The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-02
ARE QUEER WOMEN
OKLAHOMA WOMAN SAYS FEMALE
BANDITS AREA DISTINCT TYPE
She has Seen and Talked with Many of
Them and has Made a Study of Their
Characteristic Thinks that They are
Made i'm a Single Day by the Tyranny of
Deputy Marshals Who Drive Them to
Desperation-As General Thing They
are Virtuous and have Blue Eyes, Dark
Hair and Very Low Eyebrows.

Mrs. J. z. Branson of Woodward, o.
T., is in Wichita on visit. Mrs. Bran
son has claim near that city and is
a thorough CklahOman, believeing in
the great future of the territory and
praising its people at every breath.
AS she is a keen judge of character.
a reporter for the Eagle asked her in re-
gard 10 the numerous female bandits
Of Oklahoma Of whose exploits so much
has appeared in public print the last
two months.
Mrs. Branson has made a study Of
the female outlaw. She says the wo-
men bandits are a distinct western type:
that they are not nlannish, nor immod-
est, and are not except in very rare
instances, Of questionable morals.
She thinks che daredevil existance
they live is due largely TO association.
They hear nothing but talk Of guns;
and shooting, and fights and escapes
and gradually drift into that adventur-
Gus disposition similar to that one awak
ened in the small eastern boy who RAIDS
yeGlow-back novels.
The distinction between the comm on
Cyprian of the frontier and the woman
bandit is clearly and distinctly marked,
the latter being high spirited, courage
Gus and temperate and faithful at all
times to the one man OF her choice. AS
Instances of this type Mrs. Branson
cites Mrs. Black now in the Guthrie
jail and Jessie Findlay IN the Oklahoma
City jail, the young woman who car
ried revolver 10 the cell Of her lover
and effected ms escape.
The type of woman bandit in Okla
homa,'' Mrs. Branson said. lis bru-
nette with black hair and blue or steel
grey eyes. Those that ! have met and
studied are modest in words and ac-
tons. but not graceful. Their express
sion is not as one would suppose a
vicious one, but immobile and firm and
generally good-natured, with no sug-
gestion of f1ippancy. While, in most
cases, their education has been neglec-
ted. l have found most of them fluent
o0nversatiOnalists. and little given TO
idle or improbable talk. AS for their
powers for deceit and abilbtw for STRAIT
egy, | believe they far exceed the male
bandit. succeeding in throwing off the
best judge of human nature where their
brother would fail utterly. l know that
once aroused by the fire Of revenge or
the necessity of escape they ave capable
Of performing the slyest tricks. The
straDgest part about them is that they
are often women Of the strictest virtue
and above reproach that way. That Is
the extent of their goodness. They can
ride, shoot and If necessary, murder.
The n.apority that ] have studied and
heard from have low brOwS, much like
the eastern criminal and round faces,
many of them a peculiarly striking u
tractiveness. Those that have talked
to looked at me straight in the eye, but
not in d defiant way.
The woman bandit is made in 4 day.
by some action fthe authorities either
effecting her. brothers of fathers or her
sweetheart. These men need aid and
she mas heard so much of shooting, has
became so we'll acquainted with the use