Mariah Hart

Mariah Hart is the daughter of the once famous and extremely effective Sheriff Malcom Hart and his wife Loretta. Growing up Malcom doted on his daughter though he always wished he'd had a son. Sadly all the rest of Loretta's children were still born and the doctor's eventually insisted she not carry any longer as it may take her own life in the end. As such and against Loretta's express wishes, Sheriff Hart ended up teaching his daughter to shoot, ride a horse and do all the things he loved. In turn, Mariah learned to love them too, eschewing her mother's attempts to turn her into a proper lady at every turn.

Without a doubt Mariah loved her father more than anyone or anything on God's green earth. So when three of his fellow law enforcement officers showed up at their house and shot him dead without any warning, the poor girl's world was shattered. At the tender age of thirteen Mariah, who had harbored rather foolish thoughts of one day becoming a 'lawwoman' herself, found all the idyllic views of the world that her father had placed within her head dashed. The law could be just as corrupt as any law breaker. Perhaps even more so as despite the testimony of Mariah and her mother, no actions were ever taken against her father's murders. They had killed him, it seems, for being too good at his job. Too upright. Too incorruptible. With him out of the way, the bribe money flowed and Mariah's heart bled justice.

It didn't take long before Mariah began flouting the law at every turn she could, stealing, starting fights, anything a rebellious young woman could do. By sheer dumb luck her antics got her noticed by one Harvey Reynolds. Harvey liked her spunk and her drive, but he could see how unfocused her rage was. She needed a father figure again and he could provide it for her. It didn't hurt that he was also the leader of a rather sizable gang that specialized in bank robberies with the occasional train heist.

When Loretta learned of the sort of people Mariah had begun to associate with, the well bred Bostonian finally decided she'd had enough. The last meeting of mother and daughter devolved quickly into a shouting match in which numerous pieces of china and even a small chair were broken. One week later Loretta was on the seven am train back to Boston. Mariah stayed with Harvey.

Harvey did his best to protect his pseudo-adopted daughter from the rampant carnal appetites of his men, encouraging her to cut her hair and pass for a boy whenever possible. Though eventually most of the smarter fellas caught on, they also caught on to just how protective the boss was of his young charge and Mariah found herself molested only when she wanted to be. She also honed all the skills her father had taught her along with a whole new set that came along with her gang's profession. And so she thrived.

Eventually, Harvey took one too many risks. He was arrested and later hanged and the gang dispersed. Mariah stuck with a few of the men she'd managed to befriend despite her rather prickly nature forming their own little roving gang of marauders. Over time men came and went until a hand picked few remained. Mariah dubbed their little group 'The Black Spurs Gang' and though they claimed not to have a leader, they all eventually came to look to Mariah for guidance. Hers was the strongest personality, the steadiest aim and the fiercest heart.

For a few years things were good. They stole gold, cash, cattle, whatever they could. Mariah especially enjoyed knocking over banks or stealing government gold. She loved 'sticking it to the man.' However, she also had a tendency to donate a portion of their take to places like orphanages, whore houses, widows, etc. There were also rules when riding with Mariah. Rules like 'No harming children,' 'No killing women,' 'No killing the unarmed except as a last resort.' Annoying little restraints upon their methods that eventually began to chafe especially on her de facto second in command, Silas Cutter.

Eventually Silas' patience came to an end when Mariah shot and killed one of their own gang for the crime of loosing his cool and accidentally putting a bullet in a young girl who they had been forced to take hostage when a bank job went sideways. Though they managed to get away from that job with their necks intact (save for poor Hammish Durkin, of course), the argument that ensued that night around the campfire was loud enough to damn near bring the law down upon their heads once again. After several days to cool off, it was decided among the group that they couldn't continue under these conditions. One last job, split the take even and walk away. That was the plan. Well, that was the plan as Mariah understood it. Silas had other plans.

As they all rode off into the sunset, bags full of their ill gotten loot, Silas steadied his pistol and put a bullet in Mariah's back...