Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Woman Bandit

by John Boessenecker

Overview

“[A] true-life adventure saga about the female outlaw who robbed a stagecoach at gunpoint in Arizona in 1899.” —New York Times Book Review

History was made when Pearl Hart, disguised as a man, held up a stagecoach and robbed the passengers at gunpoint. A manhunt ensued, and she became a media sensation, hailed by many as “The Bandit Queen.” Her early life, family and fate have long remained a mystery—until now.

Drawing on groundbreaking research, John Boessenecker’s Wildcat is the first book to uncover the true story of Pearl Hart. Her legacy as a female trailblazer provides a look into the lives of women who made their mark on the American West.

“Mr. Boessenecker proves a tenacious researcher, with a particular knack for coaxing telling details from newspaper archives.” —Wall Street Journal

“Boessenecker continues to surprise us by pulling back the curtain on assumptions and legends about Western events and characters… The questions he asks are fresh and reveal new perspectives, and his prose is literary and highly readable.” —True West Magazine

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335449405
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	02/21/2023
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	475,537
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Boessenecker is the author of twelve books, including New York Times bestseller Texas Ranger. He has received the Spur award from Western Writers of America, the Best Book award from Westerners International, and in 2011, 2013 and 2019 True West named him Best Nonfiction Writer. He has appeared frequently as a historical commentator on PBS, The History Channel, A&E, and other media. He lives near San Francisco, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

Chapter 1 The Grass Widow's Daughter 21

Chapter 2 Runaways 39

Chapter 3 The Notorious Davy Girls 63

Chapter 4 Becoming Pearl Hart 79

Chapter 5 Go West, Young Woman, Go West 97

Chapter 6 Stagecoach Robber 121

Chapter 7 A Frontier Manhunt 137

Chapter 8 Jailbreak 153

Chapter 9 The Arizona Female Bandit 173

Chapter 10 The Yuma Hellhole 197

Chapter 11 A New Stage 219

Chapter 12 The Final Curtain 245

Epilogue: Falsehoods and Folklore 269

Acknowledgments 279

Notes 283

Index 315

Editorial Reviews

"Compelling storytelling paired with extensive research bring together the myths and the truths that have surrounded Pearl Hart for generations." —Booklist

"Boessenecker continues to surprise us by pulling back the curtain on assumptions and legends about Western events and characters... The questions he asks are fresh and reveal new perspectives, and his prose is literary and highly readable." —True West Magazine

"John Boessenecker reveals just who the real Pearl Hart was — and it’s not who many historians believe her to be." —New York Post

“Mr. Boessenecker proves a tenacious researcher, with a particular knack for coaxing telling details from newspaper archives.” —Wall Street Journal

"A brisk rendering of an adventuresome life.” —Kirkus Reviews

“John Boessenecker’s writing style is compelling from the very beginning. His research is second to none, and his narrative is fascinating throughout. The book is entertaining, inspiring, alarming and touching in equal measure.” —Litercurious


Praise for John Boessenecker
“A comprehensive biography… Boessenecker has reaffirmed his place as one of the Best of the West." —True West Magazine on Bandido

"Fair-minded and thorough… ­Boesse­necker tells the gruesome story with power and force." —New York Times Book Review on Texas Ranger

"The author’s painstaking research…brings forth an astounding story…. A superb account." —Washington Times on Texas Ranger

"For serious readers of Western history…Ride the Devil’s Herd may well prove the gold standard." —Wall Street Journal on Ride the Devil’s Herd

"A rich and satisfying read…that unclouds the picture and shows us why these men became legends." —Los Angeles Review of Books on Ride the Devil’s Herd

From the Publisher

2021-08-28
Daring gambits in the Wild West.

Boessenecker, a historian of the Western frontier who has written about a host of pioneer outlaws, cuts through myths and misinformation to offer a colorful, well-researched biography of Canadian-born Lillie Naomi Davy (1871-1935), who became legendary as the tough-talking, gender-defying bandit Pearl Hart. Escaping an abusive, drunken father, Lillie, age 13, and her 11-year-old sister, Katy, cut their hair, donned their brother’s clothes, and ran away from home—only to return to their violently dysfunctional family and run away time and again. In the next few years, the sisters became involved with men who turned out to be criminals and, not surprisingly, abused them. Throughout her teens, Lillie was in and out of reformatories and prisons, but she and Katy were incorrigible. In Buffalo, where a madam who called herself Pearl Hart had committed suicide, 16-year-old Katy established her own bordello, taking the name of Minnie Hart. Lillie became a prostitute, plying her trade in Buffalo; Toledo, Ohio; Trinidad, Colorado, “a hotbed of prostitution”; and Phoenix, Arizona, where she, too, took a new name: Pearl Hart. Boessenecker recounts in lively detail the sisters’ amorous entanglements—Lillie, at 15, got involved with a 36-year-old bigamist and later eloped with an opium-addicted piano player who, she claimed, introduced her to the habit—and their repeated arrests, as well as the crimes perpetrated by some of their many siblings. The centerpiece of the story, though, is the bold stagecoach robbery that Pearl pulled off with the help of a lover. Needing money to travel to see her mother—her “dearest, truest friend,” she said—whom she thought was dying, Pearl saw robbery as her only choice. Conviction, imprisonment, escape, and recapture ended in a five-year sentence in Yuma penitentiary. After release on early parole, the woman celebrated in newspapers and magazines as a glamorous outlaw, “uniformly noted [for] her physical attractiveness,” retreated into quiet comfort.

A brisk rendering of an adventuresome life.

Kirkus Reviews