Women Outlaws of the Old West

[TomSea]

Women Outlaws of the Old West

 Women Outlaws of the Old West
By Miralee Ferrell

My recently republished book, Outlaw Angel (first published as Love Finds You in Sundance, Wyoming) has been optioned as a movie. No, that doesn't mean it WILL happen, but there's a chance. So in celebration, and since the heroine of the book was raised in an outlaw camp and took part in rustling cattle, I'm featuring women who were actual outlaws in the Old West. You may recognize one or two and not others, but I had fun researching and learning about these unorthodox women.

First is Pearl Hart, a Canadian born in 1871.
At the age of 17, she eloped to Chicago with gambler Frederick Hart. However, after suffering abuse at his hands, she left him at age 22. She migrated to Arizona and met miner Joe Boot. They couldn't make enough mining so they turned to common robbery. However, when Pearl was almost caught two times after luring men into her room so Joe could whack them over the head and rob them, they gave that up and tried their hand at robbing stage coaches. Pearl cut her hair short and posed as a man, and they successfully robbed one stage before they were caught. They took $400 total from the passengers, then returned a little of the money to each person, to assure they weren't completely broke.

At her trial Hart is famous for saying this phrase, "I shall not consent to be tried under a law in which my sex had no voice in making." Unfortunately, the judge didn't care and Hart was tried and convicted anyway.

Being the second woman to rob a stage coach and the first woman not to die doing it, she instantly became the most famous woman in Arizona.

Belle Siddons was a southern belle raised on a plantation.
When the Civil War broke out, she used her good looks to work as a spy at the
age of 25. She was arrested and served 4 months, then was pardoned and released. Not long after, she married a gambler who taught her to play cards. She became a dealer until her husband died, then she followed the gold rush to South Dakota. She bought a saloon and gambling establishment where she changed her name to Madame Vestal and fell in love with an outlaw/stage coach robber.

Continued: http://www.hhhistory.com/2017/01/women-outlaws-of-old-west.html