Presentation sharpshooters rifle owned by Annie Oakley. by Annie Oakley - n.d.

n.p., n.d.. 41" L. "Savage Model 1903 .22 caliber slide action, pump action repeater, magazine fed rifle , approximately 41 inches long. Impressed on the end of the butt is “Savage/Model/1903/[Indian head left profile, with headdress]/Trade Mark/Manufactured by the/Savage Arms Co/Utica, N.Y./U.S.A./Makers of/Rifles/[last line rubbed off].” Serial number “42901” is engraved on the narrow strip of metal behind the trigger.

On the right side of the butt handle, a two-inch diameter, circular metallic plaque has been affixed, engraved with a large scripted “AO” simulating Annie Oakley’s handwriting. A banner “Show Rifle” is across the mid-portion of the plaque. Engraved “Savage Model 1903” in the upper curved border and “Annie Oakley” in the lower curved border. The words “Young Buffalo” are engraved above her name. Thin wood slice at top of stock.

According to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, after leaving Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1901, Annie Oakley “continued to perform and eventually joined another wild west show, ‘The Young Buffalo Show’ in 1911. During this period, [her husband Frank] Butler signed a contract as a representative for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company in Connecticut. This was a position that allowed both Butler and Oakley to make endorsements for the company and to continue their shooting exhibitions. Finally, in 1913, the couple retired from the arena and settled down in Cambridge, Maryland.”

This Annie Oakley “Show Rifle” was presented by Annie Oakley and Frank Butler to “R. Weekes.” On the left side of the butt handle, an ornate metallic plaque has been affixed, topped with an eagle holding a shield engraved with a small scripted “AO” simulating Annie Oakley’s handwriting. The plaque is engraved “The Annie Oakley Miniture [sic] Rifle / Society Prize / With High Admiration from Miss Annie Oakley & Mr Frank Butler / Presented to their Shropshire Shooting Party Guest / R. Weekes Esq / February 1904.” The 1901 England census lists a Richard Weekes, age 36, living in Shropshire. The April 3, 1903 local English newspaper, “The Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News,” reported from Broseley, a town in Shropshire, that “Mr. R. Weekes, who is leaving for America next week, was presented on Monday, at the Duke of Cumberland Hotel, with a traveling bag and a box of cigars by his numerous friends.” In May 1906, the newspaper mentioned that he was in attendance at his sister’s wedding in Shropshire. Apparently, in February 1904, Weekes was part of a “shooting party” arranged by Oakley and Butler.

According to John T. Callahan, Savage Arms historian, who searched the factory serial number records for information on this rifle, serial number 42901, it was “accepted from the factory to the warehouse at the Utica, New York plant of Savage Arms on February 15, 1906. It was subsequently shipped on March 31, 1906 and delivered to the original consignee entered as ‘SBT’ Co. Regretfully I have not found this consignee before and do not have any distributor or dealer on my list with these initials.”

The circular plaque indicates that this rifle was an Annie Oakley “Young Buffalo” “Show Rifle.” The ornate plaque denotes that the rifle was presented by Annie Oakley and Frank Butler to “R. Weekes Esq,” identified as “their Shropshire Shooting Party Guest.” The date “February 1904” is apparently the date he was their guest in the United States; they had not been out of the country since 1892. On October 4, 1913, Annie Oakley retired after a performance of the “Young Buffalo” show in Marion, Illinois. The Butlers moved to a cottage near Cambridge, Maryland. They later had a winter home in Pinehurst, North Carolina. While in Pinehurst, she taught women how to shoot and presented a weekly “Annie Oakley Trophy” to the highest scoring markswomen. In 1924, the Butlers moved to Ohio where Annie Oakley died two years later. This Annie Oakley Young Buffalo Show Rifle was ostensibly presented by Annie Oakley and Frank Butler to Richard Weekes after 1911. It is not known if it was presented in person (if Weekes returned to the United States) or if was shipped to Shropshire, England."