She Never Missed the Cigar

Oil on Barnwood
23 ” x 20 ”
Sold

Sleeping Giant Ranch
Fannie Sperry was born March 27, 1887 on her parents’ horse ranch, and from an early age was taught to be a fine equestrienne.  When she became the wild west champion in 1912 and 1913 she used her prize money to help her family.  She joined Bill Cody’s Wild West Show in 1916 and, according to her niece, Viola, could out-shoot and out-ride Annie Oakley but never got the chance, for she joined Buffalo Bill after Annie had moved on. There she met and married Bill Steele, a rodeo clown and broncobuster.  Fans flocked to see Fannie and Bill’s famous act.  She shot china eggs out of his fingers and cigars from his mouth.  After Cody died in 1917 they managed their own show, in which Fannie rode “slick saddle,” with one rope and one hand free, an unheard-of feat for women back then.  She once accurately said “… the horse has shaped and determined my whole way of life.”