Legends of the Old West - WOMEN OF THE WEST Ep. 4 | Belle Starr: “The Bandit Queen, part 2”

Episode Date: April 27, 2022

Belle and her husband Sam Starr stole horses and cattle, and worked with the outlaw network that was organized by Sam’s father. They faced justice in the courtroom of “Hanging Judge” Isaac Parker, but then resumed their outlaw lifestyles. Belle’s husband met a violent end, and her own death remains controversial to this day. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join To advertise on this podcast, please email: [e-mail] For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This show is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please visit AirwaveMedia.com to check out other great podcasts like Ben Franklin’s World, Once Upon A Crime, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1881, 33-year-old Belle Starr lived in the hot and lawless no-man's land of southwest Indian territory. She was on her second marriage, this time to Sam Star. Partly out of necessity, and partly out of her own attraction to excitement and nice things, Belle Star decided she would no longer just be a bystander to criminal enterprise. She would be a leader. This was not how she imagined her life would turn out. Before the Civil War, Belle had grown up in a well-to-do family in Missouri. She was extremely bright and enjoyed an education that surpassed what most women had at the time. She was also an excellent horsewoman and pistol shot, thanks to the teachings of her brother Bud.

When Bud joined the notorious group of Missouri guerrillas known as Quantrill's Raiders, she helped by delivering intelligence. Bud's escapades got him killed, and Bell nursed a broken heart even as the family moved to Texas for a fresh start after the war. But things continued to go downhill. Her brother Edwin was shot and killed by lawmen. She married a young man whom she'd known for most of her life, Jim Reed. Jim turned to a life of crime and began an association and affiliation with the James Younger gang. Bell and Jim had

two children before Jim was shot and killed, just like two of her brothers. And so, in the beginning of the 1880s, Belle married Sam Starr. She'd met Sam through her late husband Jim, and she was nearly 10 years older than her new husband. Sam and his family were Cherokee, part of a band that had aided the Confederacy during the war. They now led a growing network of horse thieves, whiskey runners, and cattle rustlers. Bell Star slowly embraced the life of an outlaw. In 1882, she and Sam stole a pair of horses, and from that point forward, the stylish, gun-toting woman was right in the middle of the action. The action lasted for seven more years, until it came to an abrupt and mysterious end for the woman who would eventually become

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Go to shopify.com slash r-e-a-l-m now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash realm. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling four stories of some of the legendary women of the West. This is Episode 4, Belle Starr, The Bandit Queen, Part 2. In April of 1882, Belle and her husband Sam stole a pair of horses from two men, one of whom was named Andrew Crane. They stashed the horses at the ranch of John West,

who was not thrilled about being included in a criminal scheme. Crane confronted Belle and tried to get his horses back, but failed. He talked to John West, but still couldn't get his horses back. His father talked to Sam Starr's father, one old-timer to another, and that didn't work. Sam's father supervised the network of illegal operations, and he wasn't about to return stolen animals. Crane was out of options, so he got the law involved. A marshal named L.W. Marks and his posse went on the hunt for the horse thieves. They caught up with Bell and Sam near the border of the Osage Nation.

The husband and wife outlaws were camping near a creek, so the marshal and his posse pretended to be campers too. They staked out a spot by the creek's edge, and soon enough, Sam and a young black boy led their horses down to the creek for a drink. The officers sprang into action. They arrested and disarmed Sam, and then they cleverly chained him to a tree so he looked like he was just standing there. and then they cleverly chained him to a tree so he looked like he was just standing there. Then they sent the boy to tell Belle that Sam needed her. The ruse worked. The marshal and his men hid behind trees on opposite sides of the path that led to the tree and the creek.

When Belle walked past them, they grabbed her. Two of them caught her by the arms, and the rest surrounded her. The lawmen searched her and were shocked to find a six-shooter under the drapery of her overskirt and two Derringer short pistols concealed beneath her arms. She fought like a tiger, they said, and threatened to kill the officers. In those days, transportation was slow and tedious, especially in Indian territory. The marshals, to make their trips, had to take wagon outfits and camping equipment and travel over land, picking up offenders and witnesses along the way. These treks could last a month or six weeks. Belle Starr was the most exasperating prisoner the marshals had ever dealt with,

according to Mark's account. She dropped knives, forks, blankets, or anything else she could reach as she rode along in the wagon. The loss was almost never noticed until the thing was needed. Her one goal was to annoy and irritate those in charge. Because she was a female, the officers gritted their teeth and tried to be as considerate and patient as possible. When they got to Muskogee, they made camp at an old fairground. Belle was left alone in her tent eating her dinner when a gust of wind pulled up one of the tent's flaps. She could see the guard seated right outside her quarters.

flaps. She could see the guard seated right outside her quarters. He was eating with her back to her. She could also see his pistol in his holster. In an instant, she had the pistol. The guard jumped up and ran as Bell chased him and fired a shot. She missed and the other officers came running when they heard the shot. They wrestled her to the ground while she thrashed like a wild animal. After that, the officers decided she had to be chained for the rest of the trip. Sam and Belle stood trial in the court of Judge Isaac Parker, otherwise known as the Hanging Judge, for his tough sentencing policy. In this case, he was fairly lenient with the stars. In this case, he was fairly lenient with the stars.

Officially, it was their first offense. Bell stared right at Parker as she, like her husband, was given a year at Detroit, Michigan's House of Correction. There isn't an obvious explanation as to why Parker sent them all the way to Michigan to serve their sentences. It seems like the House of Correction was more of a rehabilitation facility than a hard-time prison for killers and armed robbers, so maybe Parker thought it would give the couple a better chance to reform. Before leaving, Belle had her daughter, Pearl, take charge of her affairs. She told her daughter in a letter that she was looking forward to furthering her education in prison, and that she was looking forward to furthering her education in prison,

and that she was thrilled that Sam would be forced to attend classes there too. By all accounts, Belle did well in prison. The warden was impressed by her reading and writing abilities, and he assigned her light duties and allowed her to write letters on behalf of other prisoners. Belle and Sam both exhibited good behavior, and they earned their release in nine months. They returned home, but it certainly didn't mean they were reformed. The Star House seemed at odds with Belle's crime and use of foul language. She kept it stocked with books

and planted beautiful and productive gardens of flowers and vegetables all around the little cabin. She read to sick neighbors and took in an orphaned girl. She even offered child care to the wife of John West, the rancher whose testimony helped put her in prison. It seemed like she had learned her lesson, and for the next year or so, she spent her time teaching piano and caring for her home. Her son Eddie had been living with her in-laws, and now she brought him back home so that mother and children were reunited for the first time in a long time.

But all of it went to hell just before Christmas of 1884. John Middleton, the cousin of her dead husband Jim Reed, was wanted for murder and had an $800 bounty on his head. One night, shotgun in hand, he knocked on her door. Belle only knew him from family occasions in Arkansas when she was still married to Jim. Middleton was 29 years old and widely known as a daring outlaw. He liked to dress a little differently, too. He wore half-boots, striped twill pants, a vest, and a dress shirt under a short winter coat. He was missing the tip of one ear from a haircut

gone wrong when he was little. Most recently, Middleton had escaped a Texas prison where he'd been awaiting trial for moving stolen horses. He escaped, and then on November 16, 1884, he shot and killed a newly elected sheriff of Lamar County. Jack Duncan, a special detective with the Texas Rangers who was known for tracking down John Wesley Harden, pursued Middleton into Indian Territory. Bell supposedly wanted nothing to do with Middleton. Still, her husband Sam made him welcome at their home and then helped to hide Middleton at various places in the vicinity. Over the next four months, Duncan tried to get a lead on Middleton, assisted by John West, whose testimony helped put the Stars in prison two years earlier. West was now working

as a policeman for the Cherokee. In the spring of 1885, Duncan, West, and others thought for sure they had cornered Middleton at Bell and Sam's house. But when they raided it, they found only Bell with a gun belt wrapped around her waist on top of her dress. She cursed John West thoroughly for harassing her family. Middleton was not at the cabin, but he was nearby. family. Middleton was not at the cabin, but he was nearby. Sam Starr had had enough attention from the law at his house and decided their friend must be moving on from Younger's Bend. Bell and Sam decided to escort him to his home in Logan County. Then they would let Middleton borrow a horse that belonged to Bell's daughter, Pearl, to go the rest of the way. They packed up a wagon and hid

him inside. The stars journeyed along the high ground of the Canadian River. On the evening of May 2nd, 1885, something Middleton did or said caused Pearl to become upset, and she refused to loan him her horse. In the morning, a rancher stopped to talk with Bell. The rancher offered to bring them a replacement horse for Middleton, or so Bell claimed later. It was a pretty sorry horse, with only one eye and no shoes. Still, beggars couldn't be choosers, and Bell said she forced Middleton to pay the man. She gave Pearl's saddle to Middleton and sent him on his way. A few days later, a man stumbled across the horse as it was tangled in some brush near the Canadian River. The horse was still bridled and saddled, and a gun belt hung from the saddle horn.

It held several cartridges and a.45 caliber Colt revolver. Mud and silt covered the animal to show that it had crossed the river, but its rider was nowhere to be found. A few days after the discovery of the horse, a bloated corpse washed up on the muddy riverbank. It was virtually unrecognizable, except to say that it was a man and he was wearing rather unique clothing. Si vous faites vos achats tout en travaillant, en mangeant ou même en écoutant ce balado, alors vous connaissez et aimez l'excitation du magasinage. Mais avez-vous ce frisson d'obtenir le meilleur deal? Les membres de Rakuten, eux, oui. Ils magasinent les marques qu'ils aiment et font d'importantes économies,

en plus des remises en argent. Et vous pouvez aussi commencer à gagner des remises en argent dans vos magasins préférés, comme Old Navy, Best Buy et Expedia, et même cumuler les ventes et les remises en argent. C'est facile à utiliser et vous obtenez vos remises par PayPal ou par chèque. L'idée est simple. Les magasins paient Rakuten pour leur envoyer des gens magasinés. Et Rakuten partage l'argent avec vous sous forme de remise.

Téléchargez l'application gratuite Rakuten et ne manquez jamais un bon deal. Ou allez sur rakuten.ca pour en avoir plus pour votre argent. C'est R-A-K-U-T-E-N. It turned out that no one ever paid the rancher for his horse. Belle simply took it. The rancher gave the lawman descriptions of Belle, her kids, Sam Starr, and Middleton. And that was how the lawman identified Middleton. It turned out that Middleton wasn't murdered. He drowned in the river. But the saddle and the colt and some of

the other items that were on the horse were recognized as Bell's, and it proved she'd been helping the fugitive. The lawman reached her camp several days later and demanded she open her trunk so they could look for additional evidence that linked her to Middleton. In response, Bell grabbed a pistol in each hand and coolly informed the lawmen that if they broke open her trunk, their souls would go speeding to hell. It worked, and they decided not to. Bell thought she had bested the lawman, but she had merely postponed her troubles. Meanwhile, her reputation was sullied further, perhaps truthfully or perhaps not. Duncan and some of the other lawmen told newspapers that Belle was having an affair

with Middleton and that she was no longer devoted to her husband, Sam Starr. It could have been an attempt to drive a wedge between the married couple, but soon they had bigger problems than newspaper gossip. Sam was already at home when Belle and her children returned to Younger's Bend in June of 1885, but he left home shortly thereafter. For the first time in their marriage, Sam formally became a fugitive from justice. On June 15th, three riders held up a U.S. mail delivery team in the Cherokee Nation. Sam Starr was identified as one of the perpetrators. Four months later, three men burglarized a store and post office in Blaine, about 50 miles from the Starr home.

Again, Sam was named by witnesses as one of the bandits. He was on the run, and he hid at the homes of various relatives in the wilderness of Younger's Bend. In mid-January 1886, Bell learned that there was a writ out for her arrest for stealing the rancher's horse the previous spring, and she may have heard about the warrant from legendary Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves. According to Reeves' biographer, Reeves and Starr knew each other, and Reeves often told friends and acquaintances that he had warrants for their arrest and to turn themselves in. that he had warrants for their arrest and to turn themselves in. Bell appeared in Fort Smith on January 21st and surrendered to the U.S. Marshal.

She was indicted for larceny and pleaded not guilty. She posted bond and was released. John West had hoped that the charges against Bell might cause her husband to come out of hiding, but he was wrong, to a degree. Sam did come out of hiding, but only to help rob three families in the Choctaw Nation at the end of February. Sam and two accomplices burst into homes, said they were U.S. Marshals, and stole everything from cash to eyeglasses to pistols and horses. Witnesses were hard-pressed to describe the perpetrators because they were so shocked when it happened. But one victim was clear on what she saw.

One of the robbers carried a six-shooter in each hand, wore pants and an overcoat and a white hat. Wearing pants might have been an odd distinction at the time, but the witness also noted that the robber didn't sound like a man. That robber, of course, was later thought to be Bell Starr. It's not clear why the Starrs simply returned home with their stolen goods, but it seems most likely that they thought the victims lived far enough away that they would not be able to identify them. They were wrong, and they were sloppy. Bell had been noticed purchasing cartridges in the nearby town of Eufaula. Because her reputation preceded her, a store owner alerted authorities, thinking she was getting ready to rob again.

By that time, it didn't matter. John West and his partners knew it was the Stars, and they arrested Bell without incident. But Sam Starr was still on the loose. Amazingly, over the next six months, Bell was found not guilty of the robberies in the Choctaw Nation and the Middleton Horse Escapade. In late September 1886, while finishing some paperwork at Fort Smith, Bell got word that Sam had been badly wounded by Indian police. It seems that deputies sighted him riding through a cornfield. John West's brother, Frank, took a shot. Frank ended up killing Sam's horse, and Sam slipped in and out of consciousness

from the head wound he received when he fell off the horse. Although his wound looked serious, Sam regained consciousness and overpowered the two officers who were left to guard him while the others went for help. He disarmed them and grinned as he saddled up one of their horses. He said, tell Frank West he saddled up one of their horses. He said, Tell Frank West he will pay for killing Bell's mayor. It took him a couple months to heal with Bell's help, but he got well enough to follow through with his threat. In December 1886, old Tom Starr, Sam's father, was indicted and sentenced to prison.

He was charged with selling whiskey in Indian territory, although everyone knew he had gotten away with it, and far worse, for decades. Sam was enraged and blamed the West brothers for all his family's troubles. Bell hoped to cheer Sam up by taking him and their kids to a Christmas dance at a friend's house. Frank West showed up at the event, and a confrontation was inevitable. Frank and Sam exchanged words, and then Sam pulled his revolver and shot Frank West. Frank staggered, but managed to grab his gun and fire at Sam. Both shots were fatal, and both men died at the dance. The first real time that Sam Starr came out of hiding was his last. Belle lost another husband, and since she was no longer

a Cherokee subject, authorities started proceedings to have Belle removed from her property. But she quickly found a solution. She simply married a man named Bill July. He was part Cherokee and part Choctaw. He was 15 years younger than Belle, and he was sort of an adopted son of Tom Starr. Belle's children, Eddie and Pearl, didn't approve of the new marriage at all. They weren't much younger than their new stepfather. They weren't much younger than their new stepfather. And Belle's relationship with her children in these final years of her life is the stuff of soap operas. She meddled in their lives in extreme ways, no doubt to try to put them on a better path than her own life, but it utterly backfired. Eddie became a convict, and Pearl wound up working in a brothel. And Belle had more problems. Since the death of Sam, Belle had allowed various white settlers to share-crop her property so she would have some income.

A man named Edgar Watson eagerly rented a piece of rich ground near the river. Belle soon became friends with his wife, who eventually told Belle a secret, that her husband was wanted for murder in Florida. Bell was sympathetic, but the news presented a big problem. Both Cherokee and U.S. lawmen had warned her in no uncertain terms that if she was caught harboring fugitives or lawbreakers, they'd put her in federal prison again. Rather than confront Watson, she sent him a letter telling him that she'd made arrangements with someone else to rent the land. Ironically, Watson simply went to the other man and told him that Bell was harboring fugitives,

and her land was in danger of reverting to the government. The man told Bell he had to renege on their deal. Bell was furious, and now she did confront Watson, and after cursing him out, she told him she knew his secret, and she was going to send a message to the authorities. He quietly slunk away and rented elsewhere. Bell believed she had managed to untangle the situation with Edgar Watson, but her business with Edgar might not have been done yet. Two months later, in February of 1889, Bell's husband Bill July set out for Fort Smith to answer the charge so often associated with the family, horse stealing.

answer the charge so often associated with the family, horse stealing. Bell decided to ride with him so she could pay a bill at a little store about 10 miles from Younger's Bend. When they left that day, the bandit queen of Indian territory never returned home again. They arrived at the store at about noon. After lunch, Bill left and continued his trip to Fort Smith. Bell stayed for a while to chat with the proprietor and his wife. She appeared gloomy and told the couple she had a feeling that someone wanted to kill her. They tried to cheer her up. The proprietor recalled saying, Why, Bell, thunder and lightning couldn't kill you. Shortly after that remark, Bell left the store and began the ride home. At about four o'clock, she arrived at a friend's house.

Her son, Eddie, had been living there, and she hoped to have a friendly visit with him, but she missed him by a half an hour. She sat outside on her friend's porch and gratefully ate some cornbread that had been offered. When it was time to leave, she stepped off the porch and walked past a rail fence toward her horse. As she climbed into the saddle, a shotgun blast thundered behind her. A charge of buckshot struck Belle in the back and the neck and knocked her off the animal. A charge of buckshot struck Bell in the back and the neck and knocked her off the animal. As she tried to lift herself from the mud, the assassin jumped over the rail fence and fired the other barrel.

The second load hit Bell in the shoulder and the left side of the face. It was a particularly brutal end to the life of the woman who was born Myra Maybell Shirley, but better known as Belle Starr. Days later, the people of Younger's Bend gave Belle a lovely funeral. They knew her to be sometimes cruel and sometimes vengeful, but also in many ways, kind and always happy to help friends who had been loyal to her family, whether on the right side of the law or the wrong. And the funeral nearly led to another. As soon as the grave was filled, Bell's husband, Bill July, pointed his Winchester rifle at Edgar Watson, who attended the funeral with his wife. Bill shouted that Watson had murdered his wife and that he would pay with his life. Friends and family intervened and stopped the

funeral from becoming a murder scene. But Bill and a few other men made a citizen's arrest and took Watson to Fort Smith to see if the law agreed with Bill's assessment. Watson hired a prominent Fort Smith attorney and managed to explain away a lot of convincing but circumstantial evidence. There were footprints in the mud near the site of the ambush that matched his odd shoe size. Hearsay evidence said his shotgun had recently been fired. In the end, it wasn't enough to move forward with a trial of Edgar Watson. He wisely decided to leave Indian territory rather than suffer retribution at the hands of Bill July. After that, no further effort was made by anyone to apprehend the person

who killed Belle Starr. Because of her checkered past, any number of theories have gained traction over the 130 years since the murder. Some believe her killer was a younger brother of Jim Reed. They think Bell provided the information that resulted in Jim's capture and death. Then Jim's brother moved to Younger's Bend and waited for the right moment to strike. Others believe that a rancher named Early did it, as revenge for Bell stealing some of his cattle and horses. There are lots of theories, some that may have some credibility, and others that are pretty unrealistic. She certainly committed some crimes, and definitely married men who committed more than their fair share. But it wasn't until after her death that she gained the infamy she's known for today.

wasn't until after her death that she gained the infamy she's known for today. Dime novelists and yellow journalists exploited her legend as the Bandit Queen and the female Jesse James for lucrative means. She was hardly the female Jesse James, but she did have adventures, and although much of her legend is false, Bell Star remains a fascinating character to anyone who studies the outlaw history of Oklahoma. In her case, the legend became fact, and the legend got printed. Next time on Legends of the Old West, it's part one of a two-part story about another famous female outlaw, Pearl Hart. That's next week on Legends of the Old West. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program

don't have to wait week to week. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials and exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month. This episode was researched and written by Julia Bricklin. Original music by Rob Vallier. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show,

please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com for more details and join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcasts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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