5. A Belle in Indian Territory
Belle’s husband tried the honest life for a while, and became a farmer. He soon grew restless, however, and resumed his criminal ways. The couple reconnected with the James-Younger Gang, and fell in with the Starr clan, a Cherokee Indian family infamous for dealing in whiskey, and stealing cattle and horses in the Indian Territory, today’s Oklahoma. The outlaw life finally caught up with Belle’s husband in 1874, when he was killed in a gunfight with one of his criminal associates. The widowed Belle commenced a relationship with a Cherokee outlaw named Buford “Blue Duck”, and eventually married another Cherokee criminal named Sam Starr, and settled with him in the Indian Territory. Belle and Sam lived in a ranch north of the Canadian River that she named Younger’s Bend, in honor of her childhood friend, the outlaw Cole Younger.
In the Indian Territory, Belle finally came into her own as a dangerous criminal. She bootlegged illegal whiskey to Indians, exhibited a talent for the organization of cattle rustling and horse stealing raids, and mastered the intricacies of fencing the goods stolen by other outlaws. When fugitives were on the run from the law, Belle often arranged shelter for them until the heat died down. Those whom she harbored under her roof included Jesse James. Belle’s growing wealth from her criminal ventures enabled her to bribe officials to look the other way, and to free her associates whenever they were caught. That corruption caught the attention of the straitlaced “Hanging Judge” Isaac Parker in nearby Fort Smith. He grew determined to lock her up, and had her hauled up before him on various occasions to face various charges.
