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rapidly, and became such a fine shot that she rarely missed a quail or pheasant, and, at the age of fourteen she had paid off a mortgage on her mother's homestead with money earned from the game and skins shot and trapped by herself alone--while her aim with rifle was so true that she was debarred from entering in the turkey matches which were the popular holiday amusement in that part of the country.

Then came a local reputation; and with improved fire-arms she attracted wider attention, and for the past several years she has been shooting before the public with great success, and, although she has many times beaten all records, like the modest little girl she is, she never uses the word Champion in connection with her name. "SITTING BULL," the great Indian Chief, after seeing her shoot in St. Paul, Minn., adopted her into the Sioux tribe, giving her the name of "WATANYA CICILLA," or, "LITTLE SURE SHOT."

The first two years before the public she devoted to Rifle and Pistol Shooting, and there is very little in that line she has not accomplished. At Tiffin, Ohio, she once shot a ten-cent piece held between the thumb and forefinger of an attendant at a distance of 30 feet. In April, 1884, she attempted the beat the best record made at balls thrown in the air--the best record was 984 made by Dr. Ruth. MISS OAKLEY used a Stevens' 22 cal. rifle and broke943. In February, 1885, she attempted the feat of shooting 5,000 balls in one day, loading the guns herself. In this feat she used three 16-gauge hammer guns; the balls were thrown from three traps 15 yards rise; out of the 5,000 shot at, she broke 4,772; on the second thousand she only missed 16, making the best 1,000 ball record, 984. Besides the thousands of exhibitions she has given in Europe and America, she has shot in over 50 matches and tournaments, winning forty-one prizes; her collection of medals and fire-arms, all of which have been won or presented to her, is considered one of the finest in the world.

MISS OAKLEY is also an accomplished equestrienne, and her success with the public has been greatly enhanced by the fact that in dress, style, and execution she is as original as she is attractive.

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THE RIFLE AS AN AID TO CIVILIZATION.

There is a trite saying that "the pen is mightier than the sword." It is an equally true one that the bullet is the pioneer of civilization, for it has gone hand in hand with the axe that cleared the forest, and with the family Bible and school book. Deadly as has been its mission in one sense, it has been merciful in another; for without the rifle ball we of America would not be to-day in the possession of a free and united country, and mighty in our strength.

And so has it been in the history of all people, from the time when David slew Goliath, down through the long line of ages, until in modern times, science has substituted for the stone from David's sling the terrible missiles that now decide the fate of nations. It is not therefore, so harsh an expression as it seems to be at first sight, that it is indeed the bullet which has been the forerunner of growth and development.

It is in the far West of America, however, and along our frontier, that the rifle has found its greatest use and become a part of the person and the household of the venturesome settler, the guide, the scout, and the soldier; for nowhere else in Christendom is it so much and so frequently a necessity for the preservation of life, and the defense of home and property. It is here, too, among the hunters on the plains and in the Rocky Mountains, that one sees the perfection of that skill in markmanship that has become the wonder of thos who are not accustomed to the daily use of weapons. Yet if it were not possessed--if there were not the quick eye, the sure aim, coolness in the moment of extreme danger, whether threatened by man or beast--life in that section would be of little value, and a man's home anything but a safe abiding place.

There are exceptional cases of men like "BUFFALO BILL," Major North, and others, whose names are more or less familiar among the mighty hunters of the West, who excel in the use of rifle and pistol, and to which, time and time again, they and those around them have owed their lives. And they are the worthy successors of a long line of marksmen whose names are also "familiar as household words." Who does not recall David Crockett and his death-dealing rifle in the Alamo? Daniel Boone, of Kentucky, and the heroic exploits that have been written concerning them in the early pages of our country's history?

It is to the end that the people of the East, or rather those who are not acquainted with the rough life of the border, and especially that portion of it in which the rifle plays so important a part, may personally witness some of the feats of Western men, that MESSRS. CODY & Co., have determined to introduce in their great realistic pictures of Western life" a series of