The Bandit Queen Steals Husband Number Three!
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're continuing with the story of Belle Starr who was branded "The Bandit Queen" after her many successful robberies in the Old West.
In the last post we left off with Belle's 2nd husband Sam getting shot to death by an Indian policeman. This put her in a bad position because under Cherokee law she was no longer a legal resident of the reservation. In fact, she was considered an "intruder" and would have to leave.
She was legal as long as she was married to an Indian. But she was not accepted on her own. The nation was obligated to pay her for any improvements which she had made on the property however.
Well, to move was not an acceptable option for Belle. I mean this was her home. So she did what any resourceful woman would do..she grabbed herself another Indian so she could stay in her home!
She had others to think about
I haven't mentioned her daughter Pearl because Pearl had been staying with relatives most of her life but she had recently moved in with Belle and was there at the dance the night Sam was killed. She was 19 years old now.
Not only that but Belle also had a son, Eddie, from her first marriage to Reed and he also had just moved in with Belle and he was 17. He had been staying with his dad's relatives in Arkansas.
Not a happy home
Needless to say neither of the kids was thrilled with Belle bringing in another man even after Belle explained that she was forced to in order to keep their home. The new man was sort of an adopted son of Tom Starr, Sam's dad, and he was a Cherokee of course and 24 years old. lol.
That was a little like robbing the cradle as Belle was now 39, fifteen years older. His name was July and his age made him only 5 years older than Pearl! Under Cherokee law when a man and woman moved in together they were considered man and wife. So this was an easy, simple fix for Belle.
July of course, was a common horse thief and was already in trouble with the law!
Here's a drawing of July, I don't think he ever had his photo taken:
More surprises
Another situation arrived when Pearl got pregnant. It's a big deal these days but back then, to get pregnant outside of wedlock was a scandalous thing and a very big deal! Pearl wouldn't tell who the boy was for fear that Belle would kill him!
Belle decided to solve this problem by taking Pearl to see relatives in Arkansas and stay there a few months. Belle had investigated on her own and found out who the boy was and wrote him a letter while they were in Arkansas as if it was from Pearl, breaking up with him.
By the time they got back home Pearl was crushed to find the boy had married someone else because Belle's letter was so affective. Now all Belle had to do was convince Pearl to give the baby up for adoption and she'd be able to start her life out right by marrying a man with some substance. Is Belle a control freak or what??
The only problem was Pearl would not listen to her and ran off to her Grandmother's house in Arkansas and had the baby. She also swore that she never wanted to see her mother again.
Pearl was also strong willed, determined and independent. Gee I wonder who she got that from?
I know this is starting to sound like a Soap Opera but it gets worse! Her story continues in the next post.
Thanks for reading folks!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
Your dad's cell number has nothing to do with a phone!
lol. God bless you all!
One big happy family.
I'm surprised Belle just didn't kill the boy.
haha! sir bigsweed! well sir, I don't think she was a homicidal maniac, just a bad parent ...very dysfunctional in that department, I bet you've seen too many of those being around parents and kids and such.
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STOPA soap opera indeed! I'm just relieved that July was not not the father of Pearl's baby. Now that would have really better soap opera!
Haha! Oh man, yeah it isn't quite that bad at least! lol. Did you ever watch soap operas? I did when I was in my late 20's and working in a factory. I'd work 2nd shift and get up late and turn on the tv and the only thing on would be stupid soap operas! lol. so I started watching General Hospital.
I had plenty of credits my senior year in high school and that allowed me to be done with classes early. Me and my best friend would leave school at 2pm in order to get to her house to watch General Hospital. I watched for a couple of years.
Both of my grandma's were soap addicts. I remember at one family dinner my grandmother telling my mom about what happened on that day's episode when my dad walked into the room. He listened with rapt attention and was just totally astonished. Practically had a tear running down his cheek. And then he realized she was talking about a TV show and not someone in the family. I can still remember him saying blankety-blank mom! I had no idea that you were talking about a blankety soap opera!
Hahaha! oh man that is too funny! Yes that has happened countless times to people. I thought they were hilarious and never got too involved but they were highly entertaining because they were so ridiculous!
Grandma took them and their problems very seriously! They were always over-the-top, weren't they?
ha! Melinda, you mean your grandma thought those were real problems they were having on there?
I don't I think she thought they were real. But she got so involved with the characters that she really liked some of them and some of them made her so angry, and she really got pulled into the show.
I understand, it is very addictive. But you didn't get that way? Hey I saw that you tore up the c-squared contest last week! great job. I didn't even try last week, too busy so I just concentrated on curie and came in 4th I think but I didn't start commenting until Wednesday.
Each time you said howdy from North Texas, I figured we were in Belle’s town. I didn’t realize that’s where you writing from!
And that’s not supposed to be funny @janton! Stop it.
howdy tonight sir dandays! Sorry for the confusion and what's not supposed to be funny, deceiving people? lol...Hey Belle lived fairly close to us, just about 2.5 hours away. How's your day been?
Never ending excitement in Belle's house!
Haha - good redneck joke janton!
haha! abou the joke yes I thought that was a good one too! As far as her house, no there was always something going on, usually not healthy stuff!
Like mother, like daughter. :-)
ha! yes sir Vincent, it doesn't take a psychologist to see that Belle's poor daughter was probably going to be headstrong and have problems herself. It gets much worse too.
You been watching the Walking Dead? What's your take? I think there's going to be another huge battle in the future and Ricks going to show up out of the blue to kill Negan in the end which will be a battle neither will survive if they really are going to kill off Ricks character.
howdy there sunlit7! oh wow that would be wild, actually that would be a pretty good way to end Negan, I'm getting tired of that guy. But I doubt if they will do anything that cool but I think they should have Rick come back for something like that, I've read that he was never coming back and that doesn't seem right!
His never coming back was meant as in this was going to be his last season, they claimed he'd get die...was the outrage to much and they sent him off to where ever? ...is it a play in a dramatic end that will see him coming back and taking out Negan before the end of this season? I doubt they would lay claim in the future he suffered some amnesia from being blown off the bridge, which is pliable but the garbage lady was seen flying off with him so she'd help connect those dots back together. I was shocked they killed Jesus off, or it came as a shocker, seems the way they are talking we will see more deaths of the regular crew before the end of the season. It will be interesting to see how the end to this season will unfold when it comes back after the new year.
wow sunlit7 you should be a writer on one of these shows! I'm serious. I haven't thought of this stuff and that's some darn good reasoning and plotting there. I was not happy about them killing off Jesus but after awhile I sort of stop caring about the characters if they keep killing the main one's off. Why let yourself get to like them if they're just gonna get killed off? But yes it will be interesting to see what happens when it comes back in ...what Febuary?
I think they said Feb 6th but don't quote me on that. It's those shock factors though that keep people tied to the show I think. I'd paid to see the look on my face when they killed off Jesus, I definitely didn't see that coming. I still think they have to have a delicate balance though concerning how many main characters they can let go during any given season, along the same rationalization that keeps people coming back for the shock value, it's not the only contributing factor, people develop an emotional bond to the characters that also keep them coming back...without enough time to build that bond with new characters they can only let so many of the old ones go at a time.
Hello Janton...
Like total WOW..!!!!!!
This is better than any Soap Opera..!!
😄 (:
haha! well howdy miss annephilbrick! I'm glad you like it, there is quite a bit of turmoil in Belle's life at this point so there's more drama coming!
Eh... just tell me how many husbands she had...
haha! howdy blacklux! well at this point she's had three. Why, are you jealous?
Hell no! 1 husband is enough trouble already! ahahah
haha! Ok blacklux I understand..lol.. I didn't know you were married, what does he do for a living?
I wonder what they called helicopter moms back then. Buzzard moms?
lol! probably sir madgoat. very clever way you have with words. Does your better half appreciate that?
It's what made her fall in love with me. It's also why she hates me now.
Women, amiright?
ha! oh man, I don't want to laugh at that but it's quite true. Well what can you do to make it better for her?