The Belle Star Saga: It Ain't Her Fault!

Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!

When we were together last we left off with Belle Reed gettin hitched to
Sam Starr and they were starting a new life together.. with Pearl, Belle’s
Daughter, in an idyllic location for them all.

They had privacy, rich soil, plentiful game, a fresh water spring, the nearby
River provided all kinds of fish, they were on the reservation surrounded by
Relatives of Sam…it was perfect.

Belle and Sam's cabin:

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In fact, if we can believe what she herself said, she did indeed want to settle
Down. Here’s an interview which she did for the Fort Smith Elevator:

''On the Canadian River...far from society, I hoped to pass the remainder of my life in peace...so long had I been estranged from the society of women(whom I thoroughly detest) that I thought I would find it irksome to live in their midst.

So I selected a place that few have ever had the gratification of gossiping around. For a short time I lived very happily in the society of my little girl and husband..but it soon became noised around that I was a woman of some notoriety from Texas, and from that time on my home and actions have been severely critized.

Nothwithstanding some of the best people in the country are friends of mine. I have considerable ignorance to cope with, consequently my troubles originate mostly in that quarter. Surrounded by a low-down class of shoddy whites who have made the Indian Territory their home to evade paying tax on their dogs, and who I will not permit to hunt on my premises, I am the constant theme of their slanderous tongues.

My home became famous as an outlaw's ranch long before I was visited by any of the boys who were friends of mine. Indeed, I never corresponded with any of my old associates and was desirous my whereabouts should be unknown to them. Through rumor they learned of it.

Jesse James first came in and remained for several weeks. He was unknown to my husband and he never knew till long afterwards that our home had been honored by Jame's presence. I introduced Jesse as one Mr. Williams from Texas."

Well folks, as you might guess, Jesse was the first of many. At that time the Law was hesitant to go into Indian country and especially an area where Belle's Father-in-law was in control because he was known as a very dangerous killer.

So her homestead became a hideout for many fugitives passing through or who needed to disappear for awhile. Bad influences. I think she heard so many stories of easy money and criminal strategies that she couldn't resist anymore. Especially after having tasted them herself.

The horse rustling operation

Around this time most historians and biographers agree that she and Sam started a horse rustling business where by they would steal horses, or have horses stolen, from 100 miles South of them and 100 miles North of them.

So much for a life of "peace" which she talked about.

The horses would then be taken into the opposite territories and sold there. In other words, the horses from the North would be sold in the South and vice versa. They had "stations" set up every 50 miles, some of them in caves.

This sounds like a pretty good plan to me, 200 miles was a great distance back then and with no cars, highways, phones or surveilance technology this was fairly easy to pull off. Like Belle's robberies! lol. I'm saying that if I was a criminal, this idea would sound good to me, just to be clear.

Belle's story continues on the next post. So far she's been able to do whatever she damn well pleases, I wonder how long that can last?

-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck

ps- ya know....you might just be a redneck if.....

This is your brother:
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