Myra Maybelle Shirley, also commonly known as the "Bandit Queen", was born on February 5, 1848 on a farm near Carthage, Missouri. She was one of six children, but the only daughter, of her farming parents, John and Elizabeth Shirley. When his family moved to Carthage, his father became a prosperous innkeeper and slave owner. Belle attended the Female Academy of Carthage, where she excelled in reading, spelling, grammar, arithmetic, manners, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and developed a love of the piano. He later attended another private school called Cravens, where he further cultivated his love of music. At the start of the Civil War, his parents were Southern sympathizers and supporters of Confederate troops in Missouri. Myra's parents were apparently pleased, and were even more dedicated to supporting the Confederate cause when their eldest son, John, joined a force of bushwhackers in a bloody reprisal along the Missouri-Kansas border. Later, following combat for the Confederacy with William C. Quantrill's guerrillas, John was killed by Union troops in Sarcoxie, Missouri. Many believe that his influence led Belle to decide the direction of her life. In 1864, after Carthage burned, the family had immigrated to Scyene, Texas, near Dallas, and again opened a hotel and tavern. They soon had many intriguing visitors. At the end of the war the remnants of the Quantrill gang transformed into outright outlaws, becoming as famous as the gangs led by the Minor brothers and Jesse and Frank James. They occasionally sought refuge on Shirley's farm, and Belle became close to Jesse James and his gang, the rest of the Youngers, and other outlaws, many of whom, like her brother, had served with Quantrill's raiders during. .. middle of paper ......ustom. Later the tomb was robbed, the gun and jewels were missing. In the storied period of American history known as the Old West, the law of the entire nation had yet to tame that fitfully established frontier. This resulted in the lawlessness seen in the character of those known as outlaws and lawbreakers whose infamous reputation often surpassed their own person to mythical proportions. Belle Starr was one of these outlaws. From his association with outlaws such as Jesse James and the Younger brothers, he achieved a level of fantastical infamy that today leaves the facts of his life not always distinguishable from fiction. Belle's life is an odyssey filled with marriages and relationships with criminals, petty criminals and unsavory characters. Belle Starr's legacy will live on forever reminding us of past events that are still connected to current society events.