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About this Book
“I’ve
labored long for bread
For
honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you’ve tread
You fine haired Sons of Bitches”
—Black Bart, the Po8
California
Gold Country historian George Hoeper reveals what promises to be the final
piece to the 100-year-old puzzle of the infamous poetry-writing stagecoach
robber Black Bart.
For over eight years the mysterious and very polite Charles Boles (alias
Black Bart) plagued Wells Fargo & Co. with a string of at least 28
stagecoach robberies.
During this time, Bart, who operated on foot with an unloaded shotgun and
never robbed passengers or drivers, soon became something of a folk legend.
Between robberies Bart would live the life of a boulevardier in San Francisco, unobtrusively hobnobbing with the
city’s best.
In 1888 he disappeared from the Palace Hotel in Visalia...never to be heard from again. Or
was he?
Speculation has placed Bart in many places, including the Eastern Seaboard,
Mexico and Japan, but according to information Hoeper
has uncovered, it is more likely the legendary Black Bart met his demise in
the dry Nevada wasteland and today rests in a
sandy, unmarked grave.
Reviews
"...immense
value and a fine read."
— True West Magazine
“...an
enticing account of the enigmatic stagecoach robber and the searchers who
apprehended him....”
—Library Journal
“ ...definitive work on Black Bart. Those with a
specific interest in California history will want to add this book
to their collection.”
—Abraham Hoffman, The Californians
“A good read for anyone interested in the American West.”
—Walt McLaughlin, Small Press Review
“...a strong, lively presentation.”
—Diane Donovan, Reviewer, Bookwatch
“One of the Wild West’s most intriguing, if mysterious, bandits receives
fine treatment in this work.”
—Wild West
“Future scholars as well as the casual reader will find this book of
immense value and a fine read.”
—Dave Johnson, True West Magazine
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