Verona Baldwin - British Royalty?

Meet Verona Baldwin - who claimed to be related to the ruling British Monarchy and one Lucky Baldwin, millionaire owner of the Baldwin Hotel in San Francisco in the 1890s.  Ms. Baldwin is said to have been a better shot than most of the pistol packing mamas of the frontier west.

Verona was tall, stately, wore a jeweled tiara and carried a shoulder-high staff - quite the dignified visitor in Denver's parlor houses of the 1890s. In fact, she owned one of her own parlor houses in Denver.

Her fame comes from a story that she had her own .38 caliber pistol tucked into her pocket and wasn't afraid to use it - which she is said to have used on her own cousin, Lucky Baldwin, as he was leaving his private dining room at the Baldwin Hotel.  What Lucky did to get Ms Baldwin to shoot him point blank is unknown, but she is reported on police file as stating "I shot Mr. Baldwin even though we are related by blood.  He ruined me, body and mind".

Mr. Baldwin recovered from his gunshot wound and went on to make more millions in San Francisco, but whether he shared any of that with his cousin, Verona,  is highly unlikely!

Next Belle Starr....