The Gem That Sparkles Yet

Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas! My series of the famous female outlaw Belle Starr is coming to an end because in my lost post she was shot in cold blood and died in the road. She was only 41 years old.

Her husband, July, was sent a telegraph the next morning and told of her murder. He was in Fort Smith to appear in court about a horse theft charge but was able to make it back home that evening, Belle's body had just been brought back to her cabin.

Her friends prepare the body

A group of ladies from the neighborhood, her friends, prepared her body by washing it and anointing it with terpentine and oil of cinnamon. They dressed her in her best riding outfit and placed her in a wooden coffin which was lined in black cloth with white lace.

She was also laid in with her arms crossed but with one of her hands grasping the handle of her favorite revolver. That's something you don't see these days, being buried with your favorite pistol!

Her grave was dug in the rocky ground right there in front of her cabin with pick axes and shovels. The next day the funeral was held but this is not like one I've ever heard of.

The non-ceremony funeral

There was no priest, minister or any religious leader who lead a ceremony. In fact there was no ceremony at all which really surprised me since she was married to a Cherokee man and she was on the reservation and had many Cherokee and Choctaw friends.

The coffin had been sitting in the cabin when a group of grim, heavily armed Indians brought it out and laid it beside the grave and set the lid aside so people could view the body. The Cherokee who were there each dropped a piece of corn bread in the coffin as in tradition with an ancient custom.

There were a great variety of people there...white's, Indians, some of the outlaws which Belle had helped over the years. After her kids, Pearl and Eddie, had spent some time alone with her the lid was put on and her body was lowered into the grave and covered up.

The grave site is still there today and is on private land but I think you can drive down the road and visit it, there are road signs which point the way, it's close to Stigler, OK.

Here's what it looks like today:

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That plain tombstone isn't supposed to be plain. In fact you can see bolt holes in the bottom where another piece used to be connected to it. Pearl had a sculptor carve a marble tombstone which I show below but it's been removed. I hate to be a pessimist but I think someone probably stole it.

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It shows a bell and a star and that is Belle's favorite Mare, Venus, along with an inscription written by Pearl which I found extremely beautiful, interesting and full of faith which reads:

"Shed not for her the bitter tear,
Nor give the heart to vain regret;
'Tis but the casket that lies here,
The gem that filled it sparkles yet."

Her story is not over yet and will continue on the next post.

Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas