Pearl Hart.....The Last of the Lady Road Agents

Pearl Hart

The Last of the Lady Road Agents

On May 30, 1899 two people stepped out onto the road with guns drawn, and commanded the driver of the stage to “Halt!”. Thus began the life of “The Last of the Lady Road Agents” .

Pearl Hart wearing a rough miner’s shirt, blue overalls, and boots obviously too large for her robbed the stage coach. Her accomplice was tall, muscular and sported a fancy mustache his name was Joe Boot. A posse found them soon after the stage robbery. Boot went quietly, but Pearl put up a fight and the Arizona Star reported “ She is a wild-cat of a woman and had she not been relieved of her gun a bloody foray might have resulted”.

Pearl Hart was born in 1872 in Ontario, Canada. Her early years are some what of a mystery. She did enter a boarding school for young ladies when she was 16 and met a man named Hart. After a year of dating they eloped. 

Hart was a man of many trades, gambler, bartender, and a full time drinker. While married, Pearl would return a number of times to her mother’s but Hart would romance Pearl with new promises to bring her back.

In 1893 they went to Chicago to find a permanent job at the World Columbian Exposition. Hart was confident he could get a good job as a bartender. He ended up though as a barker in a shabby side show. Pearl, however, discovered the glamour of the West in the form of the tall, muscular cowboys who were part of the entertainment. It wasn't long before one of the cowhands convinced Pearl to accompany him to Colorado. He paid her way but soon left her there to fend for herself.


Pearl's “love” of cowboys ended and she began cooking in the mining camps of the west. Pearl for the first time began to save money and she especially liked the attention she received from the male population. One day in Phoenix, Arizona, she ran into Hart, who was still her husband. Hart saw that she was doing well for herself and once again romanced himself back into her life with the same old promises.

For a time life was good and Hart held a steady job and Pearl had two children. Hart began drinking again and Pearl decided she was through with her husband so she sent her children to her mother’s in Ohio and returned to the mining camps. She drifted from place to place and began drinking herself. In 1889 at an Arizona mining camp Pearl met and became friends with Joe Boot.
 
The idea for the robbery came from a letter Pearl received. The letter said that her mother was very ill and that she needed money for medical expenses. So, Pearl and Boot devised a plan to rob the stage coach. Pearl’s first encounter with law became her last and she will forever be know as the “Last of the Lady Road Agents.”

 






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Alice Ivers Tubbs....Not Your Typical Women of the West

 "Praise the Lord and place your bets. 

I'll take your money with no regrets.” 

No this quote is not from the famous poker player Johnny Chan but from Alice Ivers Tubbs. Alice Ivers Tubbs was more notably known as “Poker Alice”.

Alice Tubbs was born in Devonshire, England in 1851. When Alice was young her father, a schoolmaster, moved the family to Virginia. While living in Virginia Alice had a formal education at a boarding school. Then, when she was a teenager her family moved to Leadville, Colorado.

This is where her life would change and the name “Poker Alice” began. While she lived in Leadville Alice met Frank Duffield. Like most men in Leadville Frank worked in mining, he was an engineer. When Alice was 20, she was married to Frank.

Frank enjoyed the popular past time of most old west mining towns, gambling. So Alice, not wanting to stay at home went with her husband to the gambling halls. At first, Alice just watched and studied her husband. Soon, Alice was sitting at the poker table with her husband.

“Poker Alice” would soon have to use her new skills at the poker table to support herself. Her husband Frank was killed in a mining explosion. So she took to the poker tables to earn a living. She was skilled as both a player and a dealer. Her beauty, sophistication, and style made her a welcomed and popular player at all the gambling halls. The miners loved her charm and wit, and she loved their money!!

Simple Alice Tubbs from Virginia was transformed into “Poker Alice”. Poker Alice went from mining town to mining town puffing on a large black cigar and winning thousands. At one point she claimed to have one $250,000.

Poker Alice did not shy away from trouble either. She always carried a .38 revolver. On one occasion when a drunken miner threatened Tubbs with a knife, Alice pulled out her .38 and put a bullet into the miner's arm.

Her poker playing skills were becoming widely known throughout the west. So she took the road. She eventually went to New Mexico. While there she won $6,000 at the Gold Dust Gambling House. After staying in New York for a while Poker Alice finally ended up in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The Bodega Saloon Interior in Deadwood

 
Poker Alice would eventually marry again in Deadwood. She married Warren G Tubbs a painter. They met in a gambling hall, of course. After being married, Poker Alice moved to a ranch in Sturgis and raised her children.

She became a wife, mother and a rancher. This was a far cry from the gambling halls and the poker tables. She focused on her husband and her family for a while, until her husband was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Alice stayed by her husband’s side to try and nurse him back to health but to no avail. He died of pneumonia in the winter of 1910.

Poker Alice would soon emerge. To earn money for her family, Alice went back to her poker tables. Her life after this point is much of what you would expect, she was in and out of gambling halls and at one point she even owned a saloon with poker tables and lots of beautiful women. She eventually would wind up in jail (a few different times) for breaking up a fight with her .38 revolver.

At the age of 79, Alice underwent a gall bladder operation in Rapid City, but died of complications on February 27, 1930.

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the Western Horseman the safest most durable Quality American made leather horse tack....... Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand 
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The Spirit of the American Cowgirl Is Alive.......

In a past blog post, I wrote about a popular poem called "When I am an Old Horsewoman" by Patty Barnhart.

Patty is a true American Cowgirl, riding and working the land on her Guest Ranch, Willow Springs . The ranch is run "off the grid". They have propane, solar energy and a wind generator. They even have campfires with good old dutch oven fare.!!

With this poem, I posted a photo of a "Cowgirl" that suited the poem. The photo was chosen from the internet.....it is a great photo that captured the spirit of the poem (see the pic above).

Well I know why..the photo is of Connie Reeves another true American Cowgirl. I just recently learned that there is a movie being produced about her.....

"American Cowgirl" is a project started by Jamie Williams, a photographer and a true cowgirl at heart. She was raised in Lubbock, Texas on a ranch and farm.

Jamie began this "American Cowgirl" project because......
 

"When one considers the image that America has of itself and that the world has of us, the great icon is the cowboy. When one looks at the real history of our country the contributions of women are always short changed. 

All of the women in the Old West weren’t school marms or dancehall girls. And all of the women on the ranches didn’t wear bonnets and ride on the buckboards. They were, and still are, women in the saddle."...Jamie Willliams

As part of the project, Jamie Williams started a movie, featuring 4 cowgirls, including Connie Reeves.

Connie Reeves was a cowgirl all her life. She was on a horse at 101 years of age, her favorite horse, a 28 year old paint named "Dr Pepper"

Her favorite saying was..

"Always saddle your own horse"..Connie Reeves

Connie Reeves was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame one of her numerous achievements. She was a true American Cowgirl........


To learn more about Connie Reeves and the American Cowgirl project by Jamie Williams and how you can be apart of this project go to the website, www.americancowgirl.com and visit the blog and watch the American Cowgirl Trailer here.

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving
the Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site