1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: I'm to bling a choker boarding and I'm Scared Dowdy, 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: and we are picking up here again with the story 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: of Bell Star, one of the most notorious female outlaws 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 1: of the Old West, who has been called the bandit 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: Queen and the female Jesse James. And she's been credited 8 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: with robbing stage coaches, holding up branchers while dressed as 9 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 1: a man, and leading her own band of outlaws. But 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 1: as we discussed in the last episode, a lot of 11 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: these stories about her may have just come from the 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: public's desire for intrigue filled adventure tales of the Wild West. Regardless, 13 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: though these stories bled into a number of biographies and 14 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: so called official accounts of her life, it became true 15 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: almost but more recent accounts have contradicted a lot of 16 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: these stories. For example, we mentioned in the last episode 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: that some people have thought That's daughter Pearl was fathered 18 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: by the famous outlaw Cole Younger, and even sources like 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: Encyclopedia Britannica say that this is quote probable, But then 20 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 1: other works like Margaret Rouse biography, Bell of the West, 21 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: which have looked into letters and court records those sort 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: of things, say that that's most likely not the case. 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: So what we've been doing is recounting Bell's life and 24 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: some of those better known stories and the differing takes 25 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: on them, And what we're trying to do is look 26 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: into where some of the wilder ones came from, maybe 27 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: how they came about, And the hopes are that perhaps 28 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: by understanding her character and seeing what primary sources can 29 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: corroborate with some of these stories, you can at least 30 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: get close to what her real story truly is. So 31 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: we'll rehash part one a little bit. So far, we've 32 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: talked about her childhood, her work as a spy during 33 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: the Civil War, and her family's harboring of outlaws in 34 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:56,279 Speaker 1: Texas and that tumultuous marriage to the outlaw Jim Read. 35 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: And what we've really seen from all of this is 36 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: that even if Bell herself wasn't a criminal, she was 37 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: always really spunky. She was an outspoken girl with a 38 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: quick temper, and she associated very closely with a lot 39 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: of outlaws. So already it's kind of easy to see 40 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: how her personality would have lent itself quite nicely to 41 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: this whole persona of the bandit queen. It makes sense. 42 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: And when we left off in part one, it was 43 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: August of eight seventy four, and we were getting another 44 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: taste of that spunk nous. A man named John Morris 45 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: had just killed Read and then asked Bell, who at 46 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: this point was still going by her given name Myra Maybel, 47 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: to come identified a body so that he could collect 48 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: the bounty. So Myra Mabel shows up, sure enough, but 49 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: she looks at Read's body and says that she's never 50 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 1: seen him before, and then told Norris, and you'll remember 51 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: this dramatic quote from the end, you will never get 52 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: that bounty. So something was going on here, maybe some 53 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: strange loyalty to Read or and us against out laws, 54 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: against the law exactly. So it's unclear if the story 55 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: is true, but either way, plenty of people could identify 56 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: Read for Morris. So Morris got his share of the 57 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: balanty after all, though not the full amount since he 58 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,839 Speaker 1: didn't bring in Read's full gang. After Reid's death, though 59 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 1: Maira Maybel really did struggle for a while. Jim Steath 60 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: had left her pretty much broke except for that land 61 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: her father had given her, and it was hard for 62 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: a woman in those days to make a living on 63 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: her own too, and she had the kids to think about, 64 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: so she rented her farmland and briefly tried to push 65 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: Pearl into a stage career because she had seen other 66 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,239 Speaker 1: children become quite successful that way. A little girl performers 67 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: in particular, were very popular in the frontier town, so 68 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: Maira Maybel took Pearl to Dallas and rolled her in 69 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: school and acting classes there, but Pearl ended up getting sick, 70 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,559 Speaker 1: and so the doctor recommended she avoid the stress of performing. 71 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: In the meantime, though, Maira Maybel's father had passed away 72 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: and her mother sold the farm and moved to Dallas 73 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: with Eddie, so it really seemed like hard times for 74 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: the family. According to Row's work, some Bellstar biographers paint 75 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: the time in Dallas as a really wild time for her, 76 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: when she spent all of her time guzzling whiskey and 77 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,119 Speaker 1: saloons and using her feminine wiles to scam money off 78 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: of unsuspecting wealthy men. She also supposedly caused a lot 79 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,359 Speaker 1: of public disturbances, shooting off her guns in the street, 80 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 1: much like she did when she was a kid, but 81 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: Raol actually points out that local newspapers never once mentioned 82 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: Myra Maybel in conjunction with events like these, even though 83 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:28,840 Speaker 1: they pretty much covered everything that was going on at 84 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: the time and would even embellish stories to make them 85 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: more comfortable. So it seems unlikely that this really happened 86 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: since she's sort of conspicuously missing from these sorts of 87 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: accounts well, and it definitely also seems like Myra Maybel 88 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: was mostly focused on Pearl during this time in Dallas, 89 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: because after it was clear the stage career wasn't gonna happen, 90 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: she sold her farm and she set off on a 91 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: tour of visits to old Carthage friends in Missouri and 92 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: arkanhas and Kansas. And during this journey she ended up 93 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: leaving Pearl for a time to ay with a longtime 94 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: friend along the way. By eighteen seventy nine or so, 95 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: she had gone to Joplin, Missouri, and that gambler Bruce 96 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: Younger Cole Younger's cousin. She found him exciting and they 97 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: started up a fling. Their relationship was actually pretty scandalous 98 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: to not just because they were unmarried and because Bruce 99 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: was considered kind of a good for nothing sort of guy, 100 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: but also because they were staying at the same hotel, 101 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: and some people spread rumors that they were even staying 102 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 1: in the same room. The hotel owner, however, confirmed that 103 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: Myra Maybel did in fact have a room of her own, 104 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: and her mom and sometimes even Pearl would come and 105 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: visit her there. Whatever the exact living situation was, though, 106 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 1: she eventually got tired of it and decided to move 107 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: into Indian Territory and visit her late husband's business associate, 108 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: Tom Starr and Bruce Younger accompanied her there and, according 109 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 1: to row must have told her at some point that 110 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: he would marry her, or at least Myra Maybel expected 111 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: this to happen, because records showed that she went ahead 112 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 1: and changed Pearl's last name from Reid to Younger. But 113 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: after a while, Bruce just got bored of Indian Territory 114 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,799 Speaker 1: and headed off for North Kansas, and according to Row's account, 115 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,159 Speaker 1: Myra Maybel was just furious at this because he'd essentially 116 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: ruined her reputation. I mean, they had traveled there together 117 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: by taking off without marrying her. So Rowl recounts a 118 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: popular story of how she got back at him, saying 119 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: that Myra Maybel followed him to Kansas on horseback, went 120 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: to the courthouse and got a marriage license, and then 121 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: she found a justice of the peace and tracked down 122 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: Bruce holding a gun to his head. She told him 123 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: she'd blow his brains out if he didn't marry her 124 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: right away in front of twenty witnesses. So of course 125 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: Bruce went along with it. It's a real shotgun wedding exactly. 126 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: And after that she ordered a beer for everyone, or 127 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: beer in general for everyone. I think she ordered a 128 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: keg or something, and then just took off and stay 129 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: for the party herself, just took off back to Indian Territory. 130 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: So that sounds like kind of an outlandish story, the 131 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: type of thing that would be more on the edge 132 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: inside of Bell Star's life. But there really is record 133 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: of the two of them getting married in Kansas on May, 134 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: so there you go, could happen. She obviously wasn't too 135 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: hung up on Bruce Younger though, because just three weeks 136 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: later there's a record of Myra Maybell marrying someone else, 137 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: and that's Sam Starr, a good looking twenty three year 138 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: old three quarter Cherokee son of Tom Starr whom we 139 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier. She was probably thirty two at the time 140 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: that she listed her age in the Cherokee Nation court 141 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: records as twenty seven. She also apparently completely ignored the 142 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: fact that she had just married Bruce Younger. Her last 143 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: name was listed in the marriage records as read Still, 144 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: and it was after she married Sam that she started 145 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: going by the name Bell Star. So, because of Sam's 146 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: Cherokee status, they could of course apply for a free 147 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: parcel of land on Indian Territory, which you couldn't do 148 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: as a white person unless you were married to a Cherokee. 149 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: So they settled in an area bordering the Canadian River 150 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: that was surrounded by clips that contained several caves, and 151 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: it was, according to Rout, known as the Younger's Bend 152 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: because the Youngers had gone there to strategize during the 153 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: Civil War, although other sources suggest Tom Star named it 154 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: that because he really admired their gang. That's kind of 155 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: a strange hypothesis to me, just because his wife dated 156 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: to two of the brothers. Yeah, although if you remember 157 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: from the previous podcast, the whole Coal Younger thing was 158 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: just a rumor, so he might not have been too upset, 159 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: and maybe Fam didn't even know about that. Maybe he didn't. 160 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: So the other thing about Younger's Bend was that it 161 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: was also seventy miles from Fort Smith, Arkansas, which is 162 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: the nearest US court, which becomes significant later on in 163 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: the podcast. And they moved into a little cabin there 164 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 1: and they set up this nice life for themselves. Sam 165 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: tended to cattle and horses and grew corn and hunted 166 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: game and really filled that responsible masculine role in Bell's 167 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: life that Jim Reid never really did, if you remember, 168 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: he was just more focused on his outlaw and chers 169 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 1: and wasn't kept him on the run and wasn't really around. 170 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: And so Sam and as Sam and Bell, they brought 171 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: Pearl up to live with them. And even though Bell 172 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: had acquired this idyllic sort of life, Bell didn't stay 173 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: completely out of trouble. No, much like her parents home 174 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: in Texas, Sam and Bell Younger's ben home became kind 175 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: of a refuge almost for outlaws. Jesse James was one 176 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: of the first to hide out with him. He stayed 177 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: with him for a couple of weeks while there was 178 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: a ten thousand dollar bounty on his head. James ended 179 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: up dying not long after that after taking a gunshot 180 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: to the back, and according to Rawle again, rumors of 181 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: his stay at Younger's Ben got out after his death, 182 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: and this just really added to Belle's reputation as an 183 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 1: outlaw herself. After you entertained, Jesse James, I mean, what 184 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: are you gonna do? But Bell didn't necessarily want to 185 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 1: be thought of in that way. She didn't want to 186 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: be connected to somebody like Jesse James, at least publicly. 187 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: She later wrote, quote on the Canadian River, I hope 188 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: to pass the remainder of my life in peace. For 189 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: a short time, I lived very happily with my little 190 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: girl and husband, but it became noised about that I 191 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: was a woman of notoriety from Texas, and from that 192 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: time on, my home and actions have been severely criticized. 193 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: My home became famous as an outlaw ranch, long before 194 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: I was visited by any of the boys who were 195 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: friends of mine. Bell's own behavior didn't always reflect this 196 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: desire for peace, though, even though it really sounds like 197 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: that's what she wanted. In the spring of eighty two, 198 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: for example, she got involved in kind of a shady 199 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: situation involving horses. The exact details of that situation as 200 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: you might imagine with the topic of this nature. They 201 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: differ quite a bit depending on what source you're looking at. 202 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: But basically, Bell and Sam had corralled some of their 203 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: horses on a neighbor's land, and suddenly the neighbor realized 204 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: that a couple of the horses they had belonged to 205 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: other people who lived in the neighborhood, and he pointed 206 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: that out to them. But Sam and Bell didn't listen 207 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: and didn't really return the horses either. Didn't react to 208 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: an innocent kind of way, like what a mistake. Exactly 209 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: give these back or let me explain why these horses 210 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: look exactly like these other people's horses. No, none of that. 211 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 1: So by July one, eighty two, Bell and Sam were 212 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: charged with horse stealing. Then on November seven, eighteen eighty two, 213 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: they both appeared in district Court at Fort Smith and 214 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: their trial was set for February or March of eighteen 215 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: eighty three, and a judge we mentioned in the Bass 216 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: Reeves podcast, the Hanging Judge, Isaac C. Parker, presided over 217 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: their trial. He got his scary nickname, if you'll remember, 218 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: from the tough sentences that he used to hand out. 219 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: But he took it easy on Bell and Sam since 220 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: it was their first conviction. So Sam was sentenced to 221 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: twelve months and Bell to two six month terms in 222 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: the House of Correction in Detroit, and Sam did mostly 223 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: hard labor while he was locked up, but Bell really 224 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: became a model prisoner. She helped tutor the other female 225 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 1: inmates who were pursuing an education, since of course she 226 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: was very well educated. According to Richard aren't It's article 227 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: in wild West, which we mentioned in the previous podcast. 228 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 1: She even charmed the warden into making her his quote assistant, 229 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 1: so she did pretty well for herself well she was 230 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: in prison, but both Sam and Bell ended up having 231 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: their sentences shortened to nine months and they were released 232 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: around Christmas eighty three. So after being convicted of something 233 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,199 Speaker 1: as serious as horse stealing, Bell really didn't want to 234 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: get in trouble like that again, and she kind of 235 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: made a promise to her daughter Pearl that she wasn't 236 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: going to get into any trouble like that again. In fact, 237 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: she sent Pearl a letter before serving her sentence that said, 238 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: and she'll be away from you a few months, baby, 239 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: and have only this consolation to offer you that never 240 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 1: again will I be placed in such humiliating circumstances. I mean, 241 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 1: I have to think she thinks a little bit of 242 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: Pearl's father too, and how he was so absent from 243 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: the family because he was always getting in trouble and 244 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: didn't want to be another parent like that. Yeah, and 245 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: it maybe also that she's thinking a little bit of 246 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: her family name. I remember, remember she came from this 247 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,199 Speaker 1: well to do kind of southern family, and she maybe thinking, yes, 248 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: I've been locked up now I want to change my ways. 249 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: So when Belle got out of prison, she really did 250 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: seem to do her best to keep this promise. Tom 251 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: Starr had kept up Younger's Bend for them, and she 252 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: and Sam took care of the spring planting, and they 253 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: brought both kids, Pearl and Eddie up to live with them. 254 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: Bell even planted a flower garden, and she was also 255 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: a model neighbor. According to Ral, she was known for 256 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: attempting to the sick in her area, even people she 257 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 1: had had altercations with people she didn't really like that much. 258 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: She would rush to their side if something was wrong 259 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: and really help out wherever she could. She still had 260 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: a restless wild side to her, though she would apparently 261 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: take frequent trips to visit friends to satisfy that, and 262 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: she couldn't connect with the other women who lived in 263 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: their neighborhood. That was kind of one disconnect that she 264 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: had with everyone around her because they weren't as educated 265 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: as her. So when she would see one of the 266 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,679 Speaker 1: women coming to visit her and chat for a while, 267 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: she would sometimes just, I guess, head out the back 268 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: door with a book and hide somewhere until they had 269 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: gone away. Well, and of course, she also still had 270 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: a bit of a soft spot for outlaw She really 271 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: admired them for the way that they lived life in 272 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: their own terms, and they were always always welcome to 273 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: visit in her home, so if she saw an outlaw coming, 274 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: she wasn't heading out the back door with a book. 275 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: But living like this, Bell managed to stay out of 276 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: trouble for at least a year, but then trouble caught 277 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: up with her again in the form of the outlawed 278 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: John Middleton, and he was wanted for horse theft and 279 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: murder and found his way to younger Spend and Bell 280 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: had probably met him through her earlier travels, maybe in 281 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: Arkansas even and Middleton ended up hiding out around Bell's 282 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: property until about April eighty five, and then when the 283 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: Stars Cabin was raided that spring, Middleton realized it was 284 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: just too dangerous to stay there. I mean, if you 285 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: start to get too much of a reputation as an 286 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: outlaw side out, the law is going to come there too. 287 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: So Bell came up with a pretty clever play end 288 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: to get Middleton out of the area. She would take 289 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: off on one of her trips to Arkansas. That was 290 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: how the plan was going to be, taking Pearl along 291 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: with her, and they traveled by covered wagon and Middleton 292 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: would hide in the back of the wagon. Sam and 293 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: Eddie were to travel along behind them for at least 294 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: part of the journey, and then when the coast was clear, 295 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: Pearl would lend Middleton her horse and he would take off. 296 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: So everything went as planned at first, but then Middleton 297 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: somehow managed to offend Pearl. They got in an argument 298 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: and she would not loan him her horse, so Belle 299 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: at the last minute had to track down another horse 300 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: for him and ended up buying the sorry old mare 301 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: that was blind in one eye. Not a good getaway horse. No, So, 302 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: as you would imagine, Middleton is not happy about this 303 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: at all, But he took the horse and fled anyway. 304 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: And that horse, covered in mud and still wearing pearl saddle. 305 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: Apparently she wouldn't loan in the horse, but she would 306 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: loan in her saddle was still It was spotted a 307 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: few days later without the writer. After a search, Middleton's 308 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: body was found. He drowned trying to cross swollen river 309 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: on the horse. Authorities also discovered something that would mean 310 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: even more trouble for Bell. The person who had sold 311 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: her that horse, that sorry old mayor, was not the owner. 312 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: It was a stolen horse, stolen one eyed horse. So 313 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: Belle was charged with larceny and a warrant was issued 314 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: for her rest in January. She ended up turning herself 315 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: in at Fort Smith and her trial was set for September. 316 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: And these events really just stoked the rumors surrounding Bell. 317 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: According to Rouse book, newspapers had a field day with 318 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: the situation, and we're coming up with all kinds of 319 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: theories about her, including pretty delicious ones that she had 320 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: been Middleton's mistress and that she ran a gang of 321 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: cattle thieves. But in the meantime, Sam who seemed so 322 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: domestic a little earlier in the episode wasn't really helping 323 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: matters very much. She had already been implicated in the 324 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: hold up of a U. S Mail hack, and then 325 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: in February he was accused of being one of three 326 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: men who robbed several farm settlements. So again a witness 327 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 1: identified another one of the three, the three who robbed 328 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: these farm settlements as a woman dressed as a man, 329 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: specifically as Bell Starts. So Bell suddenly had some heat 330 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: on her. Yeah, she's wanted, her husband's wanted. Sam managed 331 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,359 Speaker 1: to evade the authorities for a while. I mean they 332 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: were in Younger's Bend, but remember they have these caves, 333 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: those caves all around them to hide in, so he 334 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: somehow manages to get away every time they come around 335 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: looking for them. But Bell was arrested for the crime 336 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: in mid May, and it's while she was in Fort 337 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: Smith entering her not guilty ply for this crime that 338 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: she kicked off another legend about herself. She had her 339 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: photo taken that May with a murderer called Blue Duck. 340 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: According to both Row's work and Arnot's article, this is 341 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 1: really the only time she ever met Blue Duck, but 342 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: the fact that they're in this photo together gave biographers 343 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: an excuse to link her to him, suggesting that she 344 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,120 Speaker 1: may have been his mistress, and that she even retained 345 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: an attorney who helped him avoid the death sentence. And 346 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: I couldn't help wondering here, since I end up mentioning 347 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: Linesome Dove in so many of these Wild West episodes 348 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: because things remind me of them. Uh, Blue Duck is is, 349 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: of course the famous murderer and the kidnapper in Lonesome Dove. 350 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 1: And I wondered a little bit if maybe this Blue 351 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 1: Duck was some sort of inspiration for that character. I 352 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: think that may be likely, and I think it's also 353 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,239 Speaker 1: easy to see how even though she didn't know this 354 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: person and another again, it's an affiliation with an outlaw, 355 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: of affiliation with a notorious character um even through just 356 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: a picture that helped add to Bell's reputation, and an 357 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: outlaw of a different sort, maybe than some of the 358 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: earlier men she had been hanging out with, maybe a 359 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: worse sort, worse, more disturbing, more psychotic kind of sort. 360 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 1: Just a side note, there was another famous photo taken 361 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: around this time, that of her wearing a riding costume 362 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: sitting side saddle on a horse, and if you google 363 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,719 Speaker 1: Bell Star you may actually see this pretty interesting photo 364 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: to look at. But Bell had her own legal matters 365 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: to attend to, of course, and she had at this 366 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: point been indicted for two crimes and had to stand 367 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: trial for both over the next couple of months, but 368 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 1: she wasn't convicted in either. Ultimately, that initial horse stuff 369 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: that she went to prison for was the only thing 370 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: that she ever served time for, but she had some 371 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: pretty serious family matters to deal with at this point. 372 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,400 Speaker 1: She returned to Indian Territory and found Sam, still trying 373 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: to avoid the authorities, had been shot and badly wounded, 374 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: and she finally convinced him to turn himself in, thinking 375 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: that it would just be safer if he did so. 376 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: But before his trial date actually came around, Sam got 377 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 1: into a confrontation with the same neighborhood initially gotten him 378 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: in Bell in trouble for horse theft, and Sam and 379 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: the neighbor ended up shooting each other dead December. So 380 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: that was a big blow to Bell, not just because 381 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: she lost her husband, but without Sam in the picture, 382 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: she no longer had a legitimate claim to her land. 383 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: But she really liked her land. She loved the home 384 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 1: that they built there, and she really wanted to stay. 385 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: So she had to think of a creative way of 386 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: solving that problem, and she did just that, and the 387 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 1: answer was marrying twenty four year old Bill July. You 388 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: sometimes see his name as Jim July or Jim Starr. 389 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: I think he went by different aliases or nicknames. And 390 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: he was a Creek Indian who was an adopted son 391 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: of Tom Star. That didn't solve all of Bell's problems, though, 392 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: her kids were going through some stuff as well. Her 393 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: son Eddie, who was almost seventeen when Bell remarried, didn't 394 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: accept her new husband at all. I think that he 395 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,360 Speaker 1: had really connected with Sam. And when this new guy 396 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: came into the picture, he was only a few years 397 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: older than him, he just wasn't having it. And Pearl 398 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: had been dating a young man that Bell didn't a 399 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: proof of because his family wasn't wealthy. So that created 400 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: kind of another issue in an issue in which Bell 401 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: doesn't really come up looking that great well now, And 402 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: and the deal with Pearl really got out of hand 403 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: because when the boy asked for Pearl's hand in marriage, 404 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: Bell turned him down and then sent Pearl away to 405 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 1: visit friends, and then while Pearl was gone, she concocted 406 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,120 Speaker 1: a fake letter to the boy from Pearl saying that 407 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: Pearl had married she Pearl had married somebody else and 408 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: signed Pearl's name to it, so tricking this kid. He 409 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,239 Speaker 1: ended up being so hurt that he went off and 410 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: married another girl. Learning about her former boyfriend's marriage really 411 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: crushed Pearl, but eventually both she and this man learned 412 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:40,920 Speaker 1: what had happened, and they saw each other a few 413 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,640 Speaker 1: times secretly. Pearl ended up getting pregnant and leaving home 414 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 1: to live with her Reed family because Bell was so 415 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,880 Speaker 1: angry she wanted her to give up that baby, because 416 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:51,640 Speaker 1: the whole point was that she wanted her to marry 417 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: someone else. She wanted her to marry someone with money, 418 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: someone who had a future. So I just think this 419 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: is interesting because throughout Bell's life story, this seems to 420 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: be one of her redeeming qualities is that she loves 421 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,880 Speaker 1: her kids, especially Pearl. It seems, you know, she's really 422 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: a devoted a mother, but this story just makes her 423 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,640 Speaker 1: seem really controlling and kind of diabolical. Yeah, it got 424 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,919 Speaker 1: out of hand clearly, but trouble with Law kept on 425 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: following them too, so Bell had more than just these 426 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,959 Speaker 1: family problems to worry about. She tried to avoid it, 427 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: but in June of eight seven, Bill July was arrested 428 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: and indicted for horse theft, and in July of her 429 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: son Eddie was charged with the same thing. So it 430 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: was everybody was everybody was an outlaw. Now they weren't 431 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: just harboring them right. Meanwhile, Bell was renting out the 432 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: land your Younger's ben to various farmers. She had entered 433 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: into a rental agreement with Mr Edgar Watson, but then 434 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: later found out through his wife that he was wanted 435 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,680 Speaker 1: for murder in Florida. And at this point she really 436 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: was not interested in harboring random fugitives anymore, especially ones 437 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: that weren't part of her family or her friends, because 438 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 1: she didn't want to face arrest or trial herself, so 439 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: she tried to back out of the steel with Watson, 440 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: but since she had already accepted payment from him, he 441 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: would not budge. So finally she sort of obliquely or 442 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,400 Speaker 1: maybe not so obliquely, threatened him, saying, quote, I don't 443 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: suppose the United States officers would trouble you, but the 444 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: Florida officers might and that really did it. Watson was 445 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: furious and he did leave. He settled on another farm nearby, 446 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: but he was very, very upset about this. And then 447 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: on February two nine, Belle accompanied her husband part of 448 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: the way to Fort Smith, where he was going to 449 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: stand trial for those horse theft charges, and after doing 450 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: a little bit of shopping, she headed back home the 451 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: next day, stopping at a neighbor's place for a bit 452 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 1: to eat and socialize along the way. After she left 453 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: the neighbor's house, she headed back toward a younger spend 454 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 1: on horseback, and when she turned onto the river lane 455 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: that would take her back home, she was shot at 456 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: least twice, causing her to fall from her horse. Neighbors 457 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: discovered her and came to her side, but she died 458 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 1: they're on the lane. Most people, of course, suspected Watson 459 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 1: of being the one who shot Bell. He, as we mentioned, 460 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: had that grudge against her, and the shooting happened right 461 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 1: near the farm where he was living at the time. 462 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: There were even tracks from the scene that led toward 463 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: his cabin, but the trail ended before they got to 464 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: the building, so they couldn't definitively prove it. According to 465 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: Row the murder weapon later on even turned out to 466 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: be one of his guns. But ultimately, even though Watson 467 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: was jailed for the crime, he had his lawyer's help 468 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: and was able to convince the judge that all of 469 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 1: the evidence was completely circumstantial. There were no witnesses around, 470 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: so there was nobody to prove otherwise. And there are 471 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: a few other potential suspects to including July Bell had 472 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: supposedly caught him having an affair with the Cherokee girl, 473 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: and then Eddie and Pearl too, just because things had 474 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: gotten so rough with with their whole situation. Yeah, Eddie 475 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: and Pearl were both unhappy because of fights that she 476 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: had had with both of them. Obviously, Pearl had the 477 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: whole relationship situation and the baby that wasn't accepted into 478 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,159 Speaker 1: her family, but they were there for Bell. In the end. 479 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,719 Speaker 1: There was a funeral for her, to which the family 480 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: and several outlaws came to pay their respects. I mean, 481 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,840 Speaker 1: even though she was a controversial figure, she had a 482 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 1: lot of friends and a lot of people who came 483 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: to her funeral. Later, Pearl had a stone wall erected 484 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: around Belle's grave and there was a headstone that read, 485 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: shed not for her the bitter tear, nor give the 486 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: heart to vain regret, because but the casket that lies 487 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: here the gem that filled its sparkles. Yet, so after 488 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: Bell's death, her fame really started to spread far and wide, 489 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: and pretty quickly too. Raw notes that it started with 490 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: an obituary sent by the Fort Smith newspaper The Elevator 491 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 1: to several newspapers in the eastern United States, and many 492 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: of the papers just ignored the obituary, you know, who 493 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 1: is this random lady from the West. But the New 494 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: York Times ran it under the headline quote a desperate 495 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: woman killed, and parts of it read Belle is the 496 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: wife of Cole Younger Jim Star, which is spelled incorrectly. 497 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: Her second husband was shot down by the side of 498 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: Bell less than two years ago. Bell Star married Cole 499 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: Younger directly after the war, but left him and joined 500 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,440 Speaker 1: a band of outlaws that operated in the Indian Territory. 501 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 1: She had been arrested for murder and robbery a score 502 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: of times but always managed to escape, So that definitely 503 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: built up the bandit queen legend, and things just kind 504 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: of spiraled from there. An editor and publisher named Richard K. 505 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: Fox saw the New York Times obituary, got interested, and 506 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 1: by eighteen eighty nine he'd written a paperback called Bell Star, 507 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: The Bandit Queen or the Female Jesse James and most 508 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: now seemed to consider Fox's work as having been largely fictionalized, 509 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: but for years a lot of people regarded it as biography. Later, writers, 510 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 1: including William Harmon, who wrote a book about Judge parker In, 511 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: even used Fox's book as a source material for their 512 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: own accounts of Bell's life, and later on to movies, 513 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: including the ninety one film Bell Star, compounded this sensationalized take. Actually, 514 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: if you look at pictures of Bell Star, you're going 515 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: to find that side full one and then a lot 516 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:14,560 Speaker 1: of movie pictures. Um. Finally, though, in the nineteen eighties, 517 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: researchers started trying to get at her real story, you know, 518 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: what was behind this obviously fictional obituary and the later 519 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: admittedly fictionalized accounts of her work, and interviewed or descendants 520 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,679 Speaker 1: and looked into legal records and letters for clues, you know, 521 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,639 Speaker 1: trying to find out what really happened. And it's still 522 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: kind of hard to get quite at who she was. 523 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: But it seems like even if she wasn't truly an 524 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: outlaw queen, she certainly did have an outlaw spirit, She 525 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: had outlaw potential she did. It seems like she had 526 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:51,640 Speaker 1: conflicting desires to be a um a ranch wife and 527 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: be a bandit queen. And I think that's kind of 528 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: summed up in in this quote that I like from 529 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: Bell that she gave to a reporter a couple of 530 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: years before her death, she said, I regard myself as 531 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: a woman who's seen much of life, and I think, 532 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: no matter what's true and what's fiction about her, that's 533 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: kind of hard to deny. Well, and she's almost the 534 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: kind of person who you like to imagine there are 535 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: some of these accounts that will just never know about. 536 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 1: I mean, it does add to a person's legend if 537 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 1: there's still a little obscure after all of this research 538 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 1: that's been put into them, that's very true. Well that's 539 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: all about all we have on Bell's life, on Bell 540 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: Star's life. If you would like to, I don't know, 541 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: maybe add your own Bell Star stories to the mix, 542 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,880 Speaker 1: or give us your best fictionalized account of Bell Star 543 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: that we haven't looked into or mentioned yet, or your 544 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: favorite movie of the wild West. We were talking about 545 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 1: Western's earlier today, so I'm curious as to ones that 546 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: people like because I'm always wondering which ones I should 547 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: check out. I didn't watch a lot of like my youth. 548 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: We'll need to check out the Bell Star movie. We'll 549 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: have to check out the Bell Star movie. I actually 550 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: haven't seen that. So if you have any suggestions like 551 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: that for We're just any suggestions at all. Maybe you 552 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: don't have anything that's wild West, but you just want 553 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 1: to request a different sort of episode, feel free to 554 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: write us. We are at History Podcast at Discovery dot com, 555 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 1: or you can look us up on Facebook and we're 556 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: on Twitter at Miston History and appropriately enough for a 557 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,480 Speaker 1: story about a woman who was on the run some 558 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 1: of our life. We do have an article on bounty hunting. 559 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: You can imagine again Belle saying I don't know who 560 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: he is and you'll never get that bounty. Um. You 561 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: can think all of that while you read our article 562 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: how bounty Hunting works by searching for it on our 563 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: homepage at www dot house stuff works dot com. Be 564 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from 565 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore 566 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The house, 567 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: stuff works, iPhone up has a ride down with it 568 00:29:53,960 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: Today on iTunes, didn't