Unmasking Black Bart: The Untold Story of the Gentleman Stagecoach Bandit

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He's a regular contributor here on our American stories. Here to introduce McGrath is our own Greg Hengler. Take it away, Greg. Same as Ralphie, I just know those bad guys would be coming for us in the end.

Go for it, Dad, as long as that got all blue. Ralphie's fantasy encounter with Black Bart in the 1983 film A Christmas Story leads one to believe that Black Bart was some desperado. What have we got here, folks? Well, we figure it's Black Bart, Ralph. Well, it's just me and my trusty old Red Ryder carbine accent doing a shot range model air rifle.

Lucky I got a compass in the stock. Well, I think I better have a look here. No worries, honey. In the 1870s, there was a dime novel that was loosely based on Black Bart's true story. A Christmas story author, Jean Shepherd, read this novel as a kid and included Ralphie's reincarnation of Black Bart as a desperado. OK, Ralphie, you win this time, but we'll be back. Here you go, Bart. What'll you do, come back?

You'll be pushing up daisies. But Black Bart's real story is far more fantastical than Ralphie's imagination. To tell the story of America's most successful and eccentric stagecoach robber is one of America's greatest storytellers, an author of gunfighters, highwaymen, and vigilantes. Let's begin with Dr. Roger McGrath and the story of highwayman Black Bart. Black Bart was the most successful highwayman in American history.

For more than eight years, this would be from 1875 to 1883, he preyed on stagecoaches, robbing 29 of them. No other road agent could match Black Bart's record. Moreover, Black Bart was a gentleman. He always treated everyone courteously and took only the express box.

He left the passengers untouched. Black Bart probably got away with upwards of $30,000. That would be something like $2 million in today's money. Black Bart's real name was Charles Bowles. He was born on a farm in upstate New York in 1831. His parents were recent immigrants from England. Little is known about his early years other than he grew up as a typical farm boy. At age 18, he and his older brother David left the farm to join the gold rush of 1849.

They first prospected on the American River and then throughout the motherlode country. Life in the diggings was rugged and many a prospector died from disease, accident, or gunplay. David Bowles was one of those who met an early end. He grew ill and died in July 1852.

Here's Black Bart biographer Gayle Jenner. Charles was devastated. He had been the one to truly want to come out to California. He felt guilty. He was a restless soul.

That played very heavily into the choices we made later on. Charles continued to prospect, in fact for another two years, and then he drifted back to the Midwest. In Decatur, Illinois, he met and married a girl named Mary and settled down and began raising a family. When the Civil War erupted, Charles enlisted in the Union Army. For more than three years, he served with distinction. He fought in several major battles and was severely wounded in one of them, but returned to fight again. He even served under General Sherman on his brutal march to the sea. Here's Civil War historian Harry Jones. To march with Sherman's army, you certainly are fit. He was very demanding of his soldiers, and being able to understand what trails will get you where, what trails could be easily ambushed, and therefore you set up defenses for them at the proper places, that would be of value to someone who later becomes known as Black Bart.

Charles rose to the rank of first sergeant before this last battle, and then just before the war ended, was commissioned a second lieutenant. After the war, his gold fever returned. He left his wife Mary and his daughters in Illinois to go off to the mines of Montana and Idaho on foot. Every so often, he sent Mary a letter saying that he'd be on his way home soon. The last letter Mary received came from Silver Bow, Montana in August 1871.

Why he stopped writing after that, we don't know. As the months went by with no further word, Mary grew frantic and finally sold the family home to raise money for her search for her husband. Meanwhile, the missing husband continued prospecting, but as word as Montana's riches spread, the competition for claims increased.

Well, you could thank Mr. Wells and Mr. Fargo. They just bought me out. Seems like the name to buy up the whole territory. Large companies rushed to capitalize on local strikes and eliminate the competition. They'd buy up businesses and all lands surrounding successful claims.

Here again is Gail Jenner. There was mining going on in various sections of Montana. He did have a claim where he was in competition with other people, also setting up claim. And there was a lot of the violence that was occurring around him.

Wells Fargo began consolidating its stage lines for new mining towns in Idaho, Utah, and Montana. The owners of the company going into the mining business make Bowles suspicious. Just days after receiving offers for his claim, the water supply suddenly dried up.

His claim was now worthless. Bowles is convinced it's no coincidence. Here's author of the American West, W.C. Jameson. What Fargo did is divert the stream from which Bowles was panning the gold to where he was forced to abandon his gold mine. Many historians believe that this was the moment he set his sight on one of the most powerful companies in the West, Wells Fargo, making the company out to be responsible for his misfortune.

A hardworking miner and former Union soldier with dreams of striking it rich made a bold decision to extract revenge. In 1874, Bowles left his claim and moved to the cosmopolitan hub of Northern California. Consumed by revenge, Bowles completely broke ties with his family, cut himself off from the past, and reinvented himself. He moved to San Francisco, all the while nursing this anger, this hatred toward Wells Fargo.

In preparation for his revenge, Bowles did his homework. I watched the stages from a second camp far from my home camp to ascertain the exact time they passed. I found them to be at the same spot every morning at 7 a.m. All over Northern California, they were shipping lots of gold from one place to another. They had over 3,000 miles of stagecoach roads. It was a big target for thieves. And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell the story of Black Bart and what a story it is indeed we learn in the end what motivated Black Bart to do what he did. He'd been a part of the gold rush in 1849, went out there with his brother, who died, and so many people did. And not just from violence, but just disease.

Medical conditions not being what they are today. And of course, what happens after? Well, his life starts to unravel. And then comes, well, what he believes is Wells Fargo playing with his claim, diverting water from his land, thus rendering it worthless. Him moving to San Francisco and starting to become, or at least lay out the plans to become, one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers in American history.

When we come back, more of the story of Black Bart here on Our American Stories. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker bundle when you spend $400 or more. So, if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year, or the right kind of bad, get them Bartesian. At the push of a button, make bar quality cosmopolitans, martinis, manhattans, and more. All in just 30 seconds. All for $100 off.

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Put it on that box, please. Well, the demand from this hooded figure was reinforced by a double-barreled shotgun aimed at the stagecoach driver. The robber's head was covered by a flour sack with two holes cut for the eyes, and even his boots couldn't be seen. They were covered by thick socks to avoid leaving tracks. As the driver grabbed the Express box, highwaymen yelled an order over his shoulder.

If he dares shoot, give him a solid volley, boys. Driver glanced up at the hillside behind the highwaymen and thought he saw at least a half-dozen rifle barrels aimed his way. It's called a Quaker Gun Trick. Used in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, it's named for the Quakers who, like bulls, oppose violence. The trick uses sticks to look like guns and logs to look like cannons.

To fool the enemy into believing they're facing a force much larger than they actually are. With a real sense of urgency, the driver threw the Express box onto the road. Highwaymen quickly removed several bags of gold coins. A frightened woman passenger tossed her purse out of the stagecoach and into the road. The highwaymen picked it up, bowed, and returned it to her, saying in a deep and resonant voice, Madam, I have no desire of your money.

In that respect, I honor only the good office of Wells Fargo. He's got his mask on, he's got a duster on, he's got his gun pointed. He was an enigma. He was a very hard man to figure out. Good day to you, sir.

Thank you, Kai. He disappeared into the brush and escaped on foot over 120 miles through rugged terrain, through the mountains, and back to San Francisco. He returned to high society in plain sight, where he developed an alter ego. He called himself Charles Bolton. Bolton's reputation grew as he became known as a successful gold prospector and socialite. Here's Old West historian Chris Hentz. Charles Bowles went by Charles Bolton because it sounds very sophisticated. It has a certain dignity associated with it.

He is as comfortable living in the wilderness as he is in the city. Yes, sir. Circumstances compelled me.

I yield it to the temptation of crime only after enduring severe struggles from which I had no control. Following his first robbery, Bowles took odd jobs that pulled him away from the city and gave him access to new targets. He was trying just a little bit of everything. He tried school teaching for a while, which would have been unnatural for him because he was intelligent, he was sharp. He's incredibly well read. In addition to Shakespeare and that kind of thing, he also reads the Sacramento Union. And in the Union paper is a story written by an attorney who does make up this character named Bartholomew Graham, or Black Bart. Charles Bowles adopted the name and transformed into highwayman Black Bart. Following Black Bart's first robbery, Wells Fargo detective James Hume was put on the case.

Here again is Gail Jenner and historian Marshall Trimble. James Hume chose to become the kind of person who would never quit. He has an obsessive compulsive kind of desire to make things right. This is the beginning of this detective period when there's a robbery, you don't just get out there and look for horse tracks. It gets much more sophisticated.

Technology and such is starting to change as to how to track these guys down. And this is what Hume has really adept at. Hume was one of the great detectives of the Old West, but this Black Bart character had him stumped. Hume begins to put together that this man is quite capable of covering long distances in between the robberies.

He knows that it's not a multiple person job, that this is a lone man. Beginning with a second stagecoach robbery, Black Bart would leave behind a verse or two of poetry. Hume, a man as cunning and restless as the bandit himself, read it. 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... ...butts. Black Bart. Poet.

Poet. He's mocking me. He's mocking me!

Hume didn't know what to do with witness testimonies. What was his behavior, his demeanor? Did he threaten you or take any of your personal belongings? No sir, he was polite.

Said please and thank you. That's what's left of the cash box over there. The public had doubts about Detective Hume and Wells Fargo. Hume took it personally. Wells Fargo is putting more and more pressure on James Hume. The newspapers are having a field day. There were lots and lots of articles about who is this Black Bart. And people are ridiculing both James Hume and Wells Fargo. They're becoming a joke. And so they're determined now to try and figure this out.

And lots of pressure is coming from lots of different directions. Here's a quote from Hume in the San Francisco Examiner in 1884. I refuse to buy a romanticized image of Black Bart as fabricated by the press.

He is a fraud who is Robin Hoodwinking a gullible public. Jim Hume began to piece together a physical description of Black Bart. Bart was armed, but he didn't shoot back though. Nope. Not his style.

No horse track. And he escapes on foot. As Black Bart's stage robberies continued, the price on his head increased. Wells Fargo offered a $300 reward. The state of California chipped in another $300. And the U.S. government, $200. The $800 total was really quite a sum back in the 1870s.

Something like $80,000 today. And you've been listening to Roger McGrath. He's the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes.

Violence on the Frontier. And if you recognize that voice, you'd recognize his face for sure. He's a frequent contributor to the History Channel. And a regular contributor here on Our American Stories. And what a story he's telling here. Clearly, clearly, this stagecoach robber has a beef with Wells Fargo. If he didn't, he would have collected, well, he would have collected the passenger's money too.

And would have gone about things in a completely different way. And that one particular story that we heard, just that one with a woman throughout the purse. And he returned it. He had almost a literary response to it too. And it was clear that this was, well, this wasn't an ordinary robber. An enigma is what he was called. He wore a mask, a duster, and a gun. But yet, left poetry verses behind after each robbery. And it seemed to bring delight to him. To taunt Wells Fargo, this mighty company. And their ace detective, poor James Hume.

Hume, of course, trying to, well, just battle it out in the press. Trying to create an awful portrait of Black Bart as, well, a grifter. And a fraud.

And a fake Robin Hood type. When we come back, more of this remarkable story of Black Bart, here on Our American Stories. Get Bartesian Under 30 Seconds at the push of a button. And right now, Bartesian is having a huge site-wide sale. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker bundle when you spend $400 or more. So, if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year, or the right kind of bad, get them Bartesian. At the push of a button, make bar quality cosmopolitans, martinis, manhattans, and more. Just 30 seconds, all for $100 off.

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That's PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Black Bart. And what was most fascinating also was that he was as comfortable in the wilderness as he was in the city and having adopted that, well, that alias, Charles Bolton, as a sort of a socialite opposite of this renegade stagecoach robber.

Let's return to Roger McGrath. Black Bart's luck nearly ran out on his 23rd stagecoach robbery. The stage was on its way from La Porte to Oroville when Black Bart blocked its path. Would you be so kind as to throw down that box?

I'll get it right now for you, sir. Instead, the Wells Fargo guards swung his rifle around and fired. Black Bart leaped into the brush and ran for it. They didn't know it, but the bullet fired at Black Bart creased the outlaw's head. A fraction of an inch change in trajectory would have spelled the end for Black Bart.

On a Sunday in November 1883, Black Bart's luck finally did run out. Early that morning, a stagecoach pulled out a snore bound for Milton. The driver of the stage was a veteran of the run, Raisin McConnell. At Reynolds Ferry on the Stanislaus River, McConnell picked up a passenger. Nineteen-year-old Jimmy O'Leary.

O'Leary operated the ferry, but it was still early in the morning. He thought he might go up the hill a ways and do a little hunting. When the stage began the long climb, O'Leary jumped off with a Winchester rifle in hand.

The stage had nearly reached the summit when a hooded highwayman leaped from the brush. He trained a shotgun on McConnell. Throw down that box. Okay.

Please. Bolt it to the floor. Well, it's lucky for you I brought my tools. McConnell tried to signal O'Leary, who was casually walking up the road. Finally, McConnell got his attention. Just then, the highwayman straightened up with a sack full of gold. O'Leary fired. Highwayman stumbled, but managed to spring into the brush and disappear.

McConnell reported the holdup. The local county sheriff, Ben Thorne, and his deputies were soon at the scene of the crime. They found a number of things the highwayman had left behind in his hasty departure. There was a black derby hat, two paper bags containing crackers and sugar, bare binoculars, and a handkerchief. Once back in his office, Sheriff Thorne inspected the items left behind at the scene of the robbery. He noticed some badly faded lettering on the handkerchief. He turned the handkerchief over to Wells Fargo detective Jim Hume, who in turn gave the handkerchief to Harry Morris. Hume had hired Morris six months earlier to do nothing but work on the robberies of Black Bart. Morris had recently retired as sheriff of Alameda County, and now he had his own private detective agency.

He was one of the great lawmen of the Old West. When James discovers the handkerchief, he was delighted, and as he examines it, he sees the mark, FX07, and he knows this was in fact a laundry mark. This man must be found. Hume decides we're going to have to track this laundry mark. Take your men and leave no stone unturned.

So they go to 93 different laundries in the San Francisco area. Yes, sir, can I help you? Yes. Is that your mark?

Yes, that's our mark from one of our customers, C.E. Bolton. He's a local gold prospector.

Since Hume thought that Black Bart lived in San Francisco, Morris began his investigation there. Now, under the guise of a business proposition, Morris was introduced to Charles Bolton. Bolton looked every inch the mine owner he purported to be. He was dressed in an expensive tailored wool suit and a bowler hat. He carried a walking stick.

A diamond ring was on one finger, and a heavy gold watch was suspended from a gold chain. He was handsome with deep-set blue eyes. He stood about 5'8 and was ramrod straight.

He looked anything but a robber. Morris managed to get Bolton to an office where Jim Hume waited. Mr. Bolton, I'd like you to meet Detective James Hume. Minutes later, a captain from the San Francisco Police Department arrived, took Bolton into custody. At the police station, Bolton was placed under arrest. He feigned astonishment and asked for what possible cause was he being arrested. Hume answered, because you are Black Bart. The infamous highwayman and poet. I had a premonition that this would happen today.

Aren't you the lucky one? Charles Bowles wanted them to know that it was him. And to be able to tease and to play with the people that have been chasing him and trying to get at this, it gave him pleasure.

You do want somebody to know. Black Bart pleaded guilty to the last of his robberies. Whereas the said C.E. Bolton is convicted of robbery by his own admission, he is therefore ordered a judge to stand sentence to San Quentin, the state prison for the period of seven years. He became a model prisoner and was released in January 1888. After serving a little more than four years, he was then 57 years old.

Reporters waited outside for his release. Black Bart, are you going back to your life of Robin stagecoaches? No. I'm giving up my life since crime. Are you going to go back to writing poetry?

You hear me, son? I said I'm done committing crimes. After being released from San Quentin, Black Bart returned to San Francisco. And there he was offered the opportunity of appearing on stage in a theatrical production. Somebody wanted to take advantage of his notoriety, but he refused. Jim Hume had his men shadow Black Bart. But suddenly one day, early in March 1888, Black Bart gave him the slip. Bowles was a pretty smart guy. It is likely that he knew that Hume was following him. Hume perhaps had a hunch that maybe Bowles might return to his nefarious ways. Reports had Black Bart in several different western states.

Then in Mexico, Canada, Japan, China, and finally Australia. None of these reports, though, was ever confirmed. Black Bart, America's most successful highwayman, had simply disappeared. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to Roger McGrath, the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes, Violence on the Frontier.

And Roger is a regular on the History Channel. And what a story we just heard. That first robbery in July of 1875, where he said to the woman who threw the purse at him, he gave it back to her and said, Madam, I have no desire for your money.

But boy, did he have a desire for Wells Fargo's money. And ultimately, a slip-up led to his discovery. A detective, several detectives, on the hunt found that faded handkerchief, traced it back, old gumshoe, visiting all those laundries until they finally stumbled on the one, and then stumbled on Charles Bolton, a.k.a. Charles Bowles, a.k.a.

Black Bart. And he pled guilty. He had had his fun and did his time, four years at San Quentin. And of course, the media was waiting for a response, and he said he had given up his life of crime. But he gave the detectives the slip and went off to, well, who knows? But one can only imagine he was still trying to torture Wells Fargo. The story of Black Bart, here on Our American Stories. A man appeared before Wells Fargo, West Fargo's next job of mayor.

Wearing a long white lingerie and a dusterfly, said, Come on, here, sit. They called him Black Bart, P.O. it. The highwayman, the poetry man.

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