With all this talk of Leaping Into Love, I
thought it might be interesting to check out the love lives of some of the legends in the “old wild west”! Here’s a
few that I found…..
Wyatt Earp
It is generally assumed he was married three times, but a marriage license
exists only for the union with his first wife, Rilla Sutherland. They were wed
on January 10, 1870, in Lamar, Mo., and Rilla, the daughter of a local
hotel keeper, died less than a year later. Sally Heckell called herself wife of
Wyatt Earp. Was Sarah Earp simply a prostitute who had taken the name of her
protector – No one knows.
No official record has been found uniting Wyatt with either of the other
wives — Mattie Blaylock and Josephine Sadie Marcus — though he maintained a
long-term relationship with each.
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| Rilla Sutherland |
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| Maddie Blaylock |
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| Josephine Marcus |
Batt Masterson
Emma
Walter-
In Denver, Masterson dealt faro for "Big Ed" Chase at the Arcade
gambling house. In 1888, he managed and then purchased the Palace Variety
Theater. It was probably
there that Masterson first met an Indian club swinger and singer called Emma
Moulton, born as Emma Matilda Walter near Philadelphia on July 10, 1857.
The
pair subsequently lived together, and it has been widely reported that they
married in Denver on 21 November 1891, although no record of the marriage has
come to light thus far. The only known source for the November 21, 1891 date
was given by Bat Masterson's brother, Thomas Masterson, years after Bat died.
Emma was not divorced from her first husband, Edwin Winford Moulton
(1847-1922), until 9 November 1893. When they were later enumerated in the 1910
U.S. Federal Census, Bat and Emma claimed that they had been married for
seventeen years, suggesting a marriage date of 1893. Masterson's biographer has
raised the possibility that Bat and Emma were actually married on November 21,
1893, two weeks after Emma's divorce from Edwin Moulton. Bat and Emma were
traveling through various eastern states at that time, and it is possible that
they were married on November 21, 1893 in one of those eastern states. So far,
an actual marriage record hasn't been found.
Buffalo Bill Cody
Louise Frederici and William “Buffalo Bill” Cody were
married for almost 51 years. The marriage itself was “rocky” because of the
numerous separations that they endured. His life on the wild frontier, being an
Army scout, supplying buffalo meat for the pioneers and military, and later
producing and traveling with his “Wild West” shows, kept them apart many times.
Through the years they had four children — a son and three daughters. Their son
Kit Carson Cody, died at age 6. Their second daughter. Orra Maude Cody, died at
age 11. Their oldest daughter, Arta Lucille cody, died at age 38, and the
youngest daughter, Irma Louise Cody, died at age 35. Irma Louise was the only child
to survive her famous father. Irma passed away in 1918. Louise Frederici Cody
outlived all four of her children.
Belle Starr
Allegedly, Belle was briefly married for three weeks to Charles Younger,
uncle of Cole Younger in 1878, but this is not substantiated by any evidence.
There are numerous claims that Belle's daughter Pearl Reed was actually Pearl
Younger, but in Cole Younger's own biography (quoted in Glen Shirley's
"Belle Starr and her times") Cole Younger discounted that as rubbish
and set down what he truly knew of Belle. In 1880 she did marry a Cherokee man
named Sam Starr and settled with the Starr family in the
Indian
Territory. There, she learned ways of organizing, planning and
fencing for the rustlers, horse thieves and bootleggers, as well as harboring
them from the law. Belle's illegal enterprises proved lucrative enough for her
to employ bribery to free her cohorts from the law whenever they were caught.
In 1883, Belle and Sam were arrested by
Bass Reeves
charged with
horse theft and tried before
"The
Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker's
Federal District Court in
Fort Smith, Arkansas; the prosecutor was
United States Attorney
W. H. H. Clayton. She was found guilty and served
nine months at the
Detroit House of Corrections in
Detroit,
Michigan. Belle proved to be a model prisoner and during her time in
jail she won the respect of the prison matron, while Sam was more incorrigible
and was assigned to hard labor.
In 1886, she escaped
conviction on another theft charge, but on
December 17, Sam Starr was involved in a gunfight with Officer Frank West.
Both men were killed, while Belle's life as an outlaw
queen—and what had been the happiest relationship of her life—abruptly ended
with her husband's death.
Judge Roy Bean
On October 28, 1866, he married eighteen-year-old
Virginia Chavez. Within a year after being married, he was arrested for
aggravated assault and threatening his wife's life.
Despite the tumultuous marriage, they had
four children together - Roy Jr., Laura, Zulema and Sam. The family lived in
"a poverty-stricken Mexican slum area called Beanville"
John Wayne
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| John and Pilar Wayne |
He had four children with
Josephine: Michael Wayne (November 23, 1934 – April
2, 2003), Mary Antonia "Toni" Wayne LaCava (February 25, 1936 –
December 6, 2000), Patrick Wayne (born July 15, 1939), and Melinda
Wayne Munoz (born December 3, 1940). He had three more children with Pilar:
Aissa Wayne (born March 31, 1956), John Ethan
Wayne (born February 22, 1962), and Marisa Wayne (born February 22,
1966).
Sam Elliott
The couple have a
daughter, Cleo Rose Elliott, born in 1984, who is now a musician in Malibu.
I'm celebrating Leap Into Love with my new story, Gabe, The Thornton Trilogy, Book 1. Coming February 29!!!
I sure hope you all stop by our Leap Into Love
Extravanganza on February 29! During my
time to chat with a few of you, names are going into a hat and I am giving an
ebook of Hannah: Bride of Iowa and Jesse’s Find, Book 1 of The Jesse’s
Series. AND there is a “Grand Prize” for
one lucky person. I’m throwing Hannah: Bride of Iowa into the mix along with
prizes from the other authors. Of
course, there’s also a $50 Amazon card to be given away, too. Sign up below in the Rafflecopter!
Day of Countdown to Leap into Love featuring:
Penny Estelle
Learn more about this author by visiting her author page. Click HERE
To chat with all of our authors and have a chance to win more prizes, join us at our
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on Monday, February 29th ~ Leap Day! ~ from 5:30 to 8:30p.m. Eastern Time
Join the party by clicking HERE.
