Norman H. Finkelstein - The Capture of Black Bart: Gentleman Bandit of the Old West

FROM THE CAPTURE OF BLACK BART:

N EARLY A YEAR PASSED BEFORE Black Barts next robbery. On July 25, 1878, he stopped the Quincyto- Oroville stage, high in the Sierra Nevada. As the stage descended a hill, a masked man suddenly jumped out in front of the horses, stopping the coach. Throw out the box, he demanded while pointing a shotgun at Charley Seavy, the driver. The masked robber escaped with nearly $400 in coins, a $200 diamond ring, and a $25 watch. But he left behind his second and final poem in the broken treasure box, this one written on brown paper:

Here I lay me down to sleep

to wait the coming morrow

perhaps success perhaps defeat

and everlasting sorrow.

Let come what will Ill try it on

my condition cant be worse

and if theres money in that box

tis munny in my purse.

Black Bart the Po8 [poet]

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Copyright 2019 by Norman H. Finkelstein

All rights reserved

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61373-995-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Finkelstein, Norman H., author.

Title: The capture of Black Bart : gentleman bandit of the Old West / Norman H. Finkelstein.

Other titles: Black Bart, gentleman bandit of the Old West

Description: Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press Incorporated, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Ages 10 and up.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018014940 (print) | LCCN 2018015235 (ebook) | ISBN 9781613739969 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781613739983 (epub) | ISBN 9781613739976 (kindle) | ISBN 9781613739952 (cloth)

Subjects: LCSH: Brigands and robbersCaliforniaBiographyJuvenile literature. | OutlawsCaliforniaBiographyJuvenile literature. | Stagecoach robberiesCaliforniaHistoryJuvenile literature. | Frontier and pioneer lifeCaliforniaJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC F866.B59 (ebook) | LCC F866.B59 F55b 2019 (print) | DDC 979.4/04092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018014940

Interior design: Sarah Olson

Map design: Chris Erichsen

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

For Tova, Joseph, and Iliana

Black Barts stagecoach holdups spread all over the rugged landscape of Northern California. Lawmen wondered how he could travel long distances on foot so quickly between robberies. Only with his capture was the truth revealed.

1

I dont want your money, only the express box and mail.

BLACK BART

B efore automobiles, telephones, and airplanes, stagecoaches linked the isolated mining towns of the Old West. While passengers bounced and swayed inside drafty, dusty coaches, valuables were stowed under the drivers seat in a sturdy green wooden box of Wells, Fargo & Company. The box was encircled by an iron strap and secured with a heavy padlock. The box weighed 25 pounds when empty. People called it the treasure box for all the wealth it contained.

Robbers set their sights on those distinctive green boxes. Many thieves were chased off, wounded, or even killed by drivers or guards. Those who escaped were relentlessly tracked down by James B. Hume, Wells Fargos chief detective, a fearless but fair former sheriff. His job was to chase down anyone foolish enough to rob a Wells Fargo stagecoach. He always lived up to the companys mottoWells Fargo never forgets. Jim Hume was very busy. In 1875 alone, Wells Fargo stagecoaches were stopped 34 times by robbers, with a total of $87,000 (worth nearly $2 million today) stolen.

On July 26, 1875, driver John Shine slowly guided his stagecoach up Funk Hill, a steep mountain road near Copperopolis, California. He knew this part of the trip from Sonora to Milton, California, was especially hard on the horses. Without warning, a ghostlike figure jumped out from behind a large boulder in front of the huffing horses and blocked the stagecoachs path. Shine brought the horses to a quick stop. The figure crouched low, using the horses as a shield. Menacingly, he aimed a double-barreled shotgun at the driver.

Shine stared at the strange-looking figure before him. The bandit wore a long white duster (a type of lightweight coat), and his shoes were wrapped in rags. Only his eyes were visible through two holes cut out of the flour sack that covered his face. Comically, a dark derby, or bowler, hat sat on his head, placed at a jaunty angle.