Belle Starr and her Pearl

From the book by Edwin P. Hicks
Self Published 1963 Page 111 "He," was Jim Middleton, the brother of young John Middleton! I had Hunnicutt's permission to use Jim Middleton name. "He's dead now, and it can do him no harm-and most of the people who knew him in his late years knew it anyway. He shot Belle Starr off her horse to avenge his brother's death. He always figured she had him killed. "When John Middleton was killed," Hunnicutt said, "Jim Middleton told me he had $5,000 in the saddle-bags on his saddle. When the officers recovered that horse John was riding, the saddle was on it, you know, but the saddle-bags were empty. Jim he figured that Belle had sent some one along trailing John to put him out of the way and to get his share of the money. Nobody ever suspected Jim Middleton when he finally did.................................

Kill Belle

Yes; it appears that boyish-faced, good-natured Jim Middleton, had waited nearly four years to get his revenge--waited, masking his dark thoughts behind a grin and his heavy moustache. He waited until no suspicion whatever could rest upon him. He apparently had wormed his way closer and closer to Belle and to Younger's Bend. And, according to this evidence, when the opportune moment arrived, Jim Middleton was there waiting behind a fence-post with a double-barrel shotgun--one barrel loaded with buckshot and the other with turkey shot, and each charge tamped down with bed-ticking. And Middleton went to his grave, following his death January 26, 1938, at Porum, with his secret still intact --or known only to the few whom he chose to tell in his later years. Dick Starr, to whom Middleton talked on his death-bed, also is dead.

A KGC vault

In 1932

Hunnicutt said, Middleton made him accompany him to Younger's Bend to see the cave which Belle had mentioned to him. "He told me," said Hunnicutt, "that he was afraid to accompany the strangers to the cave that day for fear they would leave him in the cave. But he said that at one time there had been two barrels of money in the cave, $90,000. He had to hunt some time, but finally he found this cave, within half a mile of Belle's home. Those fellows had worked three months building it and then had disappeared, Jim told me. Anyway we found it, and there was a hole straight down into the ground, like a well, then it went straight into the mountain, a tunnel about 20 feet, and then there was a large cave. We found some old saddles, things like that, in there, and that was all." In addition to what was in the book, we have added the following two paragraphs.

K G C

The description of this vault is just like the KGC treasure vault drawing that appeared in the National Tattler article in 1973. Del Schrader, the author of JESSE JAMES WAS ONE OF HIS NAMES, furnished the sketch in that article. Now if Schrader was lying about the KGC why would an author totally independent of him reveal almost the same details of buried treasure. It is well known to all KGC researchers that Belle Starr and Younger's Bend were connected to the KGC. Also check out the connection to the murdered John Middleton mentioned here, he was with Billy the Kid in New Mexico. J.F. Dalton told that Belle Starr and Billy the Kid were involved with the KGC.

Hamilton
Operated a barbershop at Porum, OK for many years. He was the owner of the Belle Starr place at Younger's Bend. Hamilton removed the original headstone from Belle's grave in the 1930s and replaced it with a similar but slighty different stone. His story was "the headstone had been destroyed by vandels and souvenir hunters." After his death that proved untrue for Mrs. Hamilton showed people the original stone hidden under her bed several years ago. The headstone was designed by Frank James according to J. F. Dalton (Jesse James) and is/was a waybill to KGC treasure in that region. Not to worry about that now, as the treasure is long gone. Heh Heh! Hillbilly Bob Brewer


On the trail