1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from houtof 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: to blame in chalk reboarding and I'm fair douting. And 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: when you're researching history, as we often do, of course, 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: it can get difficult sometimes to distinguish between mere legend 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: in fact mad trapper exactly, And that's why you'll often 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: hear us say things like sources disagree or offer up 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: to possible versions of events rather than just giving you one. 9 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: Sometimes this simply comes down to how sources have come 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: by their information. Did they use primary sources or things 11 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: like newspaper articles and other publications as their sources. Other times, 12 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: myths originate with people close to the subject, and sometimes, 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: as we saw with free to Carllo advertising her own 14 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: birth date as being three years later than it actually was, 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: the discrepancies actually originate with the subjects some elves. Who 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: can you trust? Who can you trust? Regardless of how 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: these come about, though perhaps nowhere are these sorts of 18 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: discrepancies more apparent than they are with the story of 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: Bell Star, a notorious nineteenth century outlaw of America's Wild West. 20 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: At least that's how people think of her, though. Descriptions 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: of Bell Star from so called biographies and contemporary newspaper 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: accounts and were recently in pop culture paint her as 23 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: a bandit queen, this beautiful leader of a band of 24 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: outlaws who held up stage coaches, cleaned out crooked poker games, 25 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: six shooters, smoking at her sides, and spent all of 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: her free time in saloons hanging out with shady characters. 27 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: It's quite a romantic picture. But more recent accounts of 28 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: Bell's life contradict a lot of these points and suggests 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: that while Bell was certainly no saint, she also wasn't 30 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: necessarily the female Jesse James as some sources made her 31 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: out to be. In fact, she might have been a 32 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: devoted wife, loving mother, and a pretty good neighbor. At times, 33 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: she might have been even law abiding. So in this episode, 34 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: we're going to take a look at bell Stars life 35 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: and try to get it her real story, or as 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: close as possible, and also examine why she got her 37 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: wild outlaw reputation in the first place. She was born 38 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: Myra Maybel Shirley on February five, eight and her father, 39 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:23,959 Speaker 1: John Shirley, had been kind of a black sheep of 40 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: a wealthy Virginia family. He moved around a lot, and 41 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: he was married and divorced twice before meeting and marrying 42 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: Eliza Pennington, who was a hat Field of Hatfield and 43 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: McCoy fame. The couple settled initially in southern Missouri, so 44 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: John Shirley started out farming in that area to make 45 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: a living in Myra Maybel and her two brothers, one 46 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: older one younger were born while he was doing just that, 47 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: but the kids were still young when in the eighteen fifties, 48 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: John sold the farm, which had been pretty successful along 49 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: and moved the family to the county seat of Carthage, Missouri, 50 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: And once they were there, he used the money from 51 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: the sale of the farm to buy up some land 52 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: in the city, build a tavern, stable, blacksmith shop, and 53 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: most notably, a hotel, and through all of those combined 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: ventures he became pretty wealthy, actually very wealthy, and was 55 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: considered one of the most, if not the most prominent 56 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: resident in Carthage. And as his daughter, Myra Maybel, grew 57 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: up with a lot of advantages. She attended the Carthage 58 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: Female Academy, where she learned everything from grammar and arithmetic 59 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: to Latin Greek and Hebrew and her father, who actually 60 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: I think worked with neighbors to have that school set 61 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: up for her so that she would get an education. 62 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: He also paid for her to learn the piano, because 63 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: of course, no proper Southern girl could get by without 64 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: learning to play the piano, or so this family believed 65 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: at least. And Myra Maybel wasn't oblivious to her status 66 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: as a little rich girl either. She loved to show off, 67 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: especially for guests at her parents hotel, but she wasn't 68 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: exactly the perfect little lady either. Piano playing aside, she 69 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: was a bit the tomboys. She loved riding horses. She 70 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: was quite skilled at it. She'd go for these long 71 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: rides with her older brother Bud, whom she really adored, 72 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: and he taught her how to shoot a pistol and 73 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: a rifle too. According to Belle of the West, The 74 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: True Story of Bell Star by Margaret Row, Young Mara 75 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: may Bell was known for galloping wildly down Carthage's main street, 76 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: randomly popping off bullets from a pistol that she carried 77 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: with her. People apparently thought this was kind of an 78 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: endearing trade. They were amused and good natured about it 79 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: maybe because Carthage was such a frontier town. It was 80 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: kind of fun to see this well bred girl riding 81 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: her horse down main street shooting, though you probably couldn't 82 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: do this in a in an established southern town. But 83 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: she always carried her pistol with her, and later in 84 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: life she even started referring to it as my baby. 85 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: But we'll see kind of that affection for her weapon 86 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: and talk about that more later on. One of her 87 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: biggest faults was her quick temper. She was always ready 88 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: to brawl if she got into a disagreement someone, and 89 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: we mean by brawl, we don't just mean getting an argument, 90 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: we mean physically physically started with girls or boys. So 91 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: when the Civil War started in eighteen sixty one, Myra 92 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 1: Maybell put that wild, quick tempered side of hers to you. 93 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: So just to give you a little bit of background 94 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: on the situation. At the time, Missouri was kind of 95 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: a land divided. People who had settled in the northern 96 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: part of the state supported the North, while those who 97 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: had settled in the southern part of the state sympathized 98 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: with the South and the Confederacy. The relations between Jasper County, 99 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: which is where the Shirley family lived in neighboring Kansas 100 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: had also been pretty bad. Even in the years leading 101 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: up to the war. Bands of raiders who were known 102 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: as Jayhawkers who supported the Union, would come over and 103 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: destroy Missouri communities, and meanwhile, rebel raiders known as Bushwhackers 104 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: would retaliate. We've talked about this a little bit in 105 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,799 Speaker 1: previous episodes, but one of the most famous of these 106 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: guerrilla rebel groups was led by William Clark Quantrill, who 107 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: led his Confederate Raiders across that Missouri Kansas line. Yes, 108 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: actually Frank and Jesse James and Cole Younger, all of 109 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: whom would of course later become famous Outlaws, were part 110 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: of this group. John Shirley was also a big supporter 111 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: of Quancholl's Raiders, and when the war broke out, Myra 112 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: Maybel's brother Bud became one, working his way up to 113 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 1: the rank of captain. According to an article by Richard 114 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: d Arnutt in Wild West, Bud was actually so good 115 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: at what he did. Union soldiers were always out to 116 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: get him, but he always managed to evade them too, 117 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: And my Ra Maybell, who was in her teens at 118 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: that point, played a big part in that. For one thing. 119 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: She was pretty, she was small, she had a nice complexion, 120 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: she had long black hair and dark eyes, and she 121 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: would flirt with Union soldiers to get information from them, 122 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: so very bell boyd esk if you remember that episode 123 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: about the Confederate not just the same in name alone, No, 124 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: not just in name alone. She would use her feminine 125 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: wiles as much as bell Boy did to get information. 126 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: She'd learned things like the out of an enemy ammunition train, 127 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: or the location of a new Union camp, or if 128 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: there were specifically trap set for Bud and his gang. 129 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: And according to Row's work, many wives and sisters of 130 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: raiders were doing this sort of thing, but in Myra 131 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: Maybel's case, her spine became part of her bandit queen's 132 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: story later on, because of her later career, some writers, 133 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: for example, suggest that Myra Maybel had her own band 134 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: of girls even or that she was actually a part 135 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: of Quantrill's group, but historical records don't really support either 136 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: of those ideas. That's not to say that she didn't 137 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: get her hands sturdy either. One account that Raw relates 138 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: describes Myra Maybel being held captive by a Union major 139 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: so that she wouldn't run off and warn her brother 140 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: Bud that soldiers were on their way to ambush him. 141 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: The major released her, though making a big mistake kind 142 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: of again reminded me of Bellboy people underestimating well, I 143 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: think part of it when she was throwing a fit 144 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: to the entire time. He kept her kind of locked 145 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: in a room and she was, you know, yelling at him, 146 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: and he was ready. He was like, Okay, you can 147 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: go now. But that was a mistake because he released 148 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: her kind of expecting that she wouldn't have time anyway 149 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: to catch up and warn her brother, except he didn't 150 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: realize how great she was on horseback. She leapt under 151 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: her horse, rode through the undergrowth, and taking this little shortcut, 152 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: she managed to reach her brother and warn him with 153 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: really time to spare, but unfortunately she couldn't always keep 154 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: him safe. Bud and a companion were eating at the 155 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: home of a Southern sympathizer in June of eighteen sixty 156 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: four when the house was surrounded by federal militia. He 157 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: tried to escape over a fence, but was shot and 158 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: killed in the process. Some accounts have Myra Maybell heading 159 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: off looking for revenge after the scuns ablazing, but again 160 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: there are no records that really support that she did that, 161 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: But this was sort of the start of bigger problems 162 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: for the Shirley family. Um After the war, the Shirley's 163 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: business was ruined. John Shirley was so upset by the 164 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: loss of its on that he relocated the family to Texas, 165 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: to a little settlement that was outside of Dallas. So 166 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: in Texas, John Churley went back to his original profession 167 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: farming again, and Myra Maybel went to a one room school, 168 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: but she was pretty bored because she was really ahead 169 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: of where everyone else was academically. She was also one 170 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: of the oldest people in class. Luckily, though, or maybe unfortunately, 171 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: she had plenty to distract her. Lots of local outlaws, Yes, 172 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: outlaws like Frank and Jesse James and Cole Younger who 173 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, Whomira Maybel used to associate with somewhat 174 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: when she was in Missouri and she got to know 175 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: them there. They would sometimes visit her family's home in 176 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: Texas to hide out there because many of the former 177 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: Confederate guerillas like them had become outlaws after the war, 178 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: in part because the government wouldn't offer them amnesty, so 179 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: they robbed banks and they held up trains, but because 180 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: of their history together, the Shirley's agreed to help them out. 181 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: And it's this continu and you'd association with people like 182 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: James and Younger that just added to Myra Maybell's reputation. 183 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: In fact, many people believed that Cole Younger and Myra 184 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: Maybel had an affair and that they had an illegitimate 185 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: daughter together, And this belief partially stems from something she 186 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: later said herself. She said, when Younger and his gang 187 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: were hiding out at her family's home, that was when 188 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,199 Speaker 1: she became reacquainted with the first man she ever loved, 189 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: and people just assumed that this met Younger, But both 190 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: Rowse and Arnette's work say that she was referring to 191 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: the outlaw Jim Read so Meira Maybel had met Read 192 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: back in Missouri as well, where their families were friends, 193 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: and he also hit out at the Shirley's Texas farm 194 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: from time to time, and he and Myra Maybel rekindled 195 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: their relationship and got married in eighteen sixty six. Again, 196 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: though with Myra may Beel or Bell's life, you have 197 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: some real dramatized accounts that marriage even has been dramatized 198 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: by some writers who have said that Belle's parents didn't approve, 199 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: and that the couple eloped with their band of death 200 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: Barados and attendants, and that they were even married on 201 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: horseback by one of the gang members. However, it's not 202 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: quite as adventurous as that. There's an actual marriage license 203 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: from November one, eighteen sixty six that shows Jim and 204 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: Myra Maybell were married by the Reverend F. M. William, 205 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: So not on horseback as far as we know. Yeah, so, actually, 206 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: at first a fairly traditional marriage ceremony and at first 207 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: a very traditional marriage. Read tried his hand at farming 208 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: and other jobs like saddle making in Texas. But by 209 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: September eighteen sixty eight, when Myra Maybell gave birth to 210 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: her daughter, Rosie Lee, who they called Pearl, they were 211 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: living on the Read homestead back in Missouri. Myra Maybell's 212 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: younger brother Ed was shot and killed for stealing horses 213 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: not long after this, so it's likely that she and 214 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: Pearl made a visit to Texas. But other than that, 215 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: there's not too much documentation of her life around this time, 216 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 1: which of course has led to some rumors. Some biographies 217 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: have filled this space where we don't really know what's 218 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: going on about her, with stories of her carousing in 219 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: Dallas saloons. But Missouri neighbors actually refuted this and recalled 220 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: her attending church with her daughter and her and the 221 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 1: rest of the Reed family every week. So pretty standard stuff, absolutely, 222 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: very as we said, traditional, and not at all what 223 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: you would expect of an outlaw. Jim Reid, on the 224 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,839 Speaker 1: other hand, though he wasn't much for the farming, church 225 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: going quiet life. He fell in with Tom Starr, a 226 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: Cherokee who had a whiskey and cattle wrestling business after 227 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: the war, and he took part in these shady activities 228 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: until he killed a man to avenge his brother Scott's death. 229 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 1: And so at this point Jim Reid is a fugitive 230 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: for both murder and the whiskey dealings, and so he 231 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: takes Myra Maybel and Pearl and heads for California in 232 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty nine. So while they were there they expanded 233 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: their family a little bit. Myra Maybell gave birth to 234 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: their son, and James Edwin, whom they called Eddie. But 235 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: by March eighteen seventy one or eighteen seventy two, depending 236 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: on the source, read got into trouble again for passing 237 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: counterfeit money, and they had to flee again, this time 238 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: back to Texas. When they were there, Myra Maybel's parents 239 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: gave them part of their land to farm, you know, 240 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: again trying to set them up with this more stable life. 241 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: But of course that couldn't really hold Read's attention for 242 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: very long. He kept getting mixed up with other outlaws, 243 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: and he and his band were even accused of murdering 244 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: a couple of people in addition to the man Read 245 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: had already murdered. So he and Bill ended up on 246 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: the run again, this time escaping to Indian Territory, leaving 247 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: the kids with her parents. And fortunately we've talked about 248 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: Indian Territory a little bit on earlier episodes and what 249 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: a great hideout it could be for bandits like that. 250 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:52,680 Speaker 1: And again was in that Oklahoma sort of area. I know, 251 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: we've talked about that several times before, and people may 252 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: be tired of us going over the whole Indian Territory thing, 253 00:13:57,559 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: but just to give you an idea of where it was, 254 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: and when they went there, Read's crimes didn't stop. It 255 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: was almost as if that guerilla life he had lived 256 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: jewelry in the Civil War. He just couldn't let go. Yeah, 257 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: it was too exciting for him and he didn't want 258 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: to give it up. So eventually Bell started getting mixed 259 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: up in some of his crimes, at least by way 260 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: of rumors. For example, in late eighteen seventy three, Read 261 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: and two others robbed the family of What Grayson, a 262 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: judge in Indian Territory, and according to some rumors, Mayra 263 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: Maybel had helped in this dressed as a man. Grayson 264 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: himself later so that this couldn't be true, though, because 265 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: she was too petite, and he said that the guys 266 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: who had attacked him were large. I mean, I guess 267 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: it's one person's take on it. And if he was 268 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: in the middle of this, maybe he could have been 269 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: mistaken and he might not want to admit that a 270 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: woman helped draw him. That is also perhaps an aspect 271 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: of it. But eventually Myra Maybel did leave Jim Read 272 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: and moved back in with her parents. She kind of 273 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: got sick of that life of crime, and I could 274 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: imagine she just got sick of being on the run 275 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: all the time too, and being separated from her kids. 276 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: But it probably also had to do with the fact 277 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: that Reid had taken up with another woman and she 278 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: found out about it. Reid meanwhile kept ongoing his gang, 279 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: kept robbing people, stage coaches, stealing livestock, and by August 280 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four, there was a pretty considerable seven thousand 281 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: dollar bounty on his head. That August, he was traveling 282 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: with a supposed friend named John T. Morris, who had actually, 283 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: unbeknownst to him, been deputized to capture him, and when 284 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: they stopped for a meal together on August six, Morris 285 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: pulled a gun on him. Reid tried to escape and 286 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: was killed. There's another aspect here to Myra Maybel's legend, though, Yeah. 287 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: Legend has it that Morris immediately contacted Myra Maybel and 288 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: asked her to come and identify Jim Reid's corpse. I mean, 289 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: he was probably thinking there's no love lost between this two. 290 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: She knows about his affair, she's not happy with him, 291 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: so of course she she'll be happy to come and 292 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: identify his body. But when she showed up, she took 293 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: one look at the body and she said, quote, I 294 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: never saw him in my life before. And then she 295 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: turned to Morris and said, you will never get that bounty. 296 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: So that's our dramatic conclusion to this part one freeze frame. 297 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: You can imagine myra they're looking at the body. Yeah, 298 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: I mean, it's an interesting perspective to take on a situation, right, 299 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: I mean, she obviously was done with him, she was 300 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: furious with him for having an affair with another woman, 301 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: but at the same time, she still had this loyalty 302 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: to him to this outlaw didn't want his killer to 303 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: make any money off of his death. Yeah, and um, 304 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: you know, we will tell you a little bit more 305 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: about how Morris did make out in the continuation of 306 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: the story of Bell Star, and of course we'll go 307 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: into the rest of her life. Well she was later 308 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: exploit later exploits, and um, you know, talk a little 309 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: bit more about how this reputation of hers came about, 310 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: and finally go into her one and only experience in jail. 311 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: All right, So that is next time though, so you'll 312 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: have to stay tuned until then. In the meantime, if 313 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: you want to suggest, I know, you guys love these 314 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: Old West characters so much, if you want to suggest 315 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: more of your favorites to us, we could be inclined 316 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: to keep covering this, so feel free to email us 317 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,879 Speaker 1: a history podcast at Discovery dot com. We're also on 318 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 1: Twitter at misst in history, and we're on Facebook. And 319 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: if you want to learn a little bit more about 320 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: some notorious troublemakers throughout history, we have a great article 321 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: on our website called ten Public Enemies and you can 322 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 1: look that up by visiting our homepage at www dot 323 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot com. Be sure to check out our 324 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stupwork 325 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities 326 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 1: of tomorrow. The house Stuff Works iPhone app has a ride. 327 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:09,680 Speaker 1: Download it today on iTunes.