ep. 14 Black Bart - The Po8 — Ricky's Historical Tidbits

In this episode of Ricky's Historical Tidbits, I share with you the story of my favorite criminal, Charley Boles also known as Black Bart. He robbed 28 stagecoaches in his bandit career and was eventually caught and sent to San Quentin. You can Listen, watch or read. I got you covered.

An older man in his 50s, who obviously lived a hard life walks out from the gates of San Quentin Prison, He is a celebrity of sorts at this point. Years of Crime and a cool nickname brought fear into the hearts of many and yet he was known also as the Gentleman bandit as he never used foul language except in his now-famous poems. He walks to a carriage that will take him somewhere far from the place he called home for the last 4 years but a crowd of reporters and well, fans are surrounding him, the noise is ridiculous with people all yelling out their questions.

Mr. Boles who I will call Charley is smiling from ear to ear

"All this attention for a convict?" He thinks to himself.

He then puts up his hands to quiet the crowd as he begins to speak.

“Call me Charles Bolton please, Charles Bolton”

"Are you going to rob any more stagecoaches?" some Reporter yelled out to him.

Charley at this point in time was almost 60 years old, His eyes had betrayed him at his age and one of his ears had gone completely deaf. Charley laughs a hearty ha ha ha then looked in the direction of that reporter loud enough for everyone to hear said

“I’m through with crime”

With that, he got into the carriage and went on his way.

For some that would be the end of the story of Black Bart as soon after this, he fell off the face of the earth never to be heard from or seen ever again.

Early Life

We'll come back to this later, now let's go look at Charley's early life and how a good old farm boy from New York came to be one of the most notorious bandits ever known in the wild west. Not a whole lot is known but the backstory is important to go over real quick.

Charley was one of 10 kids, was born in England, and came to America as a toddler. His dad bought a farm over in New York and that is where Charley grew up. Soon enough Charley was 20 years old and then it happened.

Word of Gold spreads all over the country and this sparked one of the greatest migrations of people in this country from the eastern states to the unknown western territories.

Charley and his cousin David headed West to go make it rich. They mined on the North fork of the American River, but by 1852 they both said, forget it this sucks. and went back home. As soon as they get home one of Charley's brothers, Robert, said he wanted to go try too. So once again, they made their way back to California.

Soon after arriving, both Robert and David get sick and die. Leaving Charley on his own. He stayed 2 more years saving up enough money to get the heck out of California and when he could, he did.

For some reason, this is when he changed the spelling of his last name from Bowels to Boles.

Pretty soon after getting back home, Charley got hitched and moved with his wife to Illinois where they started their family farm. Life was good then. Just living a quiet life plowing fields, and feeding the animals. But this was more of a calm before the storm because in 10 years Charley would be charging across a field fighting against the Confederate army.

Civil War

His time in the war was also short because He almost died in the Battle of Vicksburg.

Vicksburg was a Confederate stronghold in Mississippi which controlled a good chunk of the Mississippi River. General Grant had the Union Army come in and basically take over but it took 47 days to do. Once they did they pretty much cut off a good piece of the Confederates' trade route. At some point in this siege, Charley got a nasty wound right in the gut and almost died. He somehow survived and somewhat healed up and was back out fighting as soon as he could. Then he got hurt again in the Battle of Dallas which was a part of the Battle of Atlanta which had a similar goal of taking over the supply line but this time it was rail not river. It was headed by General Sherman, Charley healed up from that and then went on with General Sherman to be one of the 60,000 men that took part in Sherman's march to the Sea. which at the end of that he was honorably discharged as a 1st lieutenant. Sherman’s march was when The Union Army went from Atlanta Georgia after taking over Atlanta to Savannah which is about 300 miles, they marched through and basically destroyed everything they saw which is known as scorched earth warfare.

Drawings of Sherman’s March (scorched earth warfare)

After The War

Once he got out of the war He went back to his wife and kids in Illinois moving them to Iowa to another farm. But by now, The simple life was just too dang boring for Mr. boles. So he said “Toodle loo” to his family again and went alone to Montana. where he met a guy from Missouri and they teamed up on a mining claim over by Butte, Montana. They were doing pretty good there, he seemed to enjoy it much better than mining in California. The type of mining he did, and this is an important part of the story, was by using big long troughs 12 feet long and about 10 inches deep, there would be something like a sieve at the end to keep rocks and stuff from getting through and only letting in sand and gold essentially.

The main thing that made or broke this kind of mining was water. You need a nice stream of water to mine like that.

One day, some guys that happened to have some kind of connection with Wells Fargo came over and said "hey, can we buy this here mine?" and Charley said "no sir, I like my mine thank you"

So then these Wells Fargo guys went and bought a piece of land upriver and blocked the water from going down to the mine which put Charley and his friend out of business and they abandoned it. Until then, Charley was doing so good he had planned on going back to his family but that was over now...

Have you ever heard of Dime Novels?

Dime Novels are sort of like comic books or Readers Digest stories. Typically they would first be written in a newspaper since the Newspaper back then was like the town's Facebook group. Some Dime Novels were more popular than others and some had a lasting impact. Have you ever heard the story of how when H.G. Wells' book the War of the Worlds went on as a radio show and some people actually thought it was really going on? Sometimes the Dime novels would be told orally so often that those that didn't know it was fiction would think it was real life. Why am I telling you this?

There was a Dime Novel back in the Early 1870s that the Sacramento Union put out called "The case of Summerfield" it was loosely based on Captain Ingram who was the head honcho of the Ingram Rangers which you can learn about in ep. 8 - James Hume

The story was about a madman named Summerfield. He was basically a mad scientist who had discovered a way to blow up the earth. He then went to a man who he told his plan, proved he could do it, and asked for one million dollars or he would destroy the planet. Then over at a small lake somewhere near San Francisco, He showed a large group of elites that by adding in what he had in a vial he could burn water to nothing and within 15 minutes the lake was emptied of water. Quickly they scrambled to get 1 million dollars without making too big of a fuss because he could easily be robbed and then the secret weapon will be on the loose and that would be really bad. Then after much talk, a conspiracy came about to murder Summerfield that way the secret dies with him. And it came to pass that they threw him off a train where he fell to his death over a cliff.

but then a man named Bartholomew Graham known to many as Black Bart apparently had robbed the body of Summerfield which meant he now had the vial that could destroy the earth. The governor put out a warrant for his arrest and a reward of 10 thousand dollars, the description was that He is five feet ten inches and a half in height, thick-set, has a mustache sprinkled with gray, grizzled hair, clear blue eyes, walks stooping, and served in the late civil war, under Price and Quantrell, in the Confederate army. He may be lurking in some of the mining camps near the foothills, as he was a Washoe teamster during the Comstock excitement. The above reward will be paid for him, dead or alive, as he possessed himself of an important secret by robbing the body of the late Gregory Summerfield.

The Story then goes on to talk more about who this Black Bart was known for. The Bullion Bend Robbery which is reality was run by Captain Ingram as I said but in this story, it’s Black Bart. A stagecoach Robber who had a thing against Wells Fargo. He was a nasty evil man and knew what the vial would do.

Then, the story simply ends. Leaving the reader to assume that this Black Bart guy was still on the loose!

Back to real life

At this point in time, our friend Charley here is now about 46 years old. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall, he's got a big bushy mustache and blueish-grey eyes, He is a miner and a civil war veteran. It’s the mid-1870s now and he is in California. Over in Calaveras/Angels camp area,

You know, where the Jumping Frog is!

Well there's a smaller town nearby called Copperopolis. Our buddy, Charley has apparently decided to get back at Wells Fargo for ruining his mine back in Montana by robbing them and living his life on their dime. He wears a linen duster and then puts on a flour sack on his head with two eye holes so He could see and then a bowler hat on top of that. He holds a shotgun and has a rifle on his back.

On Milton road where he is, is a a good-sized rock that he hides behind. Soon, a stagecoach starts down the road and when they get close enough Charley Jumps out in front of it and Yells out for the driver to throw down the strong box which holds the money. The driver stares down at Charley and then Charley yells out,

“If he dares to shoot, Give him the solid volley, boys!”

The driver then looks around for the other guys and sees barrels pointing out from all around him in the bushes. He gets up and then throws down the strong box to Charley. Charley then Starts to go through it when a Woman on the Stage says he can have what’s in her purse. Charley gets up, walks over to the lady, and tells her no, He just wants the Wells Fargo stuff. Charley then took what gold he wanted then walked off. The driver waits for the other guys to leave too before he would get down grab what was left and go into town but for some reason, the other guys weren't leaving. Finally, after a few minutes, he realizes. there are no men hiding in the bushes, just sticks that Charley had stuck in there to look like it in the heat of the moment.

Months later Charley robs another stagecoach using the same idea of the guns in the bushes. Once again, Taking only the Wells Fargo Stuff.

Po8?

Fast forward a little to 1877, and Charley robs his 4th stage. but this time he left a poem. The first of 2 that he is now famous for. It read,

I've labored long and hard for bread

For honor and for Riches

But on my Corns too long you've tread

you fine-haired Sons of Bitches.

This is why the backstory is so important to understand our good friend Charley. He was a hard-working man who then fought honorably in the civil war for the Union and then worked hard in a mine until the Suits from Wells Fargo screwed him over. They messed with the wrong man. Then he signed it Black Bart the Po8.

Now the Dime Novel I told you comes into play. Charley liked that story and the description pretty much fit him so he took that persona so nobody would mess with him. I read in my research a lot of confusion about why he also says the Po8. In the story the mad scientist’s secret is potassium and in the Showing of his plan, he gives a short description of water being 8 parts oxygen to one part hydrogen.

This is true by the way, we think of h20 but that's in terms of volume, in terms of mass it is a ratio of 8 to 1.

In the story When the scientist puts potassium in Water it explodes and the water is gone. The reason Charley put Black Bart, The Po8 was to play off the character in the story and toy with people’s emotions, blending fantasy with reality which then would make a common person believe the story was not just a story. Impressive Charley, bravo!

P = Potassium

O8 =water

In saying he is Black Bart then mentioning Po8, he is using that story even further saying he has the potassium and he knows the secret of what happens when it touches water so you better not mess with him.

P is not the Symbol for potassium in the periodic table, it's K. But Mendeleev didn't create the Periodic Table until 1869 which means Potassium as the letter K was not common knowledge in 1877. It makes perfect sense to believe P meant potassium

For example, I still say Pluto is a planet though the International Astronomical Union in 2006 changed the definition of a planet, reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet, not a normal planet. So now instead of 9 planets in the solar system, there are 8. I know plenty of people that don’t know that it got changed. Maybe you just learned that right now?

That is why I believe P in this context meant Potassium

Second and last poem

The next year Charley robbed another stage and left his 2nd and last poem.

Here I lay me down to sleep

to await the coming morrow

perhaps success, perhaps defeat

and everlasting sorrow

I've labored long and hard for bread

For honor and for Riches

But on my Corns too long you've tread

you fine-haired Sons of Bitches.

let come what will, I'll try it on

My condition can't be worse

and if there's money in that box

'tis money in my purse

Black Bart the Po8

Now, There was a man named James Hume, At this point in time, he was an investigator for Wells Fargo. His job was to make sure bandits that robbed Wells Fargo got arrested tried and convicted. Our friend Charley was, as they say, a thorn in his side.

James Hume was a different kind of detective, I like to say he was the Sherlock Holmes of the West.

some things about Charley, he didn't like horses. Because of this, there wouldn’t be horse tracks to follow only footprints if they could find any. One day they did find some and were able to figure out he was a size 6 or 8. Charley didn't rob often, months and sometimes about a year would go between his robberies which made it all the harder to catch him. but sometimes only days between. but another clue was figured out, the way the sacks would be opened, in a T shape it was like his signature.

One of the funny parts of the Black Bart case was how similar Charley, the 1st picture, and investigator Hume, 2nd picture looked.

Where was Charley when he wasn't robbing Wells Fargo?

Charley lived in San Francisco, going by the name of Charles Bolton. His identity there was a mine owner who didn't have to stay at the mine all the time, just check in once in a while. In San Francisco, Charley lived the good life. Going to plays and restaurants wearing nice clothes, and living in a nice apartment. He was good friends with a ton of people in the city including the local police and detectives.

Then when the money got light, he went to go check on his mine...

Eventually, Mr. Hume hired a guy named Harry Morse to work the Black Bart case. Mr. Hume was too busy to focus all of his attention on this one case though it was one of his most irritating cases.

Charley, as he robbed more and more got a little cocky and said to a driver one time to give his regards to Mr. Hume.

The Last Robbery

Charley's last robbery is the perfect ending to the story I think. He went to the same exact place over in Copperopolis to that hide behind that rock and rob a stagecoach coming down the road. But this time it went much differently.

First, one of the men on this stagecoach got off a little down the road to go hunt while the stage made its way down. 2nd, the box was bolted down so it couldn't be thrown down for Charley to go through. So, Charley, had the driver get down. put rocks in front of the wheels so it could run off on him and Charley went to work with a hatchet on the box to get it opened. The guy who was hunting happened to be in sight and the driver waved for him to come back and he did.

The driver grabbed his gun and shot at Charley two times but missed. The hunter then grabbed the gun back and shot at Charley as he made a run for it.

They ran after him and saw that they had got a piece of him, as there was blood on some mail that was dropped. They went into town and a posse of sheriffs and Wells Fargo agents came and found some evidence. A suitcase, a glasses case, a belt, a razor, 3 dirty shirt cuffs, some crackers and sugar, 2 flour sacks like the one he put over his head, and an old handkerchief.

The main thing was the handkerchief. back in those days to get your laundry done you went to a laundry place dropped it off and came back when it was ready for you. Laundrymats would put a mark sort of like a barcode but also like a brand as you put on cattle on your clothes so they knew who to give the clothes back to when they were all clean. It also identified who your laundry guy was.

The mark on the handkerchief was F.X.0.7

Mr. Hume knew this would be their best bet and focused on this mark. It could be from anywhere. But they happened to be in San Francisco so they began their search there. There were 91 laundries... They started going to one after the other going down the list. Finally, one laundryman recognized it and sent the investigators to a tobacco shop where the owner said that was the mark of his friend Charles Bolton, a mining manager.

Now with a name to go by, they searched the records and found his apartment, they put a watch on it but also checked in on the laundry to see if he had come back to get his clean clothes. Sure enough, Charley was walking down the street to the laundry the same day as investigator Morse was there.

Mr. Morse then shook hands with Charley and asked if he was a mining man, then asked if he could get some advice on his mine. Then they walked down the street and right into the Wells Fargo office.

Mr. Hume was there and they began asking some questions about his mining operation. Pretty quickly Charley got nervous.

Soon they went to his apartment and searched his things finding clothes with the laundry mark that matched. Charley stayed in character denying everything and kept saying he was a regular gentleman who had a mining operation.

But then, The hunter was brought in and identified Charley as the man. Then the Driver confirmed the voices matched.

Prison time and disappearance

Charley eventually caved and decided to plead guilty, but only for one robbery. He was tried and sent to San Quentin for 6 years.

In prison, Charley worked in the hospital mostly as a clerk and moved up to basically a pharmacist. Something he had said he would like to do after he got out of prison.

This brings us back to where I began. He served 4 years and got an early release. Reporters asked him if he was going to go back to robbing stages and he said no.

He went back to San Francisco but was still being watched by Wells Fargo, People treated him differently. His life as an elitist in San Francisco was gone. He wrote a letter to his wife saying he wanted to get away from everybody and disappear. He never went back to her and his kids though. Today no one knows for sure where he went. There are a few ideas but nothing is proven. I like the idea that the book "Black Bart; The search is over" says which is he went to Marysville, CA, and went by the name of Charles Wells which I just love because of Wells Fargo. He shaved his mustache so He wouldn't be recognized so easily and lived his life as a pharmacist until he died in 1914. He supposedly is buried in the Marysville Cemetery with no name on a tombstone but the number 743