Explains the myths and legends of Belle Starr's life and discusses their authenticity. Includes a bibliography for further reading. Includes a table of contents.

"Belle Starr, Belle Starr, tell me where you have gone Since old Oklahoma's sandhills you did roam? Is it Heaven's wide streets that you're tying your reins Or singlefooting somewhere below? Eight lovers they say combed your waving black hair Eight men knew the feel of your dark velvet waist Eight men heard the sounds of your tan leather skirt Eight men heard the bark of the guns that you wore." (Woody Guthrie, "Belle Starr")

Space may be the final frontier, but no frontier has ever captured the American imagination like the Wild West, which still evokes images of dusty cowboys, outlaws, gunfights, gamblers, and barroom brawls over 100 years after the West was settled. A constant fixture in American pop culture, the 19th-century American West continues to be vividly and colorful portrayed not just as a place but as a state of mind. In Charles River Editors' Legends of the West series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most famous frontier figures in the time it takes to finish a commute while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

America has always preferred heroes who weren't clean cut, an informal ode to the rugged individualism and pioneering spirit that defined the nation in previous centuries. The early 19th century saw the glorification of frontier folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, and after the Civil War the outlaws of the West were more popular than the marshals. Outlaws like Jesse James and Billy the Kid robbed and fought their way into dime novels, but one of the most notorious and unique outlaws of them all was Myra Maybelle Shirley, a Southern girl who knew her way around horses and guns.