Book
Queen of all mayhem : the blood-soaked life and mysterious death of Belle Starr, the most dangerous woman in the West / Dane Huckelbridge.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780063307018 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 322 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2025]
- Copyright: ©2025
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | A lethal twilight -- The forgotten outlaw queen -- Born into the whirlwind -- Carnage comes to Carthage -- The bloodiest of meridians -- Baptism by fire -- Where women can be warriors -- The black widow of Younger's Bend -- A queen dethroned -- Back with a vengeance -- A final mystery to solve. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Starr, Belle, 1848-1889. Starr family. Frontier and pioneer life > West (U.S.) Outlaws > West (U.S.) > Biography. Women outlaws > West (U.S.) > Biography. Cherokee > History > 19th century. |
| Genre: | Biographies. |
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | 978.02092 Starr-H | 31681010418903 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
A deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West. Illustrations. - Baker & Taylor
"A riveting, deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West"-- Provided by publisher. - HARPERCOLL
A riveting, deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West.Â
On February 3, 1889, just two days shy of her forty-first birthday, Myra Maybelle Shirleyâbetter known at that point by her outlaw sobriquet âBelle Starrââwas blown from her horse saddle and killed by a pair of shotgun blasts, delivered by an unseen assailant, only a few miles away from her home in the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. Thus ended the life of one of the most colorful, authentic, and dangerous women in the history of the American West.
While todayâs household names like Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane had dubious criminal bona fides, Belleâs were not in any doubt. She led a gang of horse thieves (a very serious crime in an era when horses were often the basis of oneâs livelihood); was romantically involved with two of the Westâs most legendary outlaws, Cole Younger and Jim Reed (her first husband); and participated in stickups and robberies across present-day Texas and Oklahoma. When Reed was murdered, Belle crossed into Indian Territory, where she assimilated into the Cherokee tribe, a matrilineal society, and soon married Sam Starr, a direct descendant of Nanyeâhi, the greatest female warrior in Cherokee history.
Dane Huckelbridge, acclaimed author of No Beast So Fierce, probes a life rich in contradictions and intrigue. Why did a woman who had considerable advantages in lifeâa good family, a decent education, solid marriage prospects, a clear path to financial securityâchoose to pursue a life of crime? The life of Belle Starr is one of almost endless trauma: the horrors of the Civil War, which destroyed her hometown and killed her beloved brother, Bud; the untimely deaths of her first two husbands, both of them murdered; a stint in Detroitâs notorious womenâs prison. Her career coincided with those of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and yet Belle Starr was a very different sort of feminist icon.
Queen of All Mayhem is a triumph of biography, revealing one of the most-mythologized figures of Western lore as she truly was.
