Annie Oakley signed with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, becoming its star markswoman and launching her rise to global fame.
On March 31, 1885, Annie Oakley signed a contract to join Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show, one of the most popular and influential entertainment enterprises of the late nineteenth century. She quickly became the show's star sharpshooting attraction, earning the nickname "Little Sure Shot", reportedly bestowed by Lakota performer Sitting Bull, who also toured with the show.
Within Buffalo Bill's Wild West, Oakley performed dazzling trick shots—hitting playing cards edge-on, splitting a card resting on its edge, shooting cigarettes from her husband's mouth, and hitting flying glass balls and coins tossed into the air—all while riding horses or performing acrobatic stunts. Her act became a signature highlight of the show, drawing enormous crowds across America and, soon after, Europe.
This engagement marked the true launch of Oakley's international celebrity. It provided the platform for her tours of London, Paris, and other major European capitals, and her association with the show would last, with some interruptions, for roughly sixteen years. Her presence also helped normalize the visibility of skilled women performers on a global stage, challenging contemporary assumptions about women's physical and public capabilities. The Wild West years cemented Oakley's reputation as one of the first American entertainers to achieve true international superstardom.