This Day in History: Pearl Hart, a Canadian born female outlaw of the Old West, robbed a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona on this day (May 30) in 1899. This was the last recorded stagecoach robbery and the only one in my memory committed by a woman.
Hart and a friend named Joe Boot decided to rob a stagecoach that traveled between Globe and Florence, Arizona. The robbery occurred at a watering point near Cane Springs Canyon, about 30 miles southeast of Globe. Hart had cut her hair short and dressed in men's clothing. Hart was armed with a .38 revolver while Boot had a Colt .45. One of the last stagecoach routes still operating in the territory, the run had not been robbed in several years and thus the coach did not have a shotgun messenger. The pair stopped the coach and Boot held a gun on the robbery victims while Hart took $431.20 (equivalent to $14,045 in 2021) and two firearms from the passengers. After returning $1 to each passenger, she then took the driver's revolver. After the robbers had galloped away on their horses, the driver unhitched one of the horses and headed back to town to alert the sheriff.
A posse led by Sheriff Truman of Pinal County caught up with the pair on June 5, 1899. Finding both of them asleep, Sheriff Truman reported that Boot surrendered quietly while Hart fought to avoid capture.
Other known female outlaws of the old west are Laura Bullion, a.k.a. the Rose of the Wild Bunch, Belle Siddons, a.k.a. Madam Vestal, Rose Dunn, a.k.a. Rose of the Cimarron, Sarah Jane Newman, a.k.a. Sally Scull, Mary Katherine Haroney, a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Belle Starr, Etta Place, Eleanor Dumont, a.k.a. Madame Mustache
and Bonnie Parker.
There was even a serial killer in 19th century America named Belle Gunness, who may have been responsible for forty murders.
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