12/31/2024
WAS THE BANDIT QUEEN RELATED TO THE TUG VALLEY HATFIELDS?
CARTHAGE, MO — On February 5, 1848, Myra Maybelle "Belle Starr" Shirley was born on her parents' modest ranch near Carthage, Missouri, in Jasper County. The daughter of John Shirley, a hardworking rancher, and Elizabeth (Eliza) "Hatfield" Pennington Shirley—John's third wife—Belle's lineage was steeped in southern tradition. Her mother claimed ties with the feuding Hatfields of West Virginia, adding a layer of drama to the young woman's heritage.
Myra Maybelle was called "May" by her family as a child, short for Maybelle. However, as a teenager and rebellious spirit, she adopted the name Belle, which would become famous across the West. Her later notoriety often overshadows her upbringing, but in her youth, Belle excelled academically at the prestigious Carthage Missouri Female Academy. There, she studied the arts, including drama and piano. Later, when visiting McAlester, Oklahoma, in the 1870s, Belle would use her musical talent to entertain guests at the Elk House Hotel, displaying her skill on the ivory piano keys during social gatherings, weddings, and funerals.
Despite her academic prowess and natural talent for music, Belle's early adulthood veered sharply toward rebellion and lawlessness. She developed a fiery temper and a penchant for profanity while cultivating an interest in fi****ms and the fast-draw. Belle became proficient with handguns, mastering the art of shooting with a pair of six-guns. At the same time, she frequented gambling halls and saloons, mixing with unsavory characters and developing what was described as a "corrupt character." Her descent into criminal behavior eventually earned her the infamous Wild West title of "Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen."
As her reputation grew, so did her outlaw persona. Writers and editors of the time often described her as a striking figure, draped in the voluminous dresses of the Victorian era, yet always carrying weapons. True West Magazine noted that Belle would sometimes conceal her guns within the folds of her clothing, though she was never shy about displaying them. By the late 1870s, she carried a pair of nickel-plated 1877 C**t Lightning revolvers, which she kept loaded and strapped to her waist.
Belle’s ties to lawlessness deepened during the Civil War, when she was rumored to have acted as a Confederate spy. Local journalist Bill Caldwell described how her involvement with Confederate bushwhackers and her family's proximity to the tumult of the war helped shape the legend of Belle Starr. Tales of her exploits—whether true or exaggerated—contributed to the mystique that surrounded her throughout her life.
In 1880, Belle married Sam Starr, a full-blooded Cherokee and a fellow outlaw. Together, they lived on Cherokee land, providing refuge to notorious criminals like Frank and Jesse James. In 1883, both Belle and Sam were convicted of horse theft and spent nine months in a Detroit jail before returning to Indian Territory. Despite these legal setbacks, Belle continued to make headlines. A New York Times article from 1889 described her as "a most desperate woman," while later writers portrayed her as a fierce, elegant figure, riding a black mare, wearing a feathered sombrero, and wielding a C**t .45 that she affectionately called "my baby."
Although historians like Carly Silver noted that Belle sometimes played the role of homemaker while Sam Starr committed the more dangerous crimes, she was by no means a passive partner. Belle was a full-fledged career criminal, skilled in the use of fi****ms, and she reveled in the thrill of outlaw life. Even in her later years, she continued to associate with criminals, living in relative obscurity with Jim July, a mixed-blood Creek and Cherokee Indian, after Sam died in 1886.
Tragically, Belle’s life came to a violent end. On February 3, 1889, she was ambushed by a group of outlaws near Fort Smith, Arkansas. Shot twice in the spine with a shotgun, she died from her injuries. The identity of her killers remains a mystery, though many believed she had amassed a long list of enemies over the years.
Belle Starr's legacy is one of complexity. Though she was intelligent and capable of much more, she chose a path of crime, driven by both circumstance and personal choice. She died with her C**t six-shooters at her side, buried on her ranch near Eufaula, Oklahoma, not far from the dam that now bears the town’s name. Her story remains one of the Wild West’s most iconic and tragic—an intelligent woman who lived a life beneath her potential and paid the ultimate price for it.
May the Bandit Queen finally Rest In Peace.
— F. Keith Davis
𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔.
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