A.,ril 10, 1938 HELL'S BELLE STARR over before became In- smirched her reputation, per- volved in a feud; a band of simi- haps unjustly, more seriously Never Forgot Deadly and (Photos from than her dealings in stolen lar graduates of the frontier N. H.R_ school of anarchy called the collection.) horses. Dainty Girl Shannon boys killed his brother, She and a tomboy named She Was a Scott Reed, by mistake; and Jim B.ll. Starr. a Emma Jones, caught in the cold felt impelled to slay a Shannon lady and a Bandit to even matters up. Then an bandit. on her Lady warant for famous black horae. a library of about 100 books and murder was issued against him, itably the queen of the gang- was supposed to have read them and he and Belle decided to leave strong in council and tyrannical all. The Shirley tavern was a the country for a while. They in enforcing her own code of high-grade resort according to got as far as Los Angeles, manners. Once the Blue Duck frontier standards. where they lived for a forgot that she was a lady, when The social and entertainment few years without doing her hat blew off, and failed to life of the town centered there, anything t hat got into make the proper gesture of and Belle, who grew up .as a courtesy. She pulled a gun on Henry Starr, last of Belle's ••in·law •• typical hotel child, always ready him and compelled him to do his William Clarke Quantrill infamoua Civil war guerrilla. ldnamen. to show of! before strangers, tre- duty as a gentleman and pick quently recited and played the up her hat. By CHARLES COLLINS piano to amuse the guests. This same Blue Duck bor- Sam will have to attend school and I think it will be the best ~E LIFE of Belle Starr, Belle was 15 years old when rowed $2,000 from the gang's the Civil war began. Sympathy treasury and lost it all in a thing that ever happened to ~ ~L dangerous woman of him." for the Confederate cause ran night's sitting in a gambling the southwestern frontier blast of a ••norther" After this prison experience from the Civil war until 1889, high in that region, and her near a small settle- house at Fort Dodge. Belle rode e Ide r brother Ed became a to that town the next day, Sam Starr returned to outlawry deserves a place in American ment, b u 11t a fire on ae larger scale than stolen folklore. Among the various leader in Quantrill's guerrillas. against the wall of the walked into the resort with a She could ride as well as any gun in each hand, and lifted the colts. He was compelled to females who took to hard riding, village store to boil spend most of the year 1885 in straight shooting, and, in some man, although she always used coffee. The building entire bank roll, amounting to a sidesaddle, and her hoydenish $7,000. . , evading warants cases, outlawry, during the de- caught fire and was for a postoffice robbery. On his velopment of the ••wild west" •spirit and taste for adventure destroyed, and Belle was When the law began to close made her a valuable auxiliary in in on Messrs. French, Spaniard, return he was wounded by a tradition she was the most at- promptly jailed in Dallas posse, placed under arrest, and tractive character. The others the partisan warfare that Quan· under charge of arson and and Blue Duck, Belle withdrew . trill conducted. She was under to the Starr ranch in the Chero- released on bail. The next day were mainly uncouth and un- malicious mischief. When he was k1lled-in a drinking loyalist suspicion as a spy, of kee reservation, where she and kempt halt-men, like the rabu- she appeared in court for bout with a sherif's officer, say lous ••," but Belle course, but she was too smart first hearing of the case an Jim Reed had spent many happy to be caught carrying mcrlmt- days. There she found her some; in a dance hall quarrel Starr throughout her career as old and we a 1thy stockman over the ownership of his horse, nating messages. you n g admirer and former a ••bandit queen" never forgot named Patterson saw her and say others. guide, Sam Starr, a half-breed, that she was a lady of the Vtc- began to glow with chivalry. Later that year, after being torian period. • • • He asked her how much it who could neither read nor write. In the winter of 1862 she was They wen t off on a cattle- acquitted on a horse- stealing She had an education that would cost to get the charges dis- charge, Belle Starr helped to or- g a v e her intellectual rating arrested by federal cavalry at missed, and Belle, without mak- rustling expedition around Ogal- Newtonia, a village thlrty- five lala, Neb., and when they reo ganize and direct a wild west among the virtuous wiW!sof the his field of horse-steal- ing a promise, said that $2,500 show at Fort Smith, Ark. This miles from Carthage, and taken turned to the Starr ranch a year border states; she had literary ing operations in the would be abo u t right. He exhibition included ami m i c tastes and a collection of books; to the home of a certain Judge Indian Territory with a promptly sold some cattle and a half later, driving a large Ritchey for questioning by a herd of kine, they announced holdup by Belle and she liked to dress in the prevail- companion named John and gave her this sum in others in which the local judge Major Enos. He got nothing they were husband and wife. ing fashions. Occasionally she Morris. They stopped cash. A few days later and prosecuting attorney were traveled east to visit fashionable out of her but a concert of Con- This marriage to a ward of the criminal records. They reo at a farmhouse near the arson charge was dis- cast as passengers. The attorney watering places, where no fault federate songs, defiantly ham- the government gave Belle a turned to Texas in 1872with two McKinney, Tex., .for dinner, missed, without bribery, and was kept at home by illness in was found with her table man- mered out on the piano in Judge right to claim a land grant. She infant children, a son and a and Morris to I d Reed that Belle was sentenced to pay a the family. Belle told him aft- ners. She had two outlaw hus- Ritchey's parlor. After she had and Sam settled on a 1,000·acre daughter, to call ••Judge" Shiro the 0 w n e r of the premises nominal fine for malicious rnis- erward that she intended to slip bands who died with their boots been held for several hours she claim on the Canadian river ley ••grand pappy." was an eccentric old puritan chief. This left her with a net a loaded cartridge into her gun on, and 'Shewas an associate of was released by Major Enos profit of $2,490. Belle's father forgave her and who would object if they en- and k1ll him during the m~lee,. horse and cattle thieves, stage- with the remark: helped the young couple to estab- tered the house carrying Wln- The ardent rancher bought because of an old grudge against coach holdup men, and bank ••You'll meet your brother Ed lish themselves on a small ranch chester rifles and side arms. her a dinner or two in the him. robbers. She enjoyed the friend· on the road home, coming here nine miles from the Shirley Reed accordingly left his shoot- hotel, but found that his suit She continued to live on her ship of Frank and ; under arrest and due for a hang- place. There Belle settled down ing irons on the porch; Morris for her favors was making no ranch, mourning for Sam and she also found pleasure in the ing." to rear and educate her children, did likewise. When they were headway. He asked for are· watching over her daughter, printed works of Alfred Lord Belle rode back to Carthage but Jim was .often absent on at table Morris excused himself fund on the money advanced, until 1889. A stranger named Tennyson. at a furious pace, taking side but Belle alleged enormous legal journeys into northern Texas to go to the pump in the yard Watson settled near by, and It must be granted that much roads and cross-cuts that were and fill a pitcher. He returned expenses and would not return and the Indian Territory, buying Belle's contacts with the If grape- nonsense has been written about unknown to the Union soldiers. and selling stolen horses. Belle carrying his own revolver and a dime. His friends then urged vine" communication system of the alleged romance In criminal She arrived before the troop of sometimes rode with him into emptied it into the unsuspecting him to sue her for fraud, but he criminal life informed her that exploits of the plains cavalry which had been sent to refused with the noble remark: the Strip, and there Jim Reed. he was wanted for murder in such as Belle's, but the facts in arrest her brother, and greeted ••Hell, let her keep it! I reck- she met a halt-breed named Tom This assassination failed to Florida. her story have genuine roman- them on the doorstep of the on, after what she's had to put Starr, whose son Sam, hand- earn any of the rewards offered They got into an argument up with, she's earned every cent some, quiet, and companionable, for Reed because of Belle's self- over a lease on a strip of land, control. For collection an lden- of it." NEBRASKA was destined to become an Im- Ed Re.d. one of the clan from which and Watson said something sar- portant character in her saga. tification of the body was neces- • • • came Belle's first husband. castic about Belle's bad reputa- The Starr family had a repu- sary, and it had to be prompt tion . am 0 n s federal officers. 0 near Eufaula and built them- tation for outlawry which con- because of the heat of summer The goo d f 1k of Dallas Belle retorted: in Texas. Belle was summoned promptly ostracized Belle, but selves a cabin which was the tinued until in 1921, when the If Maybe the Florida sherifs last of the Starrs, Henry, died from Dallas to view the remains she brazened it out with a dis- wonder of the region because would like to know where you of its touches of civilized luxury. of wounds received in an at- before a group of witnesses. She play of new horses and stylish are." riding habits. Belle's daughter, Pearl, joined tempted bank holdup at Harri· looked at Jim calmly and dry- The next day was Belle's blrth- In 1878 she found herself in them, and the Starrs, contem- son, Ark. eyed and then said to his mur- day, but its omens were not pro- derer in a light, Dallas society jail again, on a horse stealing plating their herds and their rer- pitious. The fugitive murderer, • • • manner: charge. She charmed a deputy tile acres, were a happy family. fearing that she intended to be- In 1873 a gang of Starr clans- ••I am very sorry to disappoint jailer into releasing her and In 1883 Belle and Sam Starr tray him to the police, ambushed men descended upon the dugout you, Mr. Morris, but this is not eloping with her. He returned fell into the hands of the law her from behind a fence with a of Watt Grayson, a Creek In- Jim Reed. You killed the wrong to Dallas a month later with a because of the minor matter of shotgun. She fell from her dian, and stretched his neck in man. If you want a reward for hangdog look, confessing that a stolen colt found in their pos- h 0 r s e unconscious; then he a noose seven times, with three Jim Reed's body you will have he had been working like a session. It was a federal charge, walked up to her and shot her stretchings for his wife to boot, to find him and try your coward- slave for the woman-eooking, and they were given short sen- twice with her own pistol. thus compelling him to disgorge ly trick all over again." horse wrangling, fetching and tences in the Detroit house of Thus Belle Starr died at the $30,000 of embezzled I n d ian Belle's widowhood would have carrying-at the muzzle of his correction, which they served. age of 43. Her gravestone does funds. Jim Reed was recognized freed her from criminal assocla- own gun, which she had plucked Belle comforted her daughter in not mention her name, but bears as a member of the gang and tions if her inclinations had run from its holster. their absence with gracefully this inscription: had to renounce civilization for that way, but it had the opposite The widow of Jim Reed was written letters, in one of which BORN FEB. s, 1846 a while. effect and she drifted deeper now ready to transform herself she said: DIED FEB. s, 1889 Then Belle began to demon- into outlawry. . into Belle Starr, a completely "You must not think of T E x A s state her initiative ar the bread- She absented herself from her initiated female bandit. mamma being shut up in a Shed not for me one bitter tear winner of th e family. She Dallas livery stable for long, During the next year and a gloomy prison. It is said to be Nor give the heart to vain regret: Map of B.ll. Starr's ••rang •••• moved into Dallas and opened mysterious expeditions over the half she rode the ranges of the one of the finest institutions in 'Tis but the casket that lies here, a first-class livery stable. Her prairies, .and her neighbors be- Oklahoma and Texas Panhan- the United States. Here I can The gem that fiZZedit sparkles tic color. She was not a mean, Shirley tavern with the remark: horses were excellent, and al- lieved, with good cause, that she dIes with a gang of desperadoes have my education renewed. yet. low-down gunwoman with the ••If you've come for Ed, you're though no authentic bills of was meeting bands of horse led by t h r e e public enemies soul of a prairie wolf; there was ten minutes too late." sale for them could be found, thieves. She finally abandoned known as Jim French, Jack a certain charm and Victorian After the war John Shirley the patrons did not complain. the livery business, and still Spaniard, and the Blue Duck. spirit in her character. Sir abandoned his tavern and moved She was the wife of an ex-Con- seemed to be plentifully provld- They stole cattle and horses, OWN A ROYAL PORTABLE Walter Scott would have regard- his family to a farm near Me- federate soldier whose troubles ed with cash. In 1877 she fig· raided village banks, and held ed her as worthy material for a Kinney, Tex., a two hours' horse- might have been due to political ured in an escapade w hie h up . Belle was ver- ON YOUR OWN TERMS! romantic tale of lawbreaking back ride from Dallas. In 1866 prejudice; and the citizens of gallantry. a young ex-guerrilla of Quan· Dallas admired her spirit as .~~ FREE HOME TRIAL 'or .v.ry The backwash of the Civil war trill's command n a m e d Jim well as her elegant manners. (r -:-«1',. ~ ~.mber 0' the 'amily I Without risking a Reed arrived there, a hardened She became established so '1\:;, ,.- ~ 1. ~mg~epennY-l?rove that the students in your in the distracted state of Mls- 'c:. amily can write faster, get higher marks! souri conditioned Belle Starr's bushwhacker without any pos- firmly with the best elements of ~ Prove that Da.d can get his ideas and reports life. From the age of 15 to 20 sessions beyond his horse and Dallas that Jim Reed finally downon paper In a modem, intelligent manner. she lived in the atmosphere of his gun. He was given hospital- came out of hiding and visited Prove that Mother can take care of her social correspondence easier. guerrilla warfare, serving as a ity as one of Brother Ed's corn- her. A deputy sherif named SEE what a Iateott model. spy, scout, and confidante of the rades in arms, and within twen- Nichols officiously arrested him factory·new Royal Poet- as a fugitive from justice, where- ONLY A FEW able can do for your fam· marauding bands led by Wtl- ty-four hours Belle had promised i1y. Then own it on your liam Clarke Quantrill of the to marry him. upon Belle objected· in a manner CENTS A DAY! own terme-e-c •• h or only a few cent. a day. M'iJ Confederacy, who s e needless ••Judge" Shirley objected vlo- and a vocabulary that she had the coupon today! lootings, burnings, and slayings lently to the match, so Belle and acquired from Quantrill's guer- MAD WHAT ROYAL GIVES YOU: Theote rillas. She informed Mr. Nich- Ilreat felltureot explain why so many have become a tradition of mill- Jim eloped and were married. thousands of familieot are Royal tary infamy. But for these asso- A few days later Jim fiitted to ols that if her husband was not owners. Built by the world's larlleott company devoted exclusively to ciations her fiamboyant tempera- the Indian Territory to evade a released immediately she would typewriteno - with standard, full- shoot him on sight. ••• ed keyboard and ""sy. efl'ortleu ment might have found civilized warant which was pursuing him, action; Touch Control, Finller Com- expression as an actress, since and the" judge" locked Belle up Mr. Nichols took this threat f?rt KeYll. C.omplete Dust Protec- t ion , GenuIne Tabulator and she had a gift for declamation in her room. Four months later as a joke. A few days later, numerous other office featurea. and was admired by her neigh- Reed came riding out of the however, he was shot dead on FRfElACtRRYING CAsel Handsome. durable, triple-""nvertlbl. bors for ••speaking pieces" at west like Young Lochinvar and a street corner. No one saw • 10, Instant TYtJ1NG CHART-itshoW8YOU how to tYPf;'right' community entertainments. abducted her. The ••judge" Belle on the scene; no one, in . fact, saw anyone pull a trigger. , ----~--~--~~-----ROYAL TYPEWRITER COMI'ANY. Inc, SEND NO'" She was born on Feb. 3, 1846, bided his time and presently I Department 8·6,,1 • Park Avenue. New York. N. Y. MONEY I I in Carthage, Mo., where her par- stole Belle back again. Jim re- But every one gave Belle credit ~ ents were tavernkeepers. Her turned by night and carried off for a notch on the handle of her I PI..-ae tell me how I CM own -!t.tr okl" a "VI •••.••t. J now own a T I a 40._& I.tnt nKKl.,1 Royal Purtable_eomplete 8erial No._ __ . Tell me how nlu::e,:t:i maiden name was Myra Belle his bride for a second time amid gun, and a few days later Jim I with frlf. CarryillV c... ~d lnMwt Typlol' Chart. allow un it •• CASH allowat"." on • ROlalPortable. I Shirley; her father, John Shiro a shower of pellets from the Reed was freed from jail. ley, bore the courtesy title of ••judge's" bird gun. In the summer of 1875 Reed 1- - 1 Leit., Slate Judge, because he had assembled The honeymoon was hardly was returning from Dallas to ------_~

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