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The opening scene finds the notorious and ruthless outlaws torturing an Indian brave to learn the location of his hidden gold. Though the Marshals have made numerous arrests, the leader of the gang has yet to be caught. Indians claim Belle is protected by spirits, but Yellow Foot, the one who was tortured at the start of the show, takes his story to Lightning Jim. Jim wants the Indians to stay off the warpath until he has a chance to take down Bell Starr on his own. Jim and Whitey Larson plan to follow her into the Canyon of Lost Souls, despite any warnings of evil spirits there.
Meanwhile, Belle looks over her bounty of stolen horses, and complains to her hubby, Sam Star, and they talk about their next plans for robbery. It all seems like a story gimmick to me, to demonstrate the depths of Belle’s ruthlessness.
Jim and Whitey ride and have a look around the Canyon. There’s nothing to the evil spirits in the canyon, is there? Whitey is afraid of the spooky winds, and strange noises, but Jim scoffs at the superstitions. Apparently, the show producers want you to be scared too, since the wind, and spooky sounds are played up to the hilt. The mystery of the canyon’s reputation is solved when Jim spots a cave, and goes in despite the worst fears of Whitey.
Though the spooky winds and noises persist, Jim proves to Whitey that there’s nothing to worry about. Soon Jim has the drop on the outlaw camp. The lone gang member is easy to squeeze information out of, and with the stolen horses returned, plans are made to capture the notorious Belle Starr. Word comes of more bank robberies, but the army waits in ambush as Belle and the rest of her gang ride into the trap.
Note: Belle Starr was a real person, as was her husband, Sam. Many stories were told about her being a hardened outlaw, but as it turned out, the stories were just that. It was all a scam to get her some notoriety in the pulp fictions that ran rampant during the close of the 1800’s, and caused many characters of the old West to raise to national prominence. She and Sam owned a hotel and restaurant, and the attention did wonders to boost her clientele. Still, she built a reputation that stories like this one couldn’t resist in keeping her bad girl reputation alive.
