Belle Starr
The
“female Jesse James”…the “bandit queen”…..all names associated with one person,
Belle Starr. Belle began her life on February 5, 1848 as Myra Maybelle Shirley
in Carthage Missouri. Her father John Shirley was a successful farmer and
owner/operator of the Carthage Hotel. Belle was an educated woman who attended
the Carthage Female Academy.
Belle’s
family moved to Texas after Belle’s brother was killed during the Civil War
riding as a Southern guerrilla. Her family traveled to Texas in two Conestoga
wagons. Belle, only 16 at the time drove one of those wagons.
After
the war, in 1866 Belle married a family acquaintance from Missouri named Jim
Reed. A year after their marriage
they moved to Bates County, Missouri. In1868, Belle gave birth to a daughter
she named Rosie Lee, but Belle always called her Pearl.
Jim
Reed was not as successful with farming as Belle’s father. Jim’s interests were
horse racing and gambling. So, he joined a gang of rustlers.
Needless
to say, Jim at this point was up to no good, rustling, whiskey running, and a
killing or two. Warrants went out for Jim, so he and Belle and Pearl fled to
California. While there in 1871, Belle gave birth to her son James Edwin.
Belle Starr on her horse
They
did not stay long in California, Jim was charged with passing counterfeit
currency and they left California and went back to Texas, with Belle and the
two babies in toe.
Belle
and her family landed at a farm set up by her father in Bosque County. But,
geography could not change Jim’s bad “habits”. From 1873 until Jim’s death in
1874 Jim cheated on his wife, robbed, held up a stagecoach and was finally
killed near Paris, Texas.
In
1876, Belle found herself in Indian Territory. While there she married Sam
Starr. He was a handsome man who was 4 years younger. Sam built a log cabin on
a timbered knoll in Cherokee Nation called “Younger’s Bend”. Belle called it
Younger’s Bend, because outlaw Cole Younger frequently hide there.
Cole Younger, mug shot
Along
with Cole Younger, outlaw Jesse James would hide out at Younger’s Bend. Belle
would complain, “My home became known as an outlaw ranch”. Many of the society
women spoke poorly of her and would spread horrible rumors because if this
“association” with outlaws.
So
Belle would lead a solitary life. She would wander off with a pillow and books
for a day of reading, or would happily sit at her piano for hours.
Hanging Judge...Isaac Parker
In
1882 or 1883 Belle and Sam Starr were arrested for the theft of two horses. She
faced the court of the famous “Hanging Judge”, Isaac Parker. During her trail
she was branded the “queen” of a band of horse thieves because of her previous
marriage to a criminal and Jesse James presence at her home. Her and Sam were
found guilty. Judge Parker sentenced Belle and Sam to one year in the House of
Corrections in Detroit. After nine months Belle and Sam were released. They
returned to Younger’s Bend and Belle became even more withdrawn from society.
Belle Starr with Blue Duck
From
1885 to 1886 Belle’s second husband followed the same criminal path as her
first husband. On December 17, 1886 Sam Starr was killed while at a Christmas
dance. So, once again Belle was a widow.
Belle
was in danger of loosing her home in the Cherokee Nation after Sam died. So,
Belle married her third husband a Native American man named Jim July to fix the
problem. He was 15 years younger than Belle.
On
February 2, 1888 Belle was riding on an errand and was blasted out of her saddle
in an ambush and killed. Her killer was never determined.
Belle
Starr ‘s life was filled with crime, some her own doing and some because of
whom she married. She once wrote, “It seems as if I have more trouble than any
other person.” She may have been known as the “bandit queen” and the “female
Jesse James”, but it seems to me she was quite a lonely and secluded woman.
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