The Second Belle Starr

The plan had been gone over once more the night before. As the trio sat alongside their campfire just outside of Pineville, everyone knew what they were to do the next day. As must be the case with any plan, there were risks. Some things cannot be anticipated and the unexpected must, in fact, be expected. But in the minds of the three cohorts, the risks were calculated and well-worth taking.

The location where the act would take place was suggested by Bill Hubbard more than a month ago. Hubbard had once lived in Pineville and knew important details about the town and its inhabitants. After discussing the undertaking, only three of the five people in the conversation made the decision to participate. John Sheets worked as a hired hand on the Nowata, Okla., land owned by Bud Parker. The so-called expert in the work to be done was Whit Tennison who bragged that he had engaged in this type of work before. The third member of the group, Bill's sister Cora Hubbard, came along because she wanted to be just like the woman she admired, Belle Starr. There was one common thread which motivated the three: the McDonald County Bank had money and they wanted it.

Cora cursed her second and, at that time, current husband Bud Parker for not participating in the robbery. She called him a coward and someone whom she could no longer live with. No matter, Parker had no taste for the outlaw life and didn't join the trio as they rode away heading for Weir City, Kan., and the home of Cora's father, Sam Hubbard.

When Sam first laid eyes on his daughter with her short, cropped hair and attired in men's clothing, he suspicioned that she and her rough looking traveling partners might be up to no good. Cora was, after all, a grown and married woman, and Sam didn't share his concerns with either Cora or her friends. The gang purchased some ammunition and after a few days in Weir City, they were off for Missouri.

On that hot summer's day of Aug. 16 in the year 1897, the three rode their horses into the small town of Pineville, Mo. They stopped at a stable on the Hooper property located a mere block from the bank. Cora, dressed in men's clothing, was to keep the horses at the ready while Tennison and Sheets walked to the bank. When confronted by the property owners' son, Brit Hooper, Cora produced her pistol and told the startled young man to stand still. She told him that there was no point in getting excited so he might just as well stay calm.

Tennison and Sheets walked to the rear of the bank all the while on the lookout for anyone who might catch a glimpse of them and their weapons. The yet unseen scoundrels then confronted three men who were seated just outside the entrance to the bank. Those three soon-to-be-witnesses to the bank robbery were bank president, A.V. Manning; cashier, John Shields; and county treasurer, Marcus LaMance.

The two bandits announced their intentions to have the bank's money and, as had been planned, Sheets, with Winchester at the ready, followed Manning and Shields into the bank. Tennison and LaMance remained outside and, with the pointing of his weapon, Tennison cautioned two women riding in their buggy against creating notice of the robbery. He told the two elderly ladies that no harm would come to either of them if they just stayed quiet and still.

Meanwhile, the purpose of the robbery was being carried out inside the bank. Shields interrupted his stride and turned to face Sheets only to be met by the butt end of a Winchester rifle. As the cashier lay in pain on the floor, Sheets cautioned Manning against any such action and ordered him to hold a sack while Shields filled it with money from the safe.

Once the sack was filled, Sheets ordered Manning and Shields out of the bank. Tennison and Sheets used the two captives as shields while they retraced their steps back to Cora and the horses. Not satisfied with simply the bank's money, Tennison demanded that Manning surrender his silver pocket watch. Seemingly overcome with the moment, Sheets fired a single shot into the air as the threesome rode out of town with their plunder, $589.23 and a silver pocket watch in hand.

The degradation to the Shields family. however, had not yet ended. The gang had ridden no more than a mile when they came upon the 11-year-old son, Floyd Shields, of bank cashier Shields. Tennison took a fancy to the young boy's bay mare and with some coaxing and a glimpse of the business end of Cora's pistol, he convinced the boy to swap horses.

The men of Pineville quickly formed a posse and, once it was determined that the bandits were heading for Indian Territory, a telegraph message was sent to the town of Noel as the small community was in the path of the gang's escape route. That afternoon the Pineville posse and the one from Noel happened upon the three robbers as they were crossing Butler Creek just south of Noel.

The bandits were not afforded the opportunity to surrender as the six men in the posse opened fire. Several bits of buckshot fired from shotguns found their marks, Tennison and Sheets. Cora's pistol was shot from her hand and, as shots were exchanged by both groups, one of the men in the posse was slightly wounded.

Sheets and Cora turned and rode away from the posse while Tennison, escaped on foot. It seems that his stolen horse had thrown him from the saddle, leaving his only means of escaping the hail of bullets to be on foot.

The following evening the sighting of a suspicious man at a cabin in the Indian Territories led a group of Southwest City, Mo., men led by Joe Yeargain to travel the 20 or so miles to the isolated cabin. There they found a wounded Tennison; who, with no resistance, surrendered. In the cabin, the men found a .45 caliber Winchester rifle, a .45 caliber revolver and $121.50 in cash and coin.

The self-proclaimed and experienced hardened outlaw identified the others in the gang and, much to the surprise of all, he said one of his cohorts was a woman who had dressed in men's clothing. Tennison also told the posse that the other two bandits might be found at the Hubbard residence in Weir City, Kan.

A posse led by Yeargain and cashier Shields traveled to Weir City and there, along with Weir City Marshal Jim Hatton, traveled to the home of Sam Hubbard. Hatton rapped on the front door and, to the amazement of all, Cora, dressed in a calico-print dress, opened the door. With the muzzle of a Winchester rifle pointed at her face, she calmly surrendered.

Marshall Hatton searched the Hubbard property and discovered $166.00 buried not far from the house. Inside the residence, Hatton discovered men's clothing which matched the description of the clothes worn by Cora during the robbery and her Colt pistol. Cora's gun was a .45 caliber six-shot revolver. Etched into the wooden grip was the name, "Bob Dalton," and seven notches had been carved into the wood near the trigger guard.

McDonald County Sheriff Richard Jarrett, Shields and Marshal Hatton returned to the Hubbard residence on the 26th of August to ask more questions of Sam Hubbard. As the threesome waited for Hubbard on the home's front porch, a man seated in a buggy stopped in front of the house. It was the third member of the gang, John Sheets. The outlaw was promptly arrested and found in his possession was $91.00 in cash and a .45 caliber revolver.

Sam Hubbard and Cora's brother Bill were also arrested, mostly for good measure, and taken back to Pineville. After spending two days in the county jail, both of the men were released and they returned to Weir City.

The trial was held in a Newton County, Mo., courtroom where, in January of 1898, all three of the defendants were convicted of bank robbery. Hubbard and Sheets were sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Tennison was given a 10-year sentence, maybe a lesser term for being so talkative following his arrest.

Cora, holding a Winchester rifle and dressed in the men's clothing she wore during the robbery, posed for a photograph. Cora seemed to relish her newly acquired notoriety and posed for the photograph on the very day she appeared in court. The newspaper headlines read, "The Second Belle Starr."

All three were to be incarcerated in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. It is reported that during her incarceration behind those cold prison walls, Cora allowed her hair to grow long and she learned a trade; that of a seamstress. The Missouri Governor commuted Cora's sentence on Dec. 26, 1904, and she was released on Jan. 1, 1905.

Little is known about the three bank robbers, Cora Hubbard, Albert Whitfield Tennison and John Sheets following their releases from prison. Although Tennison reportedly died in Hudspeth County, Texas, in the year 1932. There are no records of further encounters with the law, and the three just seemed to quietly slip away. The 1900 census does, however, indicate that Cora was divorced.

Cora never showed even the slightest remorse for her part in the bank robbery. Quite the contrary, she seemed proud of her role in the crime and did not hesitate to speak of it while comparing herself to the infamous Belle Starr.

Asked by a reporter from the Joplin Daily Herald if she was frightened during the hold-up Cora replied, "Not a damn bit. My only regret is that we should have held up the whole damn town."

Stan Fine is a retired police officer and Verizon Security Department investigator who, after retiring in 2006, moved from Tampa, Fla., to Noel. Opinions expressed are those of the author.