Annie Oakley: Woman at Arms, A Biography
About this ebook
It is a true American epic—the story of a pioneer, who as a little girl was forced to forage with her gun in order that her family might not starve, and who eventually became, with Buffalo Bill, internationally famous as a trick marksman, the idol of youth and the darling of royalty.
About the author
Courtney Ryley Cooper (October 31, 1886 - September 29, 1940) was an American circus performer, publicist and writer. During his career he published over 30 books, many focusing on crime. He was also an expert on circuses, and was the chief publicist for Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus at the time of his death.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1886, he left home at the age of 16 to join a traveling circus and eventually became a circus clown, working his way up to general manager of the circus. He later worked as a newspaper reporter for The Kansas City Star, New York World, the Chicago Tribune and the Denver Post. In 1914, as a result of his work at the Post, he became the press agent for the Sells-Floto Circus, which had absorbed the assets of William “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show, including Buffalo Bill himself.
He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1918, where he rose to the rank of second lieutenant and was sent to France to conduct historical research on the Marines.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Cooper wrote screenplays, including the narrative for the Frank Buck film Wild Cargo and the Art-O-Graf film Riders of the Range, short stories, novels, magazine articles, and popular non-fiction books. He published 30 books during his career, with most of his non-fiction work focussing on two subjects—the circus and crime. In 1940, he worked with comic strip artist Dale Messick, and suggested the first storyline for Messick’s Brenda Starr. He wrote extensively on the danger of illicit drugs, particularly marijuana.
Cooper passed away in New York City in 1940, as a result of an apparent suicide, although this is disputed in his FBI file by two letters to Cooper’s close friend, writing collaborator and FBI director at the time, J. Edgar Hoover, in which two associates stated that Cooper did not commit suicide, but was murdered.
