Belle Becomes A Last Minute Star At The Fair
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas where it is a stunning 75 F and sunny today which translates to 24 C which means that me and Jack are having a great time today hanging around outside!
Ok, we are in the third quarter of the Belle Starr series. If you haven't been following, she is a famous lady outlaw from the American Old West, 1800's. Well, she was famous in her day but has been largely forgotten in modern times.
My theory for that is because she wasn't a beauty queen. She looked tough but was not considered beautiful by most.
Are we Shallow Hal?
Personally I'm not saying she wasn't beautiful. But if she was what the world considered beautiful she would have been the most famous outlaw of all time with many books and movies made of her. In my humble opinion. That's how shallow we are.
Sorry for getting sidetracked. It must be the warm weather. When we left off in the last post her husband Sam had agreed to turn himself into the U.S. Marshal. Bond was made and him and Belle were staying in town, Fort Smith.
The big fair
Their time in town coincided with an annual fair that was getting ready to start, a 5 day affair called "The Annual Fair of Western Arkansas and Indian Territory." Now this might be boring to those of you not interest in history but I think the description of the fair is interesting as far as what they consisted of in 1886 so here goes with the main attractions. Oh, this is written by the local newspaper The Fort Smith Elevator:
A competitive military drill and sham battle in which ten or twelve military companies and two batteries will take part, the United States Artillery Company at Little Rock being one of them..Governor Hughes will deliver the opening address and the state militia will be properly organized for the first time in the history of the state and will be reviewed by him.
The attractions in the city will be grand illuminations, fireworks, trades procession, etc. Three race balloon ascensions take place with a trapeze performance on each and horse races each day."
Now I don't know about you all but that sounds like some pretty good entertainment! I don't know what "grand illuminations" are but I bet they're impressive. And the balloon races with trazpeze artists hanging from them and performing with no nets?? Wow.
Belle and Sam are celebrities
But this is where it gets good. When the organizers found out that Belle and Sam were in town and planned to attend the fair, last minute arrangements were made and Belle was asked to participate. lol.
So even though they were both considered outlaws and Sam was the most sought after outlaw of his day and was in the middle of court proceedings for robbery, they were inviting them to be in the fair to boost attendance!
This is classic city government working at it's best is it not?
Anything to bring in cash? Ok well, what they came up with for Belle was a mock stage coach robbery. And if you remember she did indeed rob a stagecoach early in her career! So I guess she was well suited for the part.
Oh, this is funny too. Remember the "Hanging Judge" Mr. Parker? He had dealt with Belle and Sam and sent them to prison and it was Parker who requested that Belle take the lead in this drama!
lol. I'm DANG SURE that he knew she had robbed that stage back in the day.
Here's Judge Parker:
source
Does he look like he has a sense of humor? I think he does. Let's just hope he didn't think it was funny hanging all those men.
The show and mock robbery was a big hit and the Judge was one of the passengers who got "robbed." Belle had requested one of the prosecutors be a passenger but he couldn't make it.
Belle's plan for payback
As it turns out she later confessed that she had a secret and sinister plan in asking for that prosecutor to be there because he had ridiculed Sam in court for being illiterate and Belle was gonna kill him.
She said although they were all using blanks, she was going to have one real bullet and shoot that prosecutor.
I'm so glad that guy didn't show up! Can you imagine having the toughest judge in the country sitting beside the man you shoot to death? yikes.
Come on girl, you gotta stop and realize you can't do anything you want! So far in her life she pretty much has. Her story continues tomorrow.
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know....you might just be a redneck if:
You go into a liquor store and come out with all of your Christmas shopping done!
So things really haven't changed much since the 1800's; government using any and all means to extract money from folks; even using outlaws to fill the stands at the fair.
Great story @janton and I must admit, not one I was familiar with.
howdy sir sultnpapper! yes sir, her story is a fascinating one, that's why I wanted to talk about it because no one has heard of her but back then she was pretty famous. I'm goin over to catch up with your situation tonight.
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Howdy there esteemapp! Well thank you so much for the upvote and God bless you!
Christmas shopping in liqueur store, that's hilarious, lol.
Anyway, as you said, thank God the prosecutor didn't show up!!! However to change the subject; you keep saying how unattractive she was, but I remember her photo when she was younger and she was very pretty. Maybe it was her rough style that people didn't like. She didn't doll herself up like other women.
howy today Miss Lena! I know what you are saying about Belle and I agree but I did not say she was unattractive, that's what the world thought. not me. I think she was fine. It wasn't her style that was mentioned in the papers it was her looks. They were totally shallow back then too.
Howdy Janton................Oh sorry, I know it's not you who think that; you mentioned many times that they were shallow back then.
well I'm glad you know it's not me, I think she was very pretty when she was young and then cool looking when she was older and any woman who can shoot like that is a winner in my eyes! lol. That's the redneck way of looking at it because then she could shoot and cook the squirrels like that joke the other day.
But yes what shocked me was how they were just as shallow back then as now? How is that possible? They had more respect for women but they sure judged them on their looks just like today!
Well people were not better in the past. And I don't like the idea of shooting squirrels!!! But I agree, she was very cool and I bet she was fun to be around if you were on her good side, lol.
haha! yes you would NOT want to cross her. Well she spent alot of time in neighboring towns like Fort Smith and had many female friends who thought the world of her and I even have candy recipes that she shared with them because she liked making candy!
I don't like the idea of shooting or eating squirrels either unless it is a survival situation.
She was making candies? Wow! I would not think that in million years.
But I am glad you feel the same way about shooting squires; well I had the feeling you were only joking. Anyway, I ma going to bed now, but I''ll be back tomorrow. Good night :)
ok have a great night Miss Lena!
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Morning janton, Belle was a big celebrity, it is a wonder that Hollywood hasn't run with a romantic adventure remake fantasy, lol.
Howdy today angiemitchell! yes Ma'am well they made a movie in the 1960's I think but I don't know if it was any good or had any factual plot to it, probably not!
What a shame to hear this, Belle's life is one heck of a story.
yes Ma'm well if Hollywood made a movie these days about her I'm sure it would be a good one and they wouldn't even have to make alot of things up for it to be exciting.
Your redneck joke makes lots of sense ahaha
haha! howdy blacklux! ha ya mean for this country or in your country too? that's pretty bad either way! lol.
That is a crazy story with the mock robbery and the judge! Amazing...
The story is coming along nicely. You have a great way of taking us there. I really enjoyed this.
@janton
oh thank you for the kind words rebeccabe, that means alot. It's a good story. Just don't hold your breath for a happy ending!
oh no @janton...well make it one. please ..
haha! But I think the actual history is the most interesting. that is such a great gif! lol.
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She is a character. Hell, that fair sounds like a great time.
In my neck of the woods I go to pony pulls and tractor pulls for some excitement.
The practice of a buck at any cost has been around forever. Everyone wants to see something out of the ordinary, and Sam and Belle fit that bill to a T. Despite being criminals, the only thing the organizers of the fair say were $$$$$. Things never change.
All of the pictures you post with the content are great. Really enjoyed the pic of the HANGING JUDGE. One serious fellow.
The fact that the judge was part of the theatrics is funny as hell.
Love the read.
sir bigsweed! Thanks so much for the kind words. I have been very frustrated actually in regards to photos for this series because while there are a few of Belle and the Judge, there are almost no other photos of anyone and I like to use alot of photos so most of my posts in this series has been drier than most.
The judge liked Belle Starr that's for sure, lol. Plus he had a sense of humor in spite of hanging almost everyone with a serious conviction.
The way the politicians handled it was so funny and like you said, they never change!
Great job despite the lack of photos.
oh well thank you sir, I've never been a writer or anything so this is all new to me and most of the time I don't think it's very good..at least not compared to the fabulous writers we see on here my gosh! Some genuine gifted authors.