Technically Pearl was born in Canada, but why let that little technicality get in the way of a good story? At the age of 16, Pearl, a well educated and comely young woman, fell in love with a drunken gambler named Frank Hart and married him in secret. Amazingly enough things did not turn out well given that the only thing Frank enjoyed more than gambling was beating his new wife. Pearl left Frank for a time, but being stupid, as one often is at 16, she soon after went back to him. This cycle perpetuated itself repeatedly for the next six years, during which time, Pearl had two children, both of which were sent to live with her mother. Frank, being a violent alcoholic, often had trouble finding work, so the duo spent a lot of time on the road. Things changed in 1893 when the couple went to the Chicago World's Fair, where Frank got a job as a midway barker. Pearl went to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, became enamored with cowboys, and ran away with a piano player, appropriately named Dan Bandman.
Pearl and her new beau took a train to Colorado and then slowly worked their way south to Arizona. This being the time before radios, it was not hard for a good piano player to find work. Unfortunately, Bandman was not what one would consider a good piano player. Pearl ended up trying to supplement their income, first by singing accompaniment to Bandman's patent abuse of the ivories, which did little to improve the overall quality of the music, then second by working as a cook, which might have worked out better if she actually knew how to cook. Broke and desperate, Bandman, an entrepreneur, used the only asset he had on hand to make a living, Pearl's 22 year old body. While some might call this prostitution, Bandman preferred to call Pearl a demimondaine, which is a fancy French term for prostitute. This less than equitable arrangement went on for five years, during which for some reason Pearl developed a fondness for cigars, liquor, and morphine. In 1898, Bandman left to fight in the Spanish-American War. Pearl told him she hoped the Spanish killed him. With no other skills to make a living, Pearl set up a tent brothel outside a local mine, which went okay until the mine closed.
In need of money, Pearl convinced one of her former customers, Joe Boot, to help her rob a stagecoach, an interesting move given that this was 1899, but let’s face it, none of Pearl's other decisions had been that great. The robbery, which took place in the Arizona desert and involved Pearl dressed in men's clothing, was a great success, netting the pair what amounted to $12,000 in today's money. Unfortunately, Pearl and Joe then got lost in the desert and were arrested not long after. The news of a female stagecoach robber sparked a media frenzy and Pearl soon found herself a celebrity, conducting numerous interviews for local and national newspapers. While Joe sat in a prison cell, Pearl was just locked in a normal room and even got to keep a bobcat cub as a pet. Taking advantage of her captors’ sexist underestimation, Pearl escaped by simply kicking a hole in the wall, but was recaptured two weeks later. During the trial, Pearl claimed she was only trying to raise money to get back to her sick mother. The jury soon after declared her innocent. A little pissed off at this turn of events, the authorities brought new charges of mail tampering against her, which the jury apparently took more seriously. Pearl declared she would recognize no law that treated her like a second hand citizen. The jury declared her guilty and sentenced her to five years in prison. Joe got thirty.
Pearl served her sentence in Yuma, where she was the only woman in the prison, a fact she used to her advantage by trading certain favors with the guards and warden to improve her situation. Pearl enjoyed an oversized cell with a good view and its own yard. She was also allowed to entertain reporters and other guests and pose for photographs. Even with all of these amenities Pearl did not enjoy prison. She first tried to get early release by claiming she was needed to star in a play in Kansas City about her life. When that didn't work, she changed her tune and claimed she was pregnant. Wishing to avoid a scandal the governor pardoned Pearl in 1902 and provided her with a train ticket to Kansas City. Pearl's life after her release faded into the unknown. She did star in a short lived play about her life, using the proceeds to purchase a cigar store. After that she just kind of disappeared, though many claim she lived into the 1950's.
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PearlHart.jpg