"The Lady Bandit," Pearl Hart (1871-1956), was born and raised in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, to a middle-class family. After being packed off to finishing school at the early age of 17, she eloped with gambler Frederick Hart.

Although he was never prosperous, Frederick was able to buy two tickets for them to see the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. There, Pearl saw for the first time legendary rodeo star Annie Oakley, who sparked her passion for the Wild West. Pearl wrote frequently during that time to Cosmopolitan magazine, once stating that she was "good-looking, 21 and ready for anything."

Eventually, Pearl left this ne’er-do-well husband with a penchant for beating her up and fell in with a miner named Joe Boot. After much planning and discussion, Pearl decided to "rob the stage" with Boot, and on the day in question, Pearl dressed up in cowboy clothes, carrying an old .44 Colt. Boot sported a .45 caliber six-gun.

When the stagecoach arrived at its appointed stop, Pearl used her gun to keep the passengers’ attention while Boot collected their money, which totaled about $450. Then, deviating a bit from the tough demeanor of a heartless bandit, she handed back three $1 bills from the stolen money to the original owners, explaining that it was "for grub and lodging."

The Lady Bandit was arrested. She managed to escape from jail, and then was transported back. By then, she’d already achieved a terrific amount of notoriety. The jail guards hung around excessively, creating "enthusiasm that was harmful to discipline," and newspaper reporters courted her constantly, questioning her about "the perils of a life of crime."

After serving only three years of a five-year sentence, Gov. Alexander Brodie released Pearl, now famed for the cigars she smoked and for her "salty conversation." Gov. Brodie gave as reason: the jail "lacked accommodations for women prisoners." Rumor had a slightly different angle, however: Pearl was pregnant and the governor was said to be the father.

After Pearl was released, no one knows for certain what became of her. She was said to have settled down, married a gentleman rancher, turned to gardening, sewing and keeping a journal, but this is difficult to prove as well as to imagine.