B.C. author's debut novel brings outlaw Belle Jane, head of a cattle thieving ring, to life
'I was a little bit starry-eyed ... and began to hunt up clues about who this remarkable woman might be'
Natalie Appleton is used to writing about her own life — in 2018, the B.C. writer released her memoir, I Have Something To Tell You, detailing her travels through Thailand on a journey to figure out who she is, and where she belongs.
But now, she's writing about someone else, with a fictional twist.
Her debut novel, I Want to Die in My Boots, focuses on Belle Jane — also known as Belle Willard, Mrs. B.J. Dale and Mrs. William Kinnick — who Appleton says was a notorious cattle thief in the 1920s.
Appleton's interest in Belle Jane came about when she read an obituary that pointed her in the direction of a history book about southwest Saskatchewan.
"I just became really enchanted with the place," said Appleton, who grew up in Medicine Hat, Alta., about 53 kilometres west of the Saskatchewan border.
She stumbled upon an account about a woman named B.J. Dale, she told CBC's Daybreak South guest host Sarah Penton.
"It said something to the effect of she was the most colourful woman to pass through this country — charming, intelligent, also known as the head of a gang of cattle thieves for which she put in time," Appleton said.
"Of course, I was a little bit starry-eyed and so curious and began to hunt up clues about who this remarkable woman might be. I didn't so much search out to find her, but I feel like she kind of found me."
As is often the case for writers, Appleton got deep into researching the woman, who she said was born in Nevada and grew up in Montana.
"Her dad ran a saloon, and I think that's where she started to gain some of her skills as an entrepreneur," Appleton said. "She, I think, had a child young. I found a newspaper clipping that she actually was sent to Rossland, B.C. when she was 19 for six months."
The woman went on to have a ranch of her own, Appleton said, and was married several times.
"Some of them I could find the marriage and divorce records for. Some of them I couldn't. She took the name of five husbands. She had so many names, first names, last names, many variations in between as she crossed borders, marriage certificates, she would lie about her age, all these kinds of things. She was elusive."
In 1924, Belle Jane was convicted and sentenced to jail time in Saskatchewan for her involvement in a cattle thieving ring, Appleton said.
"There was what they called the beef crisis at the time. Everyone was mad for steak, but there wasn't enough cow to go around. So they, I think, realized that there was quite an opportunity in being able to steal cattle from the many."
Through extensive research and a few embellishments, Appleton has pieced together a fictional retelling of what this Belle Jane's life could have been like.
"I'm so excited for other people to get to go on adventures with her. It was so joyful to spend time learning and writing about her life, and now I'm thrilled for others to have the chance to walk [her] story with her."
With files from Daybreak South