Moves of Belle Starr
In the last few weeks I’ve watched a show about Bass Reeves. He was a deputy US Marshall based out of Fort Smith, Ark., before Oklahoma became a state. Many notorious outlaws hid out in “Indian Territory” in the time period after the civil war and before Oklahoma became a state.
One story that keeps popping up in my mind is about Belle Starr. She lived around Gore, Oklahoma and had family in Arkansas. She was mostly outlaw, partly wife and mother and all interesting. While researching her name I discovered she was distantly related to the Hatfields, of the Hatfield McCoy feud. She also was friendly to the Jesse James gang and let them stay at her farm in Indian Territory.
On my mother’s side of the family we had a relative named Jack Starr. He was related to Belle Starr. At a young age, I heard stories about Belle Starr and the outlaws she consorted with. One story always stuck in my mind.
According to my relative, Belle Starr lived not far off the Arkansas River near what is now Gore. She had friends in Darndanelle, Ark., she would occasionally visit. Instead of going to Fort Smith, she would travel through Heavener and on the south side of the Poteau mountains, entering Arkansas south of Fort Smith where there was not as much law enforcement. She did this so she would be less apt to be caught with any “loot” she acquired along her journey.
The legend also says she hid her “loot” just on the Indian Territory side of the border, up on the south side of the Poteau mountains. I always kind of dismissed this as more of a legend brought on by dime novels and the movies made long after her death.
However, recently I visited with a local man who says that while coon hunting on the south side on Poteau mountain a sort of cave was discovered. Inside the cave they found an old saddle adorned with silver inlays and some other items in the cave. Items that led them to believe they had discovered a hideout from before statehood. This person had no idea of the legend of Belle Start traveling through this area and hiding her loot in the very area it was discovered.