Belle Starr

Wood engraving from The National Police Gazette. The caption reads, "A wild western amazon. The noted Belle Starr is arrested on the border of Indian Territory and being released on bail vanishes on horseback."

Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr, better known as Belle Starr (February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889), was a famous American female outlaw.

Early life

She was born Myra Maybelle Shirley (known as May to her family) on her father's farm near Carthage, Missouri. In the 1860s her father sold the farm and moved the family to Carthage buying an inn and livery stable on the town square. May Shirley received a classical education and learned piano. After a Union attack on Carthage in 1864, the Shirleys moved to Scyene, Texas. According to legend, it was at Scyene the Shirleys became associated with a number of Missouri-born criminals, including Jesse James and the Youngers. In fact, she knew the Younger brothers and the James boys because she grew up with them in Missouri, and her brother John Alexander Shirley (known as Bud) served with them in Quantrill's Raiders, alongside a neighbor boy, James C. Reed. Her brother served as one of Quantrill's Scouts. Bud Shirley was killed in 1864 in Sarcoxie, Missouri, while he and another scout were being fed at the home of a Confederate sympathizer. Union troops surrounded the house and when Bud attempted to escape, he was shot and killed. .

After the Civil War

After the war the Reed family also moved to Scyene and she married Jim Reed in 1866. She gave birth to her first child, Rosie Lee (nicknamed Pearl), in 1868. Jim turned to crime and was wanted for murder. He moved his family to California, where their second child, James Edwin (Eddie) was born in 1871. Later returning to Texas, Jim Reed was involved with several criminal gangs. In April 1874, despite a lack of any evidence, a warrant was issued for Reed's wife's arrest for a stage coach robbery by her husband and others. Jim Reed was killed in Paris, Texas, in August of that year.

Marriage to Sam Starr

Allegedly, Belle was briefly married to Bruce Younger in 1878, but this is not substantiated by any evidence. In 1880 she did marry a Cherokee Indian named Sam Starr and settled with the Starr family in the Indian Territory. In 1883, Belle and Sam were charged with horse theft and tried before "Hanging" Judge Isaac Parker's Federal District Court in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She was found guilty and served six months at the Detroit House of Corrections in Detroit, Michigan. In 1886, she escaped conviction on another theft charge, but on December 17, Sam Starr was involved in a gunfight with Officer Frank West. Both men were killed.

Belle Starr's unsolved murder

To keep her residence on Indian land, she married a relative of Sam Starr. His name was Jim July Starr. In 1889, Belle herself was killed. She was shot from ambush while out riding. There were no witnesses; however, suspects with apparent motive included her new husband and both of her children. A neighbor, Edgar J. Watson killed in 1910, was tried for her murder, but was acquitted. The murder is still considered "unsolved".

One source suggests her son may have been her killer whom she had allegedly beaten for mistreating her horse.

Belle Starr's story becomes popularized

Although an obscure, quiet figure throughout most of her life, Belle's story was picked up by the dime novel and National Police Gazette publisher, Richard K. Fox. Fox made her name famous with his novel Bella Starr, the Bandit Queen, or the Female Jesse James, published in 1889 (the year of her murder). Unfortunately, this novel is still often cited as a historical reference. It was the first of many popular stories that used her name.

Belle Starr's children

Belle's son Eddie was convicted of horse theft and receiving stolen property in July 1889. Judge Parker sent him to prison in Columbus, Ohio. Belle's daughter, Rosie Reed, also known as Pearl Starr, became a prostitute to raise funds for his release. She did eventually obtain a presidential pardon in 1893. Ironically, Eddie became a police officer and was killed in the line of duty in December 1896.

Making a good living in prostitution, Pearl operated several bordellos in Van Buren and Fort Smith, Arkansas, from the 1890s to World War I.

Historical fiction

Gene Tierney played the title role in the 1941 Hollywood film "Belle Starr." Isabel Jewell was Belle in the 1946 movie "Daughter of Belle Starr," and Jane Russell took on the role in 1952's "Montana Belle." None made any pretensions to accuracy. Elizabeth Montgomery was Belle in the 1980 TV movie "Belle Starr."

One of the more unique adaptations of the legend of Belle Starr was made by the Japanese mangaka Akihiro Itou - perhaps best known to Western audiences as the creator of Geobreeders - who in 1993 created a manga known as Belle Starr Bandits. Freely inspired by her life and exploits, the two volume series takes liberties with historical figures, facts, and events, and despite its heavily comedic and action-orented overtones portrays Belle Starr as something of a tragic figure. Initially a young girl who just happens to be a crack shot, as time progresses she is forced to become an outlaw due to misunderstandings and circumstances beyond her control. She eventually develops am inner strength and iron resolve as a result of her experiences.

The story takes place in Canada in 1932 and chronicles the efforts of a female author and Belle Starr afficianado to write the definitive work on the female outlaw by uncovering the truth about her life and times.

Originally serialized in Fujima Fantasia and later in Dragon Comics, the only known foreign translation was made by the French publisher Pika Edition as part of their Manga Player Collection series in 1997. For unknown reasons, translation work ceased following the release of Volume 1. While still available for purchase online and elsewhere, the series is currently out of print and a release of the second and final volume seems highly unlikely.

Trivia

• The Starrs were related to Bank robber, police killer of a Deputy Marshal and movie actor Henry Starr.
• Contrary to Legend-as stated in Handbook of Texas below-, Belle Starr was not a lover of Cherokee killer Bluford "Blue" Duck -although their picture was taken together.
• American composer Libby Larsen set Belle Starr's words as the first song, Bucking Bronco, in her song set Cowboy Songs.
• The first track on country singer Joni Harms' "Cowgirl Dreams" album is titled "Belle Starr" and tells the story of Belle Starr.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Shirley, Glenn. Belle Starr and Her Times: The Literature, the Facts and the Legends. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8061-2276-5

External links

• Belle Starr from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Detailed biography of Belle Starr Retrieved September 6, 2007.
• Belle Starr: Article by Richard D. Arnott Retrieved September 6, 2007.

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