Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr the Most Dangerous Woman in the West by Dane Huckelbridge

 

Do you like to read about outlaws?  If so, who are some of your favorite outlaws?  I have always found outlaws of the old west to be intriguing such as Belle Star, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Cole Younger, etc.

In 1889, Belle Starr was murdered only a few miles from home at the age of 41.  Belle Starr is an infamous Western outlaw, but what does one really know about her?  This biography fills in the details. 

My thoughts on this book:

·       I haven’t read a book about Belle Starr since I was a teen reading about the Old West.  I learned so much in the book.

·       The book does a great job of detailing the tumultuous times that Belle Starr grew up in.

·       In 1848, the year Belle Starr was born, there was a large influx of German and Irish immigrants fleeing their homelands and looking for refuge in the United States.  There was a refugee crisis unlike anything the world had ever seen. There was hatred and violence by American born citizens against these immigrants.

·       Missouri had a terrible time in the Civil War.  Instead of being able to join the Confederate army, teens and young adults were roving bands of marauders.  They weren’t given amnesty after the war as they were not part of the regular Confederate Army.  This started many lives of crime.

·       Belle is linked with Cole Younger and her first husband outlaw Jim Reed. A later husband was Sam Starr of the Cherokee Tribe.  Sam and Belle continued the life of crime.

·       Belle was a criminal and participated in stealing horses and other crimes.  Author Dane Huckelbridge tries to present facts as they are known and sort through the many legends that have grown up over time about Belle Starr.

·       It was interesting that Belle grew up in wealthier than normal family and was educated.  The Civil War changed the course of her life.  Her beloved brother was killed, her town annihilated and many of her friends and family were now outlaws.

·       The “wild west” of Belle Starr was Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

·       Belle was sent to prison at one point to Detroit Michigan, which is hard to believe.  It was one of the only female penitentiaries at the time.

·       The hardcover book has a great section of pictures and an informative index at the end.  As I flipped through the pictures and saw the picture of Cole Younger and Belle’s daughter Pearl, I decided I think they were more than friends.

Favorite Quotes:

“But as much as we may wring our hands or clutch our pearls while lamenting the discord of modern American life, the truth of the matter is thing:  the climate-controlled, cable-news-watching country of today is a pale and placid shadow of the brutal dystopia that stretched and burned between these two oceans in the middle years of the nineteenth century.”

“Exact figures are unknown, but scientific and historical studies have consistently reached the conclusion that around 90 percent of the total Indigenous population of the Americas died from Eurasian diseases in the decades that followed first contact.”  - This is horrifying to contemplate.

“Nearly as long as the legend of Belle Starr has circulated throughout the American consciousness, there have also been naysayers and detractors who have sought to diminish her criminal reputation.”

Overall, Queen of all Mayhem by Dane Huckelbridge is a fascinating look into the life of one of America’s most infamous outlaws as well an intriguing look into America at the time.  I highly recommend it.