wanderings, Deadwood remained more or less her permanent home and she is buried there, near Hickok.
