When we think of outlaws of the Old West, we tend to think of people like Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp. But amidst all the testosterone were these two ladies, shooting with the best of them. Calamity Jane arrived in the West the way many people did – in a covered wagon. Both of her parents died along the way, so she became head of her five siblings, leading them to Piedmont, Wyoming. She took a variety of jobs there to support her family, and eventually landed a gig as a scout at Fort Russell. She became involved in the many military conflicts with Native Americans of the area, and she supposedly received her nickname when, in the heat of battle, she dragged a wounded captain from his horse onto hers and rode him back to the fort. Another captain denied the story, saying that Calamity Jane had never served in the military and that she was “simply a notorious character, dissolute and devilish.” In any case, she became known for being a hard drinker, a hard cusser, and a crack shot. Many a frontiersman remembered a day when Calamity Jane walked into their saloons, thundering “I’m Calamity Jane and this drink’s on the house!” Belle Starr was considerably more refined than Calamity Jane. She was born in a respectable family and received a classical education and a ladylike upbringing, which obviously did not take (although she did dress in black velvet and ride sidesaddle while conducting her stagecoach robberies). She had two children by two different men and tried to shield them both from her outlaw life, insisting they have a proper education, which she supported by robbing stagecoaches, stealing horses and bootlegging whiskey. Two days before her 41st birthday, she was shot in the back and killed by an unknown assailant. Further reading: Belle Starr and Her Times: The Literature, the Facts and the Legends by Glenn Shirley Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend by John D. McLaird
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:16:53 +0000
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