The Wild West’s “Bandit Queen” Belle Starr
Public DomainBelle Starr alongside Deputy U.S. Marshal Benjamin Tyner Hughes following her arrest in Arkansas in 1886.
Through the hazy lens of history, the legacy of Belle Starr is difficult to determine. To some, she was a criminal mastermind. To others, she was merely a woman entangled with Wild West outlaws, much like Calamity Jane. But Starr certainly left her mark on the American frontier, one way or the other.
Born on February 5, 1848, in Carthage, Missouri, as Myra Maybelle “Belle” Shirley, Starr had a privileged childhood. According to Legends of America, her parents owned lucrative businesses, and Starr received a quality education — though she also liked to shoot guns with her brother, Bud.
But like Jesse James, Starr’s life changed during the Civil War. Bud, who had joined a pro-Confederate guerrilla group, was killed, and the family’s businesses began to falter. Starr and her family soon relocated to Texas, where she started to rub elbows with Wild West outlaws.
Public DomainA studio portrait of Belle Starr. Circa 1880s.
There, Starr met Cole Younger, of the James-Younger gang, and later married another Wild West outlaw named Jim Reed. According to History, she joined Reed in stealing horses, cattle, and money, often dressed to the nines in velvet skirts. However, other sources suggest she was more focused on raising her two children than raising hell on the American frontier.
However, Reed’s death at the hands of another outlaw in 1874 didn’t seem to deter Starr from a life of crime. She married a Native American man named Sam Starr, and the couple allegedly orchestrated horse stealing and bootlegging operations together. Sometimes, Belle and Sam Starr also offered shelter to more infamous Wild West outlaws like Jesse James.
It’s no surprise that Belle and Sam Starr both spent time in jail for stealing horses. And in 1886, Sam Starr died in a gunfight with one of his old enemies. Before long, Belle Starr would marry again. But soon afterward, she met a puzzling demise. On February 3, 1889, someone fatally shot her while she was riding solo. Suspicion fell on her husband, her neighbor, and even her two children. But to date, her murder remains a mystery.
