“Hi, I’m Martha Jane Canary. What? You never
heard of me??? Well, I guess I
shouldn’t be surprised. Everyone
seems to remember me as Calamity Jane, the woman with the impeccable entrance
when trouble was near. Or more
likely, you know me as the woman who spoke, drank, shot, gambled and rode like
a man. See, I’ve had to fend for
myself since I was 10 years old so I had to do things that usually only men
would do. I guess that is what
made me memorable in most people’s eyes. But I was just trying to make the best
of the situation I was given, like the time when I saved the six men in the
runaway stagecoach. I knew the
driver had been injured with an arrow so I mounted the driver’s seat and took
over the reigns. I guess people
see that as heroic although I was just doing what needed to be done. If people are going to know about me, I
want them to know my whole story, not just the little tidbits that are easy to
exaggerate. Did you know that I rode for the Pony Express? Probably not, just like you didn’t know
my real name. I want to be
remembered for who I really was, not just some tall tale version of me. What makes some one heroic anyway?”
|