Old West Women: Pearl Hart And Etta Place

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“Bang!” the man fell fast to the ground unconscious before The Bandit Queen and her partner, Joe Boot, robbed him. Women in the old west are often perceived as weak, submissive, and dependent. In actuality, many women in the west were powerful and crime leaders during this time. Females were starting to be known for their gang affiliation and dangerousness. Some of the most recognizable rebel women from the south were Pearl Hart, Ann Bassett, and Etta Place. The first outlaw on the list is Pearl Hart. During her criminal history she earned the title of “Bandit Queen” around town. Pearl was born in Ontario, Canada as one of many children. At the young age of seventeen, Pearl married a gambler by the name of Fredrick Hart (Old West Ledgends). While being encouraged at the World’s Fair Women’s Pavilion and by Annie Oakley at the Wild West shows, Hart decided to leave her husband and travel to Colorado. The couple reunited after Fred tracked her down and begged for her to take him back. After a violent fight between the couple, Fred left Pearl and she soon met a miner named Joe Boot. When Pearl’s family wrote to her desperate for money, the new couple devised several plans to earn quick cash. For their first scam, Joe suggested that Pearl lure men into her room …show more content…

By the age of eight she was known as the “Cattle Queen” because “she could ride a horse, handle a gun, and curse as well as any man on the Bassett Ranch” (Ann “Queen Ann” Bassett). When her family was threatened by members of the cattle baron’s association who wanted their ranch, Elizabeth Bassett, Ann’s mother, decided to engaging in cattle rustling. After many years, Ann “took over the rustling game” (The Mystery of Ann Bassett and Etta Place). It wasn't until 1903 that Ann was arrested and her cattle rustling days were over. She was acquitted in trial and went on to marry a number of cattle ranchers. She spent the rest of her days in

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