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{{Short description|American outlaw (1848–1889)}}
{{for|the 80s girl group|The Belle Stars}}
{{other uses}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2009}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}{{Use American English|date=July 2018}}
'''Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr''', better known as '''Belle Starr''', was a notorious American outlaw. She was murdered on February 3, 1889.
{{Infobox person
| name = Belle Starr
| image = Belle Starr full.jpg
| caption = Studio portrait of Belle Starr, "Queen of the Oklahoma Outlaws"
| birth_name = Myra Maybelle Shirley
| birth_place = [[Carthage, Missouri]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1848|2|5}}
| death_place = [[Eufaula, Oklahoma|Eufaula]], [[Creek Nation|Muscogee Nation]],<br>[[Indian Territory]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1889|2|3|1848|2|5}}
| death_cause = [[Gunshot wounds]]
| nationality = American
| years_active = {{Start date| 1880–1889}}
| criminal_charge = Horse theft
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* [[James C. Reed]]
* Sam Starr
* Jim July Starr
}}
| children = [[Pearl Starr]]<br>Eddie Reed
}}
'''Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr''' (February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889), better known as '''Belle Starr''', was an American [[outlaw]] who gained national notoriety after her violent death.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rasmussen|first=Cecilia|date=2002-02-17|title=Truth Dims the Legend of Outlaw Queen Belle Starr|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-17-me-then17-story.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206230155/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-17-me-then17-story.html|archive-date=2019-12-06|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

She associated with the [[James–Younger Gang]] and other outlaws. She was convicted of [[horse theft]] in 1883. She was fatally shot in 1889 in a case that is still officially unsolved. Her story was popularized by Richard K. Fox — editor and publisher of the ''[[National Police Gazette]]'' — and she later became a popular character in television and films.


==Early life==
==Early life==
She was born '''Myra Maybelle Shirley''' (known as May to her family) on her father's farm near [[Carthage, Missouri]]. Her mother was a Hatfield from the infamous [[Hatfield-McCoy feud]]ing clans. In the 1860s her father sold the farm and moved the family to Carthage where he bought an [[inn]] and [[livery stable]] on the [[town square]].
Belle Starr was born Myra Maybelle Shirley on her father's farm near [[Carthage, Missouri]], on February 5, 1848. Most of her family members called her May. Her father, John Shirley, prospered raising wheat, corn, hogs and horses, though he was considered to be the "black sheep" of a well-to-do Virginia family which had moved west to Indiana, where he married and divorced twice.{{sfn|Shirley|1982|pp=31–65}} Her mother, Elizabeth "Eliza" Hatfield Shirley, was John Shirley's third wife and a distant relative to the Hatfields of the [[Hatfield–McCoy feud|famous family feud]].{{sfn|Shirley|1982|p=34}} In the 1860s, Belle's father sold the farm and moved the family to Carthage, where he bought a livery stable and blacksmith shop on the town square.


May Shirley received a classical education and learned piano, while graduating from Missouri's Carthage Female Academy, a genteel institution her father had helped to found.<ref>[Los Angeles Times, Sunday February 17, 2002, L.A. Then and Now by Cecilia Rasmussen] </ref>
Myra Shirley received a classical education and learned piano, while graduating from Missouri's Carthage Female Academy, a private institution that her father had helped to found.<ref name=Rasmussen>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-17-me-then17-story.html |first=Cecilia |last=Rasmussen |date=February 17, 2002 |title=L.A. Then and Now: Truth Dims the Legend of Outlaw Queen Belle Starr |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=23 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306045246/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/17/local/me-then17 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>


==During the Civil War==
==Civil War and aftermath==
During the [[American Civil War]], Myra's older brother, John A. M. "Bud" Shirley, was an active [[Jasper County, Missouri|Jasper County]] "[[bushwhacker]]", fighting for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. Myra was reputed to have supported her brother in these efforts, perhaps as a spy, although not much is known about the exact details.{{sfn|Shirley|1982|pp=48–51, 265 n. 6}} Bud was killed by federal troops in late June 1864.{{sfn|Shirley|1982|pp=59-60}} Soon after,<blockquote>"sick at heart over Bud’s death and his business ruined by the theft and destruction, [John Shirley] disposed of his property, loaded his family and household goods into two [[Conestoga wagon]]s, and set out for Texas ... Shirley’s destination was [[Scyene, Dallas|Scyene]], a small settlement ten miles southeast of Dallas. Myra [May], a dutiful daughter, drove one of the wagons."{{sfn|Shirley|1982|pp=61-62}}</blockquote>According to the book ''Belle Starr'' by Burton Rascoe (Random House, 1941), the "Shirleys were regarded as 'rather common,' because they had no slaves."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rascoe |first=Burton |title=Belle Starr |publisher=Random House |year=1941 |edition=1st |location=New York City |pages=113 |language=English}}</ref> While in school, Myra was "irregular in attendance" and was regarded as "rather wild" by teacher Mrs. Poole.<ref name=":0" />
After a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] attack on Carthage in 1864, the Shirleys moved to [[Scyene, Texas]]. According to legend, it was at Scyene that the Shirleys became associated with a number of Missouri-born criminals, including [[Jesse James 1847|Jesse James]] and the Youngers. In fact, she knew the [[Younger brothers]] and the James boys because she had grown up with them in Missouri, and her brother John Alexander Shirley (known as Bud) served with them in [[Quantrill's Raiders]], alongside another Missouri 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.<ref>[http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=9936 Deputy Sheriff Charles H. Nichols, Dallas County Sheriff's Department<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


Following the war, members of the Reed family also moved to Texas and, according to [[Collin County, Texas|Collin County]] marriage records, [[James C. Reed]] and Mira [''sic''] M. Shirley were married there on November 1, 1866.{{sfn|Shirley|1982|p=72|ps=: quoting Marriage Records, Collin County, Texas, Vol. 3, p. 49.}} Two years later, she gave birth to her first child, Rosie Lee (nicknamed Pearl).<ref name="Meier">{{cite journal|last=Meier|first=Allison|date=3 April 2013|title=Belle Starr the Bandit Queen: How a Southern Girl Became a Legendary Western Outlaw|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/belle-starr-the-bandit-queen|journal=[[Atlas Obscura]]|access-date=16 May 2018}}</ref> Belle always harbored a strong sense of style, which fed into her later legend. A crack shot, she used to ride [[sidesaddle]] while dressed in a black velvet riding habit and a ostrich feather-plumed hat, carrying two pistols, with cartridge belts across her hips.<ref name=Rasmussen/> Reed turned to crime and was wanted for murder in Arkansas, which caused the family to move to California, where their second child, James Edwin (Eddie), was born in 1871.<ref name="Meier" />
==After the Civil War==
Following the war, the Reed family also moved to Scyene and she married Jim Reed in 1866, after having had an earlier crush on him as a teen. Two years later, she gave birth to her first child, Rosie Lee (nicknamed Pearl), who is known to have been Cole Younger's daughter. Cole was known to have run away after Pearl was born. Belle always harbored a strong sense of style, which would feed into her later legend. A crack shot, she used to ride [[sidesaddle]] while dressed in a black velvet riding habit and a plumed hat, carrying two pistols, with cartridge belts across her hips. <ref> [Los Angeles Times, Sunday February 17, 2002, L.A. Then and Now by Cecilia Rasmussen] </ref> Jim turned to [[crime]] and was wanted for [[murder]] in [[Arkansas]], which caused the family to move to [[California]], where their second child, James Edwin (Eddie), was born in 1871. Later returning to Texas, Jim Reed was involved with several criminal [[gang]]s. While Jim initially tried his hand at farming, he would grow restless and fell in with bad company in that of the Starr clan, a Cherokee Indian family notorious for whiskey, cattle, and horse thievery in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), as well as his wife's old friends the James and Younger gangs. In April 1874, despite a lack of any [[evidence]], a [[Warrant (law)|warrant]] was issued for her [[arrest]] for a [[stagecoach]] [[robbery]] by her husband and others. Jim Reed was killed in [[Paris, Texas|Paris]], [[Texas]], in August of that year, while she settled down with his family in Missouri.


Later returning to Texas, Reed was involved with several criminal gangs. While Reed initially tried his hand at farming, he would grow restless and associated with the Starr clan, a [[Cherokee]] family notorious for whiskey, cattle, and horse thievery in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), as well as the James and Younger gangs. In April 1874, despite a lack of any evidence, a warrant was issued for her arrest for a [[stagecoach]] robbery by her husband and others. Reed was killed in August of that year in [[Paris, Texas]], where he had settled down with his family.
==Marriage to Sam Starr==
Allegedly, Belle was briefly married for three weeks to Bruce Younger in 1878, but this is not substantiated by any evidence. In 1880 she did marry a [[Cherokee|Cherokee Indian]] named [[Sam Starr]] and settled with the Starr family in the [[Indian Territory]]. There, she learned ways for organizing, planning and fencing for the rustlers, horse thieves and bootleggers, as well as harboring them from the law. Belle's illegal enterprises proved lucrative enough for her to employ bribery to free her cohorts from the law whenever they were caught. In 1883, Belle and Sam were charged with [[horse]] [[theft]] and tried before [[Isaac Parker|"The Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker]]'s [[United States Federal Court|Federal District Court]] in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]], [[Arkansas]]. She was found guilty and served nine months at the Detroit [[prison|House of Corrections]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. Belle proved to be a model prisoner and during her time in jail she won the respect of the prison matron, while Sam was more incorrigible and was assigned to hard labor. In 1886, she escaped [[conviction (law)|conviction]] on another theft charge, but on December 17, Sam Starr was involved in a gunfight with Officer Frank West.<ref>[http://www.odmp.org/officer.php/?oid=14019 Police Officer Frank West, United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Both men were killed, while her life as an outlaw queen abruptly ended with her husband's death, in what had been the happiest relationship of her life.


==Marriages and later years==
==Unsolved murder==
[[File:Belle Starr, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1886.jpg|thumb|left|Belle Starr, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1886; the man on the horse is Deputy U.S. Marshal Benjamin Tyner Hughes who, along with his posse man, Deputy U.S. Marshal Charles Barnhill, arrested her at Younger's Bend in May 1886 and brought her to Ft. Smith for arraignment.]]
For the last two-plus years of her life, she took on a series of lovers with colorful names, including Jack Spaniard, Jim French and [[Blue Duck (outlaw)|Blue Duck]], after which, in order to keep her residence on Indian land, she married a relative of Sam Starr, Jim July Starr, who was some 15 years her junior.
[[File:Belle Starr and Blue Duck.jpg|thumb|left|Blue Duck and Belle Starr, May 24, 1886.]]
Belle was allegedly briefly married for three weeks to Charles Younger, uncle of Cole Younger in 1878, but this is not substantiated by any evidence. There are numerous claims that Belle's daughter Pearl Reed was actually Pearl Younger, but in Cole Younger's autobiography (quoted in Glen Shirley's "Belle Starr and her times"), he discounted that as rubbish and stated what he knew truly of Belle.


In 1880, she married a Cherokee man named Sam Starr and settled with the Starr family in the [[Indian Territory]]. There, she learned ways of organizing, planning and fencing for the rustlers, horse thieves and bootleggers, as well as harboring them from the law. Belle's illegal enterprises proved lucrative enough for her to employ bribery to free her colleagues from the law whenever they were caught.
On February 3, 1889, two days before her 41st brithday, the [[outlaw]] queen met her own tragic end. She was riding home from a neighbor's house when she was ambushed while eating a piece of [[cornbread]]. After she fell off her horse, she was shot again to make sure she was dead. Her death resulted from [[shotgun]] wounds to the back and neck and in the shoulder and face.<ref>[Los Angeles Times, Sunday February 17, 2002, L.A. Then and Now by Cecilia Rasmussen]</ref>


In 1882, Belle and Sam were charged with [[horse theft]]. The arrest warrant was served by Deputy U.S. Marshal Lemuel Marks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Belle Starr in the Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S., Criminal Case Files, 1866-1900 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/6099198?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a222f44562f7636425277573036305353704564774a6c5533622b3177587952705a6146576b47644678354c6b3d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |website=Ancestry.com |access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref> The pair were tried before "The Hanging Judge" [[Isaac C. Parker]] in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]]; the prosecutor was United States Attorney [[W. H. H. Clayton]]. She was found guilty and served nine months at the [[Detroit House of Corrections]] in Detroit, Michigan. Belle proved to be a model prisoner and, during her time in jail, she won the respect of the prison matron. In contrast, Sam was incorrigible and assigned to hard labor. In a contradictory account after her arrest by the Marshal, "Belle proved to be a loud and unruly prisoner."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mullins |first=Jonita |title=Oklahoma Originals: Early Heroes, Heroines, Villains & Vixens |publisher=The History Press |year=2019 |isbn=9781467143523 |location=Charleston, SC |pages=124–125 |language=English}}</ref>
There were no witnesses and no one was ever convicted of the deadly [[crime]]. Suspects with apparent motive included her new husband and both of her children, as well as [[Edgar J. Watson]], one of her [[sharecroppers]], because he was afraid she was going to turn him into the authorities as an escaped murderer from [[Florida]] with a price on his head . Watson, who was killed in 1910,<ref>http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6110 Edgar J. Watson</ref> was tried for her murder but was acquitted, and the ambush has entered Western lore as "[[cold case|unsolved]]."


In 1886, she eluded conviction on another theft charge, but, on December 17, Sam Starr was involved in a gunfight with his cousin Law Officer Frank West.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/14019-police-officer-frank-west|title=Police Officer Frank West, United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Division of Law Enforcement, U.S. Government|publisher=Officer Down Memorial Page|access-date=2013-01-23}}</ref> Both men were killed, and Belle's life as an outlaw queen—and what had been the happiest relationship of her life—abruptly ended with her husband's death.
One source suggests her son, whom she had allegedly beaten for mistreating her horse, may have been her killer.<ref>[http://www.frontiertimes.com/outlaws/belle_starr.html FrontierTimes - Outlaws - Belle Starr<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


By her marriage to Sam Starr, she was an aunt to [[Henry Starr]].
==Story becomes popularized==
Although an obscure figure throughout most of her life, Belle's story was picked up by the [[dime novel]] and [[Police Gazette|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). This novel is still often cited as a historical reference. It was the first of many popular stories that used her name.


For the last few years of her life, gossips and scandal sheets linked her to a series of men with colorful names, including Jack Spaniard, Jim French and [[Blue Duck (outlaw)|Blue Duck]], after which, she married a relative of Sam Starr, Jim July, who later became Jim July Starr, who was some 15 years younger than she was.
==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 [[Pardon|presidential pardon]] in 1893. Ironically, Eddie became a [[police officer]] and was killed [[duty|in the line of duty]] in December 1896.


=== Children ===
Making a good living in prostitution, Pearl operated several [[bordello]]s in [[Van Buren, Arkansas|Van Buren]] and [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]], [[Arkansas]], from the 1890s to [[World War I]].
Eddie Reed, Belle's son, 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 Eddie's release. She eventually obtained a presidential pardon in 1893. Eddie became a deputy in Fort Smith and<ref name="chroniclingamerica.loc.gov">{{cite web |date=December 17, 1896 |title=Indian chieftain. (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, December 17, 1896, Image 2 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025010/1896-12-17/ed-1/seq-2/;words=Ed+Reed?date1=1896&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1896&proxtext=Ed+Reed&y=6&x=21&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0}}</ref> killed two outlaw brothers named Crittenden in 1895,<ref>{{cite web |date=December 16, 1896 |title=The Wichita daily eagle. (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, December 16, 1896, Page 6, Image 6 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014635/1896-12-16/ed-1/seq-6/;words=Ed+Reed?date1=1896&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1896&proxtext=Ed+Reed&y=6&x=21&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=14 |page=6}}</ref><ref name="Reed p.2">{{cite web |date=December 16, 1896 |title=Kansas City daily journal. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, December 16, 1896, Page 2, Image 2 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063624/1896-12-16/ed-1/seq-2/;words=Ed+Reed?date1=1896&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1896&proxtext=Ed+Reed&y=14&x=15&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=17 |page=2}}</ref> and was himself killed in a saloon in [[Claremore, Oklahoma]], on December 14, 1896.<ref name="chroniclingamerica.loc.gov" /><ref name="Reed p.2" /><ref>{{cite web |date=December 16, 1896 |title=The San Francisco call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, December 16, 1896, Page 3, Image 3 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1896-12-16/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Ed+Reed?date1=1896&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1896&proxtext=Ed+Reed&y=6&x=21&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=11 |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=December 16, 1896 |title=The Wichita daily eagle. (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, December 16, 1896, Page 6, Image 6 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014635/1896-12-16/ed-1/seq-6/;words=Ed+Reed?date1=1896&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1896&proxtext=Ed+Reed&y=6&x=21&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=14 |page=6}}</ref> Pearl operated several bordellos in [[Van Buren, Arkansas|Van Buren]] and Fort Smith, Arkansas, from the 1890s to World War I.


==Unsolved murder==
==Film - historical fiction==
On February 3, 1889, two days before her 41st birthday, Belle was killed. She was riding home from a neighbor's house when she was ambushed. After she fell off her horse, she was shot again to make sure she was dead. Her death resulted from shotgun wounds to the back and neck and in the shoulder and face. Legend says she was shot with her own double-barrel shotgun.<ref name=Rasmussen/>
[[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. In 1960, [[Lynn Bari]] played Belle in the series premiere episode, "Perilous Passage", of the [[NBC]] [[Western (genre)|western]] ''[[Overland Trail (TV series)|Overland Trail]]'', starring [[William Bendix]] and [[Doug McClure]]. [[Robert J. Wilke]] guest starred in the same episode as [[Cole Younger]]. [[Elizabeth Montgomery]] portrayed Belle in the 1980 [[television movie]] ''Belle Starr''. [[Pamela Reed]] portrayed Belle in the 1980 Hollywood film ''[[The Long Riders]]''.


According to [[Frank Eaton|Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton]], her death was due to different circumstances. She had been attending a dance. Frank Eaton had been the last person to dance with Belle Starr when [[Chokoloskee, Florida#Edgar Watson|Edgar J. Watson]], one of her [[sharecroppers]] and clearly intoxicated, had asked to dance with her. When Belle Starr declined, he later followed her. When she stopped to give her horse a drink at a creek on the way home, he shot and killed her. According to Frank Eaton, Watson was tried, convicted, and executed by hanging for the murder.
Pulp western author [[J. T. Edson]] featured Belle Starr in several of his ''Floating Outfit'' series of novels, as the love interest of one of the three lead protagonists in the series, Mark Counter. Edson's novel ''Guns In The Night'' features Belle Starr's being murdered when pregnant with Mark Counter's child, after which the Floating Outfit teaming up to catch her murderer.


However, another story says that there were no witnesses and that no one ever was convicted of the murder. Suspects with apparent motive included her new husband and both of her children as well as Edgar Watson, because he was afraid she was going to turn him in to the authorities as an escaped murderer from Florida with a price on his head. Watson, who was killed in 1910, was tried for her murder, but was acquitted, and the ambush has entered Western lore as "[[Cold case (criminology)|unsolved]]".
One of the more distinctive adaptations of the legend of Belle Starr was made by the Japanese mangaka [[Akihiro Ito]]u, who in 1993 created a manga known as ''Belle Starr Bandits'', loosely based on historical figures, facts and events.


One source suggests her son, whom she had allegedly beaten for mistreating her beloved horse, may have been her killer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontiertimes.com/outlaws/belle_starr.html|title=FrontierTimes - Outlaws - Belle Starr}}</ref>
She had an appearance in the manga ''[[Gun Blaze West]]'' from [[Nobuhiro Watsuki]], as one of J.J.'s ([[Jesse James]]) Gangmembers. ISBN 3-89885-759-X


==In popular culture==
In 2007, independent filmmaker Ron Maxwell optioned the film rights to novelist Speer Morgan's 1979 book ''Belle Starr''. In the December 2008 issue of ''Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture'', Maxwell is mentioned as being the director of the forthcoming film ''Belle Starr''.
[[File:Woolaroc - Belle Star 2.jpg|thumb|Statue of Belle Starr at [[Woolaroc]] in Oklahoma]]


Although she was an obscure figure outside Texas throughout most of her life, Belle's story was picked up by the [[dime novel]] and ''[[National Police Gazette]]'' publisher Richard K. Fox, who made her name famous with his fictional novel ''Bella Starr, the Bandit Queen, or the Female Jesse James'', published in 1889 (the year of her murder). This novel still is cited as a historical reference despite its artistic license and lack of historical accuracy. It was the first of many popular stories that used her name.[[File:Belle Starr - A Wild Western Amazon.jpg|thumb|Belle Star, "A Wild Western Amazon", as depicted in the ''[[National Police Gazette]]'']]
==Trivia==
{{in popular culture|date=August 2018}}{{more citations needed|date=August 2018}}
{{trivia|date=March 2008}}
*The brawler Belle inside of the game Brawl Stars was based on her. In-game mastery title for that brawler is her surname (Starr).
* The Starrs were related to bank robber [[Henry Starr]], who had killed a [[United States Marshals Service|Deputy Marshal]], Floyd Wilson<ref>[http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=14332 Deputy Marshal Floyd Wilson, United States Department of Justice - Marshals Service<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, and portrayed himself in a movie.
* Contrary to legend, as stated in ''[[Handbook of Texas]]'', Belle Starr was not a lover of Cherokee killer Bluford "Blue" Duck, although their picture was taken together.<ref>[http://www.westernoutlaw.com/gravesites/bluford_duck.html WesternOutlaw.com - Gravesites<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
===Film and television series===
* American composer [[Libby Larsen]] set Belle Starr's words as the first song, "Bucking Bronco", in her song set ''Cowboy Songs''.
* She was portrayed by [[Betty Compson]] in a 1928 silent film ''[[Court Martial (1928 film)|Court Martial]]''.
* American singer/songwriter [[Bob Dylan]] twice makes reference to Belle: in his song "Tombstone Blues" from the album ''[[Highway 61 Revisited]]'', and in "Seeing the Real You at Last" 20 years later on the album ''[[Empire Burlesque]]'' (1985).
* In a 1938 Hopalong Cassidy movie ''[[Heart of Arizona]]'' she was portrayed by [[Natalie Moorhead]].
* [[Sally Payne]] appeared as Belle Starr in the [[Roy Rogers]] western ''[[Robin Hood of the Pecos]]'' (1941).
* [[Gene Tierney]] played the title role in the big-budget film ''[[Belle Starr (1941 film)|Belle Starr]]'' (1941). It made no pretense to accuracy but it was a success, and it increased Hollywood's interest in the character. In three equally fictionalized treatments, [[Isabel Jewell]] played Starr in ''[[Badman's Territory]]'' (1946) and ''[[Belle Starr's Daughter]]'' (1948), and [[Jane Russell]] played the role in ''[[Montana Belle]]'' (1952).<ref name="NADW">{{cite web|url=https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2023/mar/19/belle-starr-aka-bandit-queen-lived-colorful-life/|title=ARKANSAS A-Z: Belle Starr, aka 'Bandit Queen,' lived colorful life of crime|last=Hendricks|first=Nancy|website=[[Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette]]|date=March 19, 2023|access-date=February 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319073354/https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2023/mar/19/belle-starr-aka-bandit-queen-lived-colorful-life/|archive-date=March 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E7DC143AE33BBC4852DFB7668382659EDE|title='Belle Starr's Daughter' Arrives at Globe|website=[[The New York Times]]|date= January 10, 1949|access-date=February 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307085643/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E7DC143AE33BBC4852DFB7668382659EDE|archive-date=March 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24683|title=Badman's Territory (1946)|website=[[American Film Institute]]|access-date=February 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230917224723/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24683|archive-date=September 17, 2023}}</ref>
* In 1954, former Miss Utah [[Marie Windsor]] played Starr in the premiere episode of [[Jim Davis (actor)|Jim Davis]]'s television series ''[[Stories of the Century]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0710935/|title=Stories of the Century: "Belle Starr", January 23, 1954|publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=September 16, 2012}}</ref>
* In 1957, [[Jeanne Cooper]], later a soap opera star, played Belle Starr in an episode of [[Dale Robertson]]'s ''[[Tales of Wells Fargo]]''. In this episode, Starr calls herself Mrs. Reed. There is mention of "Hanging Judge" [[Isaac C. Parker]], and the episode makes mention of his sentencing Starr to a comparatively short prison term in a correctional facility at Detroit. In 1960, Cooper again played Belle Starr in an episode of the TV series ''Bronco'' titled "Shadow of Jesse James".
* In 1959, [[Jean Willes]] portrayed Starr in the ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick]]'' [[List of Maverick episodes|episode]] "Full House" opposite [[James Garner]].
* In 1960, [[Lynn Bari]] played Belle in the premiere episode, titled "Perilous Passage", of the short-lived NBC western ''[[Overland Trail (TV series)|Overland Trail]]''.
* In 1961, [[Carole Mathews]] appeared as Belle in "A Bullet for the D.A.", an episode of ''[[Death Valley Days]]'', hosted by [[Stanley Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0556533/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_7|title=A Bullet for the D.A, ''Death Valley Days'', November 13, 1961|publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref>
* In 1965, [[Sally Starr (TV hostess)|Sally Starr]], a television host from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, played the character for laughs in [[The Three Stooges]]' feature film ''[[The Outlaws Is Coming]]''.
* In 1968, [[Elsa Martinelli]] starred as Belle Starr in ''[[The Belle Starr Story]]'', a [[Spaghetti Western]] directed by [[Lina Wertmüller]].
* In 1975, Brooke Tucker appeared as Belle Starr alongside [[Marty Ingels]] as Billy the Kid in "They Went Thataway", the ninth episode of ''[[The Ghost Busters]]''.
* In 1977, [[Florence Henderson]] appeared as Belle Starr in ''Storybook Squares'', a version of ''[[Hollywood Squares]]'' for children.
* [[Elizabeth Montgomery]] portrayed Belle in the 1980 television movie ''Belle Starr'', made by Hanna-Barbera.<ref name="NADW" />
* [[Pamela Reed]] portrayed Belle Starr in the 1980 Hollywood film ''[[The Long Riders]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Maslin|first=Janet|date=1980-05-16|title=Film: 'The Long Riders,' With Gangs of the West:Oh Brothers!|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/16/archives/film-the-long-riders-with-gangs-of-the-westoh-brothers.html|access-date=2024-02-25|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* In 1995, Belle Starr was portrayed by Melissa Clayton in season 3 of ''[[Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman]]'' in an episode titled "Baby Outlaws" as a 14-year-old outlaw who falls under the care of the good doctor and her family. This episode takes place in 1870, when Belle actually would have been 22.
* In 2007, independent filmmaker [[Ronald F. Maxwell|Ron Maxwell]] optioned the film rights to novelist Speer Morgan's 1979 book ''Belle Starr''. In the December 2008 issue of ''[[Chronicles (magazine)|Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture]]'', Maxwell is mentioned as being the director of a forthcoming film titled ''Belle Starr''.
* The 2010 film ''Bass Reeves'' is a fictionalized version of lawman [[Bass Reeves]]'s life, and it features a depiction of Belle Starr.
* In the 2013 series '''[[Quick Draw (TV series)|Quick Draw!]]'', a fictionalized account of Belle Starr portrays her as the deceased spouse of the protagonist Sheriff John Henry Hoyle. She is referenced as wife to Cole Younger and Sam Starr. [[Arden Myrin]] appears in two episodes as Belle Starr, and [[Alexia Dox]] appears as Pearl Starr as a series regular.
* An early 2015 episode of ''[[The Pinkertons]]'' features Sheila Campbell as Belle Carson at the beginning of Belle's exploits as an outlaw (highly fictionalized, with the name Belle Starr as her fantasy persona and an affair with Jesse James in Kansas City).
*Amber Sweet plays Belle Starr in the 2019 film ''[[Hell on the Border]]'', written and directed by Wes Miller.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu.swtimes.com/story/entertainment/local/2019/11/21/anticipation-grows-for-hell-on/2246590007/|title=Anticipation grows for 'Hell on the Border'|last=Smith|first=Scott|website=[[Southwest Times Record]]|date=November 11, 2019|access-date=March 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310014351/https://www.swtimes.com/story/entertainment/local/2019/11/21/anticipation-grows-for-hell-on/2246590007/|archive-date=March 10, 2024}}</ref>


===Literature and music===
==References==
* [[Woody Guthrie]] wrote a song titled "Belle Starr."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Belle_Starr.htm|title=Belle Starr lyrics by Woody Guthrie}}</ref>
{{Reflist}}
* [[Margot Douaihy]] wrote a docupoetry book called "Bandit/Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr" (2022), imagining the inner life of the outlaw, casting Belle Starr as trailblazing feminist and intersectional figure, a "runaway".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bandit/Queen – Clemson University Press |url=https://libraries.clemson.edu/press/books/bandit-queen/ |access-date=2022-10-28 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 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.
* [[Emmylou Harris]] and [[Mark Knopfler]]'s 2006 collaboration ''[[All the Roadrunning]]'' features a track titled "Belle Starr," written by Harris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/belle-starr-mt0005708378|title=Belle Starr|work=AllMusic}}</ref>
* [[Sissy Spacek]] wrote the song "Some Small Crime" about Starr and sang it with [[Levon Helm]] on ''[[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]]'' in 1980.<ref>{{Citation|last=waisaidai|title=Sissy Spacek & Levon Helm-Some Small Crime|date=2011-10-10|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhe5HB389UY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/yhe5HB389UY| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-04-01}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* The 'ghost of Belle Starr' is mentioned in "[[Tombstone Blues]]" on [[Bob Dylan]]'s album ''[[Highway 61 Revisited]]'' (1965). Belle Starr is mentioned by Dylan in the lyrics of "Seeing The Real You at Last" on the album ''[[Empire Burlesque]]'' (1985).
* ''Belle Starr'' (1979) was the first novel of American author and editor [[Speer Morgan]].
* ''The Legend of Belle Starr'' (1979) was a historical novel by Stoney Hardcastle.
* The unsolved murder of Belle Starr is the basis for the [[Douglas C. Jones]] novel ''The Search for Temperance Moon'' (1991). A character based on [[Pearl Starr]], Belle's daughter, is featured as a bordello owner in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
* Pulp western author [[J.T. Edson]] featured Belle Starr in several of his ''Floating Outfit'' series of novels as the love interest of Mark Counter, one of the three lead protagonists in the series. Edson's novel ''Guns in the Night'' features Belle Starr's being murdered when pregnant with Mark Counter's child after which the Floating Outfit team to catch her murderer.
* One of the more distinctive adaptations of the legend of Belle Starr was made by the Japanese manga artist [[Akihiro Ito]], who in 1993 created a manga known as ''Belle Starr Bandits'', loosely based on historical figures, facts and events. She had an appearance in the manga ''[[Gun Blaze West]]'' from [[Nobuhiro Watsuki]], as one of J.J.'s ([[Jesse James]]) gang members. {{ISBN|3-89885-759-X}}
* Belle Starr appeared as a caricature in the 1995 ''Belle Starr'' album of the [[Lucky Luke]] comics series, illustrated by [[Morris (comics)|Morris]] and written by Xavier Fauche.
* The 2009 historical novel ''The Branch and the Scaffold'' by [[Loren D. Estleman]] deals in part with Belle Starr's life in the Indian Nations as her path crossed that of Judge [[Isaac C. Parker]].
* Peter Mattheissen's historical fiction (''The Killing of Mr. Watson Trilogy'' and now ''Shadow Country'') includes the story of E.J. Watson's murdering Belle Starr.
* American country singer [[Michael Martin Murphey]] sings about Belle Starr's life in a song titled "Belle Star" on his album ''Cowboy Songs III: Rhymes of the Renegades''.
*The band [[Rival Sons]] recorded the song "Belle Starr" as the eighth song on their 2014 album, ''[[Great Western Valkyrie]]''.
* A comic-book adaption of her fictionalized legend by Dick Wood appears as "Belle Starr" in ''[[Crime Does Not Pay (comics)|Crime Does Not Pay]]'' #25.

== See also ==
*[[List of unsolved murders (before 1900)]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |last=Shirley |first=Glenn |title=Belle Starr and Her Times: The Literature, the Facts and the Legends |location=Norman |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |year=1982 |isbn=0-8061-2276-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_LjptHB5d30C}}


==External links==
==External links==
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=SS/fstbl|name=Belle Starr}}
{{Commons category|Belle Starr}}
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=fstbl|name=Belle Starr}}
* [http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/star-bel.htm Detailed biography of Belle Starr]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070701142323/http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/star-bel.htm Detailed biography of Belle Starr]
* [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3028036.html Belle Starr]: Article by Richard D. Arnott
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181339/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/3028036.html Belle Starr], Article by Richard D. Arnott
* Belle Starr esoteric biography at 4dbios [http://www.4dbios.com/F3-SBizCrims.html]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091110053818/http://www.4dbios.com/F3-SBizCrims.html Belle Starr esoteric biography at 4dbios]
* {{Find a Grave|975|Belle Starr}}
* [https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=ST018 STARR, MYRA MAYBELLE SHIRLEY (1848–1889)] in the [[Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture]]
{{Appalachian people}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Belle}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Belle}}
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:19th-century American women]]
[[Category:American bootleggers]]
[[Category:American female gangsters]]
[[Category:American gangsters]]
[[Category:American murder victims]]
[[Category:American murder victims]]
[[Category:American outlaws]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in the United States]]
[[Category:Female murder victims]]
[[Category:James-Younger Gang]]
[[Category:Gunslingers of the American Old West]]
[[Category:Hatfield family]]
[[Category:James–Younger Gang]]
[[Category:Outlaws of the American Old West]]
[[Category:Outlaws of the American Old West]]
[[Category:People from Joplin, Missouri]]
[[Category:People from Carthage, Missouri]]
[[Category:People from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:People from Dallas]]
[[Category:People from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex]]
[[Category:People from Indian Territory]]
[[Category:People murdered in the United States]]
[[Category:People murdered in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Murdered criminals]]

[[de:Belle Starr]]
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Latest revision as of 20:58, 3 January 2025

For other uses, see Belle Starr (disambiguation).

Belle Starr
Studio portrait of Belle Starr, "Queen of the Oklahoma Outlaws"
Born
Myra Maybelle Shirley

(1848-02-05)February 5, 1848
Carthage, Missouri
DiedFebruary 3, 1889(1889-02-03) (aged 40)
Eufaula, Muscogee Nation,
Indian Territory
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
NationalityAmerican
Years active1880–1889 (1880–1889)
Criminal chargeHorse theft
Spouses
ChildrenPearl Starr
Eddie Reed

Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr (February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889), better known as Belle Starr, was an American outlaw who gained national notoriety after her violent death.[1]

She associated with the James–Younger Gang and other outlaws. She was convicted of horse theft in 1883. She was fatally shot in 1889 in a case that is still officially unsolved. Her story was popularized by Richard K. Fox — editor and publisher of the National Police Gazette — and she later became a popular character in television and films.

Early life

[edit]

Belle Starr was born Myra Maybelle Shirley on her father's farm near Carthage, Missouri, on February 5, 1848. Most of her family members called her May. Her father, John Shirley, prospered raising wheat, corn, hogs and horses, though he was considered to be the "black sheep" of a well-to-do Virginia family which had moved west to Indiana, where he married and divorced twice.[2] Her mother, Elizabeth "Eliza" Hatfield Shirley, was John Shirley's third wife and a distant relative to the Hatfields of the famous family feud.[3] In the 1860s, Belle's father sold the farm and moved the family to Carthage, where he bought a livery stable and blacksmith shop on the town square.

Myra Shirley received a classical education and learned piano, while graduating from Missouri's Carthage Female Academy, a private institution that her father had helped to found.[4]

Civil War and aftermath

[edit]

During the American Civil War, Myra's older brother, John A. M. "Bud" Shirley, was an active Jasper County "bushwhacker", fighting for the Confederacy. Myra was reputed to have supported her brother in these efforts, perhaps as a spy, although not much is known about the exact details.[5] Bud was killed by federal troops in late June 1864.[6] Soon after,

"sick at heart over Bud’s death and his business ruined by the theft and destruction, [John Shirley] disposed of his property, loaded his family and household goods into two Conestoga wagons, and set out for Texas ... Shirley’s destination was Scyene, a small settlement ten miles southeast of Dallas. Myra [May], a dutiful daughter, drove one of the wagons."[7]

According to the book Belle Starr by Burton Rascoe (Random House, 1941), the "Shirleys were regarded as 'rather common,' because they had no slaves."[8] While in school, Myra was "irregular in attendance" and was regarded as "rather wild" by teacher Mrs. Poole.[8]

Following the war, members of the Reed family also moved to Texas and, according to Collin County marriage records, James C. Reed and Mira [sic] M. Shirley were married there on November 1, 1866.[9] Two years later, she gave birth to her first child, Rosie Lee (nicknamed Pearl).[10] Belle always harbored a strong sense of style, which fed into her later legend. A crack shot, she used to ride sidesaddle while dressed in a black velvet riding habit and a ostrich feather-plumed hat, carrying two pistols, with cartridge belts across her hips.[4] Reed turned to crime and was wanted for murder in Arkansas, which caused the family to move to California, where their second child, James Edwin (Eddie), was born in 1871.[10]

Later returning to Texas, Reed was involved with several criminal gangs. While Reed initially tried his hand at farming, he would grow restless and associated with the Starr clan, a Cherokee family notorious for whiskey, cattle, and horse thievery in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), as well as the James and Younger gangs. In April 1874, despite a lack of any evidence, a warrant was issued for her arrest for a stagecoach robbery by her husband and others. Reed was killed in August of that year in Paris, Texas, where he had settled down with his family.

Marriages and later years

[edit]
Belle Starr, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1886; the man on the horse is Deputy U.S. Marshal Benjamin Tyner Hughes who, along with his posse man, Deputy U.S. Marshal Charles Barnhill, arrested her at Younger's Bend in May 1886 and brought her to Ft. Smith for arraignment.
Blue Duck and Belle Starr, May 24, 1886.

Belle was allegedly briefly married for three weeks to Charles Younger, uncle of Cole Younger in 1878, but this is not substantiated by any evidence. There are numerous claims that Belle's daughter Pearl Reed was actually Pearl Younger, but in Cole Younger's autobiography (quoted in Glen Shirley's "Belle Starr and her times"), he discounted that as rubbish and stated what he knew truly of Belle.

In 1880, she married a Cherokee man named Sam Starr and settled with the Starr family in the Indian Territory. There, she learned ways of organizing, planning and fencing for the rustlers, horse thieves and bootleggers, as well as harboring them from the law. Belle's illegal enterprises proved lucrative enough for her to employ bribery to free her colleagues from the law whenever they were caught.

In 1882, Belle and Sam were charged with horse theft. The arrest warrant was served by Deputy U.S. Marshal Lemuel Marks.[11] The pair were tried before "The Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker in Fort Smith, Arkansas; the prosecutor was United States Attorney W. H. H. Clayton. She was found guilty and served nine months at the Detroit House of Corrections in Detroit, Michigan. Belle proved to be a model prisoner and, during her time in jail, she won the respect of the prison matron. In contrast, Sam was incorrigible and assigned to hard labor. In a contradictory account after her arrest by the Marshal, "Belle proved to be a loud and unruly prisoner."[12]

In 1886, she eluded conviction on another theft charge, but, on December 17, Sam Starr was involved in a gunfight with his cousin Law Officer Frank West.[13] Both men were killed, and Belle's life as an outlaw queen—and what had been the happiest relationship of her life—abruptly ended with her husband's death.

By her marriage to Sam Starr, she was an aunt to Henry Starr.

For the last few years of her life, gossips and scandal sheets linked her to a series of men with colorful names, including Jack Spaniard, Jim French and Blue Duck, after which, she married a relative of Sam Starr, Jim July, who later became Jim July Starr, who was some 15 years younger than she was.

Children

[edit]

Eddie Reed, Belle's son, 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 Eddie's release. She eventually obtained a presidential pardon in 1893. Eddie became a deputy in Fort Smith and[14] killed two outlaw brothers named Crittenden in 1895,[15][16] and was himself killed in a saloon in Claremore, Oklahoma, on December 14, 1896.[14][16][17][18] Pearl operated several bordellos in Van Buren and Fort Smith, Arkansas, from the 1890s to World War I.

Unsolved murder

[edit]

On February 3, 1889, two days before her 41st birthday, Belle was killed. She was riding home from a neighbor's house when she was ambushed. After she fell off her horse, she was shot again to make sure she was dead. Her death resulted from shotgun wounds to the back and neck and in the shoulder and face. Legend says she was shot with her own double-barrel shotgun.[4]

According to Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton, her death was due to different circumstances. She had been attending a dance. Frank Eaton had been the last person to dance with Belle Starr when Edgar J. Watson, one of her sharecroppers and clearly intoxicated, had asked to dance with her. When Belle Starr declined, he later followed her. When she stopped to give her horse a drink at a creek on the way home, he shot and killed her. According to Frank Eaton, Watson was tried, convicted, and executed by hanging for the murder.

However, another story says that there were no witnesses and that no one ever was convicted of the murder. Suspects with apparent motive included her new husband and both of her children as well as Edgar Watson, because he was afraid she was going to turn him in to the authorities as an escaped murderer from Florida with a price on his head. Watson, who was killed in 1910, was tried for her murder, but was acquitted, and the ambush has entered Western lore as "unsolved".

One source suggests her son, whom she had allegedly beaten for mistreating her beloved horse, may have been her killer.[19]

[edit]
Statue of Belle Starr at Woolaroc in Oklahoma

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

Belle Star, "A Wild Western Amazon", as depicted in the National Police Gazette
  • The brawler Belle inside of the game Brawl Stars was based on her. In-game mastery title for that brawler is her surname (Starr).

Film and television series

[edit]

Literature and music

[edit]
  • Woody Guthrie wrote a song titled "Belle Starr."[27]
  • Margot Douaihy wrote a docupoetry book called "Bandit/Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr" (2022), imagining the inner life of the outlaw, casting Belle Starr as trailblazing feminist and intersectional figure, a "runaway".[28]
  • Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler's 2006 collaboration All the Roadrunning features a track titled "Belle Starr," written by Harris.[29]
  • Sissy Spacek wrote the song "Some Small Crime" about Starr and sang it with Levon Helm on The Midnight Special in 1980.[30]
  • The 'ghost of Belle Starr' is mentioned in "Tombstone Blues" on Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited (1965). Belle Starr is mentioned by Dylan in the lyrics of "Seeing The Real You at Last" on the album Empire Burlesque (1985).
  • Belle Starr (1979) was the first novel of American author and editor Speer Morgan.
  • The Legend of Belle Starr (1979) was a historical novel by Stoney Hardcastle.
  • The unsolved murder of Belle Starr is the basis for the Douglas C. Jones novel The Search for Temperance Moon (1991). A character based on Pearl Starr, Belle's daughter, is featured as a bordello owner in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
  • Pulp western author J.T. Edson featured Belle Starr in several of his Floating Outfit series of novels as the love interest of Mark Counter, one of the three lead protagonists in the series. Edson's novel Guns in the Night features Belle Starr's being murdered when pregnant with Mark Counter's child after which the Floating Outfit team to catch her murderer.
  • One of the more distinctive adaptations of the legend of Belle Starr was made by the Japanese manga artist Akihiro Ito, who in 1993 created a manga known as Belle Starr Bandits, loosely based on historical figures, facts and events. She had an appearance in the manga Gun Blaze West from Nobuhiro Watsuki, as one of J.J.'s (Jesse James) gang members. ISBN 3-89885-759-X
  • Belle Starr appeared as a caricature in the 1995 Belle Starr album of the Lucky Luke comics series, illustrated by Morris and written by Xavier Fauche.
  • The 2009 historical novel The Branch and the Scaffold by Loren D. Estleman deals in part with Belle Starr's life in the Indian Nations as her path crossed that of Judge Isaac C. Parker.
  • Peter Mattheissen's historical fiction (The Killing of Mr. Watson Trilogy and now Shadow Country) includes the story of E.J. Watson's murdering Belle Starr.
  • American country singer Michael Martin Murphey sings about Belle Starr's life in a song titled "Belle Star" on his album Cowboy Songs III: Rhymes of the Renegades.
  • The band Rival Sons recorded the song "Belle Starr" as the eighth song on their 2014 album, Great Western Valkyrie.
  • A comic-book adaption of her fictionalized legend by Dick Wood appears as "Belle Starr" in Crime Does Not Pay #25.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rasmussen, Cecilia (February 17, 2002). "Truth Dims the Legend of Outlaw Queen Belle Starr". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019.
  2. ^ Shirley 1982, pp. 31–65.
  3. ^ Shirley 1982, p. 34.
  4. ^ a b c Rasmussen, Cecilia (February 17, 2002). "L.A. Then and Now: Truth Dims the Legend of Outlaw Queen Belle Starr". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  5. ^ Shirley 1982, pp. 48–51, 265 n. 6.
  6. ^ Shirley 1982, pp. 59–60.
  7. ^ Shirley 1982, pp. 61–62.
  8. ^ a b Rascoe, Burton (1941). Belle Starr (1st ed.). New York City: Random House. p. 113.
  9. ^ Shirley 1982, p. 72: quoting Marriage Records, Collin County, Texas, Vol. 3, p. 49.
  10. ^ a b Meier, Allison (April 3, 2013). "Belle Starr the Bandit Queen: How a Southern Girl Became a Legendary Western Outlaw". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  11. ^ "Belle Starr in the Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S., Criminal Case Files, 1866-1900". Ancestry.com. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  12. ^ Mullins, Jonita (2019). Oklahoma Originals: Early Heroes, Heroines, Villains & Vixens. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 124–125. ISBN 9781467143523.
  13. ^ "Police Officer Frank West, United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Division of Law Enforcement, U.S. Government". Officer Down Memorial Page. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Indian chieftain. (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, December 17, 1896, Image 2". December 17, 1896.
  15. ^ "The Wichita daily eagle. (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, December 16, 1896, Page 6, Image 6". December 16, 1896. p. 6.
  16. ^ a b "Kansas City daily journal. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, December 16, 1896, Page 2, Image 2". December 16, 1896. p. 2.
  17. ^ "The San Francisco call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, December 16, 1896, Page 3, Image 3". December 16, 1896. p. 3.
  18. ^ "The Wichita daily eagle. (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, December 16, 1896, Page 6, Image 6". December 16, 1896. p. 6.
  19. ^ "FrontierTimes - Outlaws - Belle Starr".
  20. ^ a b Hendricks, Nancy (March 19, 2023). "ARKANSAS A-Z: Belle Starr, aka 'Bandit Queen,' lived colorful life of crime". Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  21. ^ "'Belle Starr's Daughter' Arrives at Globe". The New York Times. January 10, 1949. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "Badman's Territory (1946)". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 17, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Stories of the Century: "Belle Starr", January 23, 1954". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  24. ^ "A Bullet for the D.A, Death Valley Days, November 13, 1961". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  25. ^ Maslin, Janet (May 16, 1980). "Film: 'The Long Riders,' With Gangs of the West:Oh Brothers!". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  26. ^ Smith, Scott (November 11, 2019). "Anticipation grows for 'Hell on the Border'". Southwest Times Record. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  27. ^ "Belle Starr lyrics by Woody Guthrie".
  28. ^ "Bandit/Queen – Clemson University Press". Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  29. ^ "Belle Starr". AllMusic.
  30. ^ waisaidai (October 10, 2011), Sissy Spacek & Levon Helm-Some Small Crime, archived from the original on December 12, 2021, retrieved April 1, 2018

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
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