Belle Starr: The Bandit Queen of the West–Part I
The woman who ranks #1 on Britannica's list of Notorious Female Criminals
The fuse was lit long before Belle Starr picked up the pistol.
The story of Belle Starr didn’t start with her — it started decades earlier with a scandal of its own.
Her father, Judge John Allison Shirley, came from a proud Virginia bloodline, the sort of family that polished its silver and dined with distinction. But John? He didn’t quite fit the mold. A black sheep by every measure, he packed up his reputation — or what was left of it — and headed for Indiana.
There, he married twice, divorced twice, and eventually crossed paths with Eliza Pennington Hatfield — a name that would carry its own bloody legacy.
Yes, that Hatfield — from the infamous Hatfields and McCoys feud. But this was before the bullets started flying. Eliza and John married and settled in Missouri, near what we now call Jasper County.
Life was rustic, but promising. They raised pigs and horses, planted corn and wheat, and slowly built a modest empire from the dirt up.
Their first child, John A.M. “Bud” Shirley, arrived in 1842. Then, on February 5, 1848, Eliza gave birth to the child who would one day become a legend — Myra Maybelle Shirley. A younger brother, Edwin, followed in 1850.
With his farm flourishing, John did what many ambitious men of the time did — he reinvented himself.
The Shirleys moved to the budding town of Carthage, and John assumed control of an entire city block, turning it into a hive of industry: blacksmith shops, hotels, and taverns.
Just like that, the once-disgraced Virginian became a respected man — and his daughter, Belle, a girl of means.
His family quickly became leading figures in the community.
Miss Belle, Carthage’s Finest
Myra Maybelle, better known as Belle at the time, enjoyed an affluent upbringing and a fine education. She attended the Carthage Female Academy which as a testament to her parents’ wealth was funded by them.
There, she was mentored in Latin and Greek, and unlike many of her peers, she played the piano and read classical music.
When her free time permitted, she and her brother Bud explored nature.
Belle’s older sibling was an avid outdoorsman, and it was through him that Belle learned to shoot with pistols and rifles.
It is believed that she had a firm grasp on the deadly art of gunslinging at that youthful age.
The next stop was the stables. There, she applied her farm background to equestrian endeavors and became an expert horsewoman.
Gunslinging and horse riding were two skills that were essential to survival in Missouri and most of America during that era preceding the civil war.
The Onset of War
Missourians were subjected to Union troops canvassing them to join their cause and responded by forming bands of bushwhackers and guerrillas to thwart the Northern army’s tightening grip on the border state.
Bud Shirley, with all of his knowledge of the outdoors, was one of these bushwhackers and led a band of marauders during that time.
He had a passion for the Confederate cause and combined it with his outdoor skills, which eventually led to him being recruited as a scout for William Clarke Quantrill’s Raiders, a notorious Confederate guerrilla group known for their violent campaigns across Kansas and Missouri.
Historical accounts suggest that the 15-year-old Belle had contact with early members of the band, and some even believed she spied for them.
She was said to be a childhood friend of Cole Younger, one of the militants who would later, along with his brother James, lead the infamous James-Younger Gang.
To the young Belle, Younger and Bud were heroic figures, and as the war raged on, they frequently sought refuge at the Shirley farm.
A Turning Point for Belle
But Bud’s daring exploits would soon come to an abrupt and tragic end.
He was killed during a surprise attack by Confederate soldiers and his death left a profound void in the Shirley family—a tragedy that may have been the most pivotal event, triggering Belle’s irrevocable change in destiny.
Continued in Part II – An Outlaw's Wife