Belle Starr

Belle Starr (February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889) was posthumously famous as an American outlaw.

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She was born Myra Belle Shirley near Carthage, Missouri, into a farming family. Her family moved to Carthage in the 1860s, and her father became an inn owner. After the Union attack on Carthage in 1864, the Shirleys moved to Scyene, Texas. At Scyene, the Shirleys became associated with a number of Missouri-born criminals, including Jesse James and the Youngers. After a relationship with Cole Younger, she married Jim Reed, another outlaw, in 1866 and gave birth to her first child in 1868. With Jim wanted for murder, the family moved to California, where their second child was born in 1871. Returning to Texas, Jim worked with a number of criminal gangs. In April 1874, despite a lack of evidence, a warrant was issued for her arrest over a stage coach robbery carried out by her husband and others. Jim was killed in Paris, Texas, in August of that year.

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She was briefly married to Bruce Younger in 1878 and then in 1880 she married Sam Starr. In 1883, she was charged with horse theft in Arkansas and went to trial before Judge Isaac Parker. Found guilty, she served six months at the federal prison in Detroit, Michigan. In 1886, she escaped conviction on another theft charge, but Sam Starr was shot and killed in December, possibly in a drunken brawl.

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After Starr, she associated with several men, almost all of whom died violently. In 1889, she was killed herself by parties unknown. Although an obscure figure at the time of her death, her story was picked up the reporter Richard K. Fox. He made her name famous with the largely fictional novel Bella Starr, the Bandit Queen, or the Female Jesse James, published in 1889. It was the first of many popular stories that used her name.

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Belle's daughter, Pearl Starr, operated a group of bordellos in Van Buren and Fort Smith, Arkansas, from the 1890s until World War I.

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Other famous women from the western era include Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley.

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February 5: February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 329 days remaining (330 in leap years)....

1848: 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar....

February 3: February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 331 days remaining, (332 in leap years)....

Belle Starr related Images and Photos (experimental)

Belle Starr	Belle Starr Gene Tierney Randolph Scott 1941	Belle	Belle Epoque
Belle Jardiniere	Belle Epoque IV	Memphis Belle (DVD)	Memphis Belle (DVD)
Ringo Starr: Y Not CD	Ringo Starr: Y Not CD	Brenda Starr	Camilla Belle