Pearl Hart became one of Arizona Territory’s most publicized prisoners after joining Joe Boot in an 1899 stagecoach robbery and turning her prosecution into a national spectacle.

Who Was Pearl Hart

Pearl Hart appeared in Arizona Territory during the closing years of the nineteenth century. On May 30, 1899, she and a man known as Joe Boot stopped a stagecoach traveling between Globe and Florence.

The robbery began a remarkable sequence of arrests, newspaper interviews, courtroom proceedings and imprisonment. Reporters called her the “Bandit Queen,” and photographs circulated across the country.

Hart’s documented criminal career was brief. The legend created around it lasted far longer.

Quick Facts

Born	About 1871; exact date uncertain
Birth name	Usually identified as Pearl Taylor
Known as	Pearl Hart; the “Bandit Queen”
Known for	The 1899 Globe-Florence stagecoach robbery
Associated with	Joe Boot
Arizona locations	Mammoth, Globe, Florence, Tucson and Yuma
Later life	Uncertain

Pearl Hart in the Historical Record

Pearl Hart’s story extends far beyond the robbery itself. It includes an unusual escape, two very different courtroom outcomes, confinement at Yuma Territorial Prison and questions that remain unresolved about her release and later life.

Many familiar details came from Hart’s own interviews or from stories written years afterward. Tarnished West examines those claims against contemporary newspapers, court reporting and surviving government records.

Follow Pearl Hart’s Story

• The Globe Stage Robbery
• Pearl Hart Escapes
• Pearl Hart on Trial
• Prisoner 1559 at Yuma
• Whatever Happened to Pearl Hart

Stories will be linked here as they are published.

People Connected to Pearl Hart

Joe Boot – Hart’s partner in the 1899 stagecoach robbery.

Fletcher M Doan – The judge involved in Hart’s territorial prosecution.

Alexander O Brodie – The territorial governor who later considered Hart’s fate.

Places Connected to Pearl Hart

Mammoth  |  Globe  |  Florence  |  Tucson  |  Yuma Territorial Prison