Belle Starr: The Truth Behind the Wild West Legend

Wallis (The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny) has written a well-researched and compelling biography of Belle Starr, one of the most infamous women outlaws of the American West. Starr (1848–89) was born Myra Maybelle Shirley in Carthage, MO. Her brother John A.M. “Bud” Shirley was in the Confederate Army and was killed in the Civil War in 1864, which caused devastation to Starr and her family. After her brother’s death, she swore revenge against the “Yankees” who killed her brother, and she became an outlaw, participating in hold-ups and robberies. She married James C. Reed, with whom she had a daughter, Pearl, and a son, James Edwin or Eddie. Starr would ultimately die a violent death at age 41, after being shot by an assassin. Wallis continues the story by relating what became of Starr’s descendants. Her children followed in their parents’ footsteps, with Pearl becoming a bordello owner and Eddie being imprisoned for horse theft before ultimately becoming a deputy. Beyond his portrait of Starr’s life, Wallis does an excellent job of sorting through and correcting myths and legends about her.