b'Women continued from page 21such help as might be needed waited for every comer. herself kicked out even of that profession, difficult as that might be to believe. She had another bad habit, Even on the rugged frontier, wedding bells hadsmoking opium. When it proved hard to find opium, their magical effect on women. Witness Miss Hallsshe switched to morphine, then available without account, written in Woman Who Broke the Trails forprescription in drug stores. The trouble was, Pearl got Us (Arizona Magazine, February 1912). When it wasnasty when she got high, and her temper eventually whispered in Prescott, then a little group of cabins,closed the door of all the houses to her.that Dick McCormick, the young secretary to the first governor, was to bring out a bride, there was a flutterFinally, she threw in with a drifter who called himself of expectancy among the few women therebusyJoe Boot, and Joe put her up in a run-down hotel in mothers with homes full of children and plenty of work.Phoenix. Joe himself was no bargain, and he wasnt But every woman loves a bride, and they gathered toabout to give Pearl a free ride. He expected her to help make the new log Governors Mansion ready forhelp pay the rent, buy the food and to support her her: the home in which it had cost $1500 to ceil andhabit. In her condition, that got progressively more floor one room for her, so later tradition has said. Onedifficult. At last, she and Joe made the move that took woman gave white muslin and made it into ruffledcare of his room and board for seven years and hers curtains for the small windows, and another gave herfor five. They held up a stage on the Globe-Florence new rag carpet for the floor: each one did some bit ofroad at an isolated spot near Riverside. The hold-work to make the place bright with welcome. The littleup went just fine. Pearl brandishing a shotgun and bride came, she was a sweet and gentle girl in whomJoe relieving the passengers of their cash and other they all took delight, and who gathered the childrenvaluables. Then they waved the stage on its way. to her and shared her pretty things with them. SheIt was then that they realized they had made the brought a rose bush from her old home and planted itstupidest mistake in the highwaymans book. They under her window; once it bloomed, and she wore thehadnt provided any means of getaway.blossoms as she galloped down the trails on her pony to visit her busy friendsthen, when fall had strippedfemale when she was given free room and board atPinal County Sheriff Bill Truman and the other the rose bush of leaf and flower, they laid her awaythe Territorial Prison in Yuma.authorities to whom the incident was reported were under the pines that shadowed her brief home, with herunderstandably skeptical of the opinion of the driver tiny dead babe in her armsas many another pioneerPearl apparently had many bad habits. She is saidand passengers that one of the bandits was a woman. mother died for lack of proper skill and care. to have put in stints in bawdy houses in variousBut, the victims insisted they couldnt mistake the communities in Texas and Arizona, although to runfemale contours, and it is true that whatever else she Then, of course, there was Pearl Hart. Pearl camedown her precise story is made difficult by the factmight have lacked, Pearl did have a lush figure.along sometime in the 90s, and there are enoughthat another of her habits was lying. She seldomJoe and Pearl were apprehended, tired, and weak versions of her story to fill a big book. The essence istold the same story twice. At any rate, she made thefrom hunger and thirst, without too much trouble. that she was a woman, although she is most frequentlyArizona scene and tried to make a living in the oldestThat was in May 1899. Then the fun started. described as The Girl Bandit. At least it is wellprofession in such centers as Bisbee, Tombstone, established that she was female, albeit a 28-year-oldTucson, and Phoenix. She finally managed to getNext month, Part 2Used Tractors: Kubota, John Deere, New Holland, etc.New Tractors: LS from25 hp and up.from UTVS to Car Haulers, Landscape and Dump Trailers, Special We Service & RepairOrders also available on New Trailers.Tractors, Trailers & UTVs.Grapple Buckets, Box Scrapers, Straight Blades, Rock Rakes, Chain Harrows, Arena Groomers, Brush Hogs, Post Hole Diggers, Post Drivers and More.45563 N Grand Avenue 1302 W Apache Trail Morristown, AZ 85342 Apache Junction 85120SWEQUIPMENT.com22 January 2021'