Belle Starr Becomes The Bandit Queen

Howdy folks and greetings from Great Plains of North Texas!

I ended my series about the incredible life of Cole Younger yesterday but wanted to see what happened to the woman he loved and always talked about going back to after he made a big pile of cash in the Northfield bank robbery. That woman of course, is Belle Starr. Actually at the time she was still known as Myra Shirley.

She was 28 years old and her daughter Pearl was around 7 or 8. Her parents moved into Dallas and she started working as a dealer in a gambling hall. Now, that might sound like a bizarre occupational choice for a woman but when Cole was in Texas he always took her into Dallas to the gambling halls because he like to gamble and I'm sure she was well aware of the type of money the dealers could make so that makes sense to me.

During her marriage to the outlaw Reed they had spent alot of time in Indian territory in Oklahoma on the Cherokee reservation, I think at least part of that time was in hiding from the law because remember that she and Reed had held up a bank and a stage coach together. So she kept going back to the reservation and spending time there.

I know, it sounds like she was all over the place and she was, she wasn't settled at all. Here's a couple of the crazy things she did:

The arson trial

She and a friend were out riding in the winter, they stop at a small village to warm up and Belle starts a fire out back of a merchant's store but the wind kicks up and whips the flames into the store and burns the place down. She's arrested for arson and at the court proceeding in Dallas a wealthy cattleman hears about the situation, he knew her father, and comes to the courthouse.

When he sees her he falls in love with her, makes arrangement with the court(buys them off) to secure her release and gives her a large sum of cash. I think he thought he would win her affection but she took off and disappeared into Indian territory.

The bank robbery

When that money was running low she got all gussied up in the fanciest attire and started socializing with some of the upper class in Dallas. From her past we know that she could be extremely charming and play the part of a sophisticate or socialite, being gifted in grace, wit and a silver tongue when needed!

She targeted an eligible bachelor who worked at one of the leading banks. One day she goes in and starts flirting with him and when there are no customers around she whispering away in the sweetest tones, pulling at his heart strings with every breath.

Then she pulls a .45 pistol from the folds of her skirt and forces the poor guy to put the cash in a sack beneath her flap of her basque. "Now Dear, she warned, "don't make an outcry, your life depends on it; good bye sweetheart; come see me when you come up into the Territory."

She makes her way to the livery where her very fast horse is waiting, vaults into the side saddle and is gone like the wind! With $30,000 in cash!

source

Look at that horse! lol. Anyway Belle has gone a little wild hasn't she? What was once unthinkable to her is now her passion. She has a hankerin for it. But I remember whenever Cole was in Texas he was wining and dining her at the finest restaurants and shops with stolen money being no problem, of course!

Then her first bank robbery with Reed brought in an easy pile of cash worth about $700,000.00 in todays money. So obviously she liked the idea of fast, easy, big money. And she's smart and gutsy.

Thanks for reading folks, we'll continue with her story tomorrow.
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck

ps- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:

Your classes at school were cancelled because the path to the restroom was flooded!