Born 5 Feb 1848 in Carthage, Missouri,United States

Ancestors

Wife of Jim Reed — married 1 Nov 1866 (to 6 Aug 1874) in Collin, Texas, United States

Wife of Bruce (Wilson) Younger — married 15 May 1880 (to 1880) in Chetopa, Labette, Kansas, United States

Wife of Sam Starr — married about 5 Jun 1880 (to 17 Dec 1886) in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, United States

Wife of Jim July — married about 1887 in Indian Territory, United States [uncertain]

Died 3 Feb 1889 at age 40 in near King Creek, Indian Territory

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Myra (Shirley) Starr was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. Westward Ho! Join: Wild Wild West Project Discuss: wild_wild_west

Belle Starr 'Bandit Queen' had associations with many nineteenth century western American criminals, including the James-Younger gang. Starr's notoriety grew after being convicted of horse theft in 1883 along with her third husband Sam Starr. Her life ended violently in 1889 when shot multiple times, including in the face, by an unknown assailant. No one was ever convicted of her murder.

Biography

Myra (Shirley) Starr was involved in the "Wild, Wild West," part of the westward expansion of the United States. Join the Wild Wild West Project.

Myra (Shirley) Starr is Notable.

Myra Maybelle Shirley was born February 5, 1848, near Carthage, Missouri, the third child of John Shirley and Elizabeth Pennington. Her family nickname was May. John Shirley, from Virginia, had married twice prior to meeting Elizabeth Pennington and marrying her May 11, 1837 in Indiana. The couple soon moved to a farm near Carthage to raise their family.^[1] After May, they added several more sons and moved from the farm into town,^[2] running a string of adjacent businesses in Carthage. As May grew, she studied piano and received an education at the Carthage Female Academy in her home city.

May adored her elder brother John “Bud” Shirley who was six years older. It was Bud who taught her to ride a horse and shoot. Skills that would later become useful to her in practical ways but would also bolster her infamous image. With the Civil War looming and Missouri a divided border state, the family’s calm existence soon changed. About the time of 1861’s Battle of Carthage, May’s father encouraged Bud, nearly twenty years old, to become active in the Confederate efforts in southwest Missouri. Soon Bud was riding with Quantrill’s Raiders, a group who were called partisans by some and bushwhackers by Union sympathizers. May’s brother continued as a Raider until he was killed in 1864 at Sarcoxie, Missouri, when Union troops surrounded a house of a Confederate sympathizer. Bud attempting to escape, was shot and killed. It was through the association of Bud with Quantrill that May became acquainted with other members of the Raiders, including Frank James, Cole Younger, and Jim Reed.

After Carthage was attacked and losing their businesses, the Shirley Family moved to a more hospitable area with likeminded citizens. Located in southeast Dallas County, Texas, the town of Scyene (annexed to Dallas in 1950) was not only a place to start over, but it was here the family again met up with the James, Younger, and Reed men from Missouri. Just one year after the end of the war, May, now about eighteen, married Jim Reed November 1, 1866.^[3] Her father John died the next year.

Jim and May Reed made a try at farming in the Sceyne area, and she gave birth to their first child, Rosie Lee (aka Pearl), two years later. However, Jim had not completely stopped his marauding, continuing to be involved with the James, Youngers and others. Soon Jim was wanted for murder in Arkansas. To escape the law, Jim and May moved to California. During their short time there, May gave birth to a son, James Edwin, in 1871 (she may also have had a daughter that died prior to James).^[4] Again, Jim found trouble and they were forced to leave California, returning to Texas. May did not wish to be a part of Jim’s recklessness and left him, returning to her Mother’s home with the children. Jim continued to ride with the wrong crowd, which now included the Starr family, a Cherokee clan known for whiskey running, and cattle and horse theft in the Indian Territory. In April 1874, after a stagecoach was robbed by Jim and others, her husband was killed in August of that year in Paris, Texas.

With her father deceased and her mother in a poor financial position, May took her children to Missouri where they lived with her former in-laws, the Reeds, for a time. About 1878 an uncle of the Younger boys, Bruce Younger, took an interest in the widow as they were similar in age. Throughout 1879 the two were seen in and around Joplin, Missouri and Galena, Kansas, presumably as a married couple.^[5] However, the record of their marriage states a wedding date of May 15, 1880.^[6] Little else is known of their short relationship and biographers speculate Bruce had soured on the prospect of any domestication of his lifestyle. The wedding seems to be a last effort on May's part to secure a future with Younger.

In just three short weeks May (Reed/Younger), now called “Belle”, had rekindled a connection with Sam Starr, a man she knew through Jim Reed’s involvement with the Starr clan years earlier. Whatever the circumstance of this whirlwind relationship, Sam and Belle were married June 5, 1880,^[7] and living in the Indian Territory. At this point in the life of Myra Maybelle, events seemed to destine her to become the “Belle Starr” of legend. Once again, Belle was settled, and stories seem to indicate the couple appeared to be making a go of ranching in a remote corner of the Cherokee Nation, near the Canadian River, they called Younger's Bend. That is until Sam and Belle were charged with horse theft in 1883 after they were found with a neighbor’s horses following a local roundup. Both were brought to Fort Smith, Arkansas for trial in the court of 'Hanging Judge' Isaac C. Parker, who found them guilty, sentencing them to serve nine months at the Detroit House of Corrections in Detroit, Michigan.

Now a convicted thief, trouble seemed to swirl around Belle pushing her into risky actions. Relationships with her children ebbed. Interlopers to Indian Territory threatened the peace which led to confrontations. Another theft charge in 1886 was dismissed, but Sam was involved in a gunfight with Frank West^[8] on December 17, 1886 and both men were killed. Through all of this, it is said Belle's marriage to Sam was the happiest relationship in her life, so this would have been devastating for Belle. As a non-Cherokee Belle Starr was not allowed to hold the land she and Sam lived on. The tribal courts were forcing her to leave, so she married a relative of Sam’s, Jim July aka Jim Starr, who was 15 years younger than Belle. The marriage allowed her to keep her residence on tribal land.^[9] Her son Ed was not happy with her choices, or how his mother treated him. Her daughter Pearl was interested in marriage, but Belle did not approve of the suitor, so this also created conflict in the family.

Belle was just 41 years old when she was ambushed and killed on February 3, 1889^[10] while riding home from a neighbor’s house. She was shot in the back, neck, shoulder and face. The killer is thought to have used her own double barrel shotgun to perpetuate the act, grabbing the weapon after she fell off her horse. Although there were a number of suspects including her husband Jim July and both of her children, only one person was tried for the murder, Edgar J. Watson, a neighbor she removed as sharecropper on her land. The supposed motive was his fear she was going to turn him in to the authorities as an escaped murderer from Florida. Watson was acquitted,^[11] and no one was ever convicted of the murder.

In Her Own Words

"I regard myself as a woman who has seen much of life" ~ Belle Star to the Fort Smith Elevator a year before her death.

She also said: "I am a friend to any brave and gallant outlaw."

A Legend Borne of Myth

Belle's Tombstone

Belle Starr was largely unknown outside the Cherokee Nation, Dallas, and parts of Arkansas when she died. Soon, however, newspaper reports of her death were picked up by Richard K. Fox, the publisher of the National Police Gazette. When he published Bella Starr, the Bandit Queen, or the Female Jesse James (1889), a twenty-five-cent novel based loosely on her life, the legends began. ~ Frontier Times^[12]

The book (Bandit Queen) was first published in 1889, the same year she was mysteriously murdered. Creative license added more romance to Belle Starr’s past and extended to her story. Much of it was a complete fabrication, including invented texts from "her journal." ~ Atlas Obscura^[13]

The life of Myra Maybelle Shirley, better known as Belle Starr, has been romanticized by many writers and, of course, by Hollywood. The appeal of a ‘lovely lady’ leading thieves and rustlers has been powerful through the years, often too powerful to allow facts to spoil the stories. Many tales were published by the National Police Gazette in the 19th century, and other publications picked up on the intriguing copy. Fraudulent biographies, spiced by bogus letters and entries from Belle’s diaries, sold for 25 cents. The fascinating, often fantastic, stories led to the myth and legend of Belle Starr. ~ Richard D. Arnott^[14]

• Legends of America - Belle Starr - The Bandit Queen

• National Parks Service - Belle Starr - A Black Widow?

• "Hell on the Border: He Hanged Eighty-Eight Men" S.W. Harman 1898 ISBN 0803223625

Popular Culture

Bubble Gum Trading Card ca 1960

• "Belle Starr" (1941) Film, Brief Synopsis: A Southern belle turns outlaw when her family loses their land. Gene Tierney as Belle Starr.

• "Son of Belle Starr" (1953) Film, Brief Synopsis: The son of the notorious female bandit Belle Starr wants to live an honest life, but finds himself getting drawn into his mother's old profession. Keith Larson as The Kid.

• "The Belle Starr Story" (1968) Film (Italy), Brief Synopsis: Abused and dominated by men in her youth, Belle Starr now out-rides, out-smokes, out-shoots, and out-gambles them as she makes her way around the Old West, usually wearing male garb. Elsa Martinelli as Belle Starr.

• "Belle Starr" (1980) TV Movie, Brief Synopsis: Belle Star is a bandit with an itch to ride with the outlaw legends, the James gang, the Youngers and the Dalton boys. Elizabeth Montgomery as Belle Starr.

• "Slocum and Belle Starr" (Slocum Series #368) Jake Logan, Fiction, New York: Jove Books, 2009. Print. ISBN 0515147265 Synopsis: John Slocum has jumped into the saddle with more than his share of memorable ladies. But the bodacious Belle Starr might just give him the ride of his life. She's a pistol-packing prairie princess with an outlaw's wiles and a wild streak a mile wide. And Slocum's about to learn--the hard way--that when you hitch yourself to a shooting Starr, you might get burned…

• Jewelry Collection, Belle Starr Accessories, takes its name from this notable rebel.

Biographical Resources

• Belle Starr and Her Times: the Literature, the Facts, and the Legends - Glenn Shirley, University of Oklahoma Press, 1982. ISBN 0806117133
  • Who was Belle Starr? What was she that so many myths surround her? Born in Carthage, Missouri, in 1848, the daughter of a well-to-do hotel owner, she died forty-one years later, gunned down near her cabin in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. After her death she was called “a bandit queen,” “a female Jesse James,” “the Petticoat Terror of the Plains.” Fantastic legends proliferated about her. In this book Glenn Shirley sifts through those myths and unearths the facts.

• Starr Tracks: Belle and Pearl Starr - Phillip W. Steele, Pelican Pub. Co., 1992. ISBN 0882897233
  • Starr Tracks tells the exciting story of two colorful characters of the Old West, and includes detailed genealogical information about the descendants of Belle and Pearl Starr. Separating fact from myth, the book gives an intriguing glimpse into the lives of American women on the wild frontier.

• Belle Starr: A Bad Rap for the Bandit Queen (Listen: Part 1 23 minutes Part 2 35 minutes) - Deblina Chakraborty and Sarah Dowdey, Podcast: Stuff You Missed in History Class. 26 Mar 2012. How Stuff Works.com (web). 8 Nov 2016
  • Belle Starr is often remembered as a notorious outlaw who spent her free time carousing in saloons. But new accounts suggest that, while she wasn't a saint, she also wasn't the "female Jesse James" some biographers made her out to be. So what's the truth?

• “The Legend of Belle Starr - Queen of the Oklahoma Outlaws.” Ron and Sue Wall's Family History Site, 11 June 2020,
  • The true story of outlaw queen Belle Starr, a frequent visitor to Fort Smith from Younger's Bend in the Indian Territory; documented by traditional genealogy research

Sources

1. ↑ United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDZZ-J99 : 12 April 2016), Myra Shirley, Jasper county, part of, Jasper, Missouri, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
2. ↑ United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHZQ-LFC : 14 December 2017), Myra Shirley in entry for John Shirley, 1860.
3. ↑ "Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K61P-84Q : 23 February 2021), James C Reece and Mina M Shirley, 01 Nov 1866; citing Marriage, citing Collin, Texas, United States, Texas State Library, Archives Division, and various Texas county clerks; FHL microfilm 1,289,595.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN6J-28W : 10 March 2021), Mary M Reed in entry for James Reed, 1870.
5. ↑ Caldwell, Bill. “Belle Starr Was Her Own Woman.” The Joplin Globe, 29 Feb. 2020, https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/bill-caldwell-belle-starr-was-her-own-woman/article_be989c66-6523-53f5-974a-c1612c164a25.html.
6. ↑ Kansas County Marriages, 1855-1911, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29Q-QK3L : 25 September 2017), Bruce Younger and Maibelle Reed, 15 May 1880; citing Marriage, Labette, Kansas, United States, district clerk, court clerk, county clerk and register offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,433,307.
7. ↑ Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Marriage, Citizenship and Census Records, 1841-1927 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Samuel Starr and Mrs. Bell Reed, 5 Jun 1880; citing Marriage, Cherokee Nation, Canadian Dist. Original data: Indian Marriage and Other Records, 1850–1920. Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
8. ↑ ODMP.org - Police Officer Frank West - United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Division of Law Enforcement, U.S. Government End of Watch - Friday, December 17, 1886
9. ↑ ^{[citation needed]}
10. ↑ This day in History - Feb 3, 1889 Belle Starr murdered in Oklahoma
11. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #6110 Edgar J. Watson In 1889, he was suspected of killing the notorious female outlaw Belle Starr, was put on trial, but nothing came of it and he was acquitted
12. ↑ Frontier Tmes.com - Myra Maybelle Shirley (Belle) Starr 1848-1889 Died age 40
13. ↑ Meier, Allison. “Belle Starr the Bandit Queen: How a Southern Girl Became a Legendary Western Outlaw.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 31 May 2013, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/belle-starr-the-bandit-queen.
14. ↑ Arnott, Richard D. “Belle Starr.” HistoryNet, HistoryNet, 9 Aug. 2016, www.historynet.com/belle-starr.htm.

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Belle Star

• Wikidata: Item Q238789, en:Wikipedia

• Oklahoma Historical Society

• Find A Grave: Memorial #975