Annie Oakley and Stagecoach Mary

The young woman lifts up her rifle. She points it at her husband. He holds perfectly still. He has just lit a cigar, and he holds it between his teeth, smoldering. He doesn’t say a word. Will she shoot? She narrows her eyes, focuses down the iron sights of her Winchester, waits for the pause between breaths, and pulls the trigger.

BANG.

The crowd goes wild! Annie Oakley, sharpshooter extraordinaire, has once again shot out a cigar from the mouth of her husband – one of many daring and dangerous feats she routinely performs on a nightly basis for average Americans and European royalty as the star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West travelling show.

But Annie Oakley is more than just a crack shot with a thirty-aught-six – she's an international celebrity. The closest thing the old West has to a movie star. And every time she puts six rounds through the center of an Ace of Spades, she's using her influence to make a meaningful impact across America.

Up until her death in 1914 at the age of 82, Old West badass "Stagecoach" Mary Fields had a standing bet at her local saloon: Five bucks and a glass of whiskey said she could knock out any cowboy in Cascade, Montana with a single punch. After the third or fourth fool tried to take her up on it, nobody ever had the guts to do it again.

In this week's episode author Ben Thompson and professor of history Dr. Patricia Larash talk about Stagecoach Mary and Annie Oakley, two of the fastest guns in the old west.

Badass of the Week is an iHeart radio podcast produced by High Five Content. Executive producers are Andrew Jacobs, Pat Larash, and Ben Thompson. Writing is by Pat and Ben. Story editing is by Ian Jacobs, Brandon Fibbs and Ali Lemer. Mixing and music and Sound Design is by Jude Brewer. Consulting by Michael May. Special thanks to Noel Brown at iHeart. Badass of the Week is based on the website BadassoftheWeek.com, where you can read all sorts of stories about other badasses. If you want to reach out with questions or ideas, you can email us at badasspodcast@badassoftheweek.com. If you like the podcast, subscribe, follow, listen and tell your friends and your enemies if you want, as we'll be back next week with another one. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.