Greetings ~
It is said that Belle Starr was unlike other old west outlaws in the respect that she had morals and a decent side to her personality. Personally, I believe that several other old west outlaws could be said to have the same. However, you must remember, these were bandits who broke the law constantly and were killers when given the chance.
Outlaws of the old west today are looked upon as some sort of heroes. Like Robin Hoods of their times. They most certainly were not. We can say what we like because we are so far from these people. However, the citizens of the towns and communities where these outlaws thrived were not so akin to calling them heroes. Like the innocent young bank clerk who Jesse James murdered with a shot to the head simply because the young man reminded him of a harsh Army officer from his own youth. The clerk would have been too young to have served in the Army at the time. But he was still killed.
We hear stories such as how, when the James gang robbed trains, the Younger Brothers would look a robbery victim over and if they appeared to be hard working people, they were passed by and not robbed. This is false. The Youngers stole from EVERYONE, regardless if they were a working person or not.
John Wesley Hardin even shot a man through a hotel room wall and killed him simply because the man was snoring. I could go on. But you get the picture. We see outlaws from over a hundred years ago as something they weren't. And the fairytale stories of their exploits live on mostly in falsehood. And as far as bravery, most all of these men were cowards when caught and facing the gallows. Actually, the female bandits were braver in most cases.
This blog tells the story of the outlaw queen, Belle Starr. Belle was a horse thief. She admired and loved outlaws and married several of them. She died the outlaw's death of being ambushed on her own property by person or persons unknown. Her killing has never been solved. To those around her, Belle was a hero and had morals...outlaw morals. But in reality, she was no better than any of the others.
