Biography of black bart
Home / Historical Figures / Biography of black bart
During the robbery, he politely ordered the stage driver, John Shine, to "throw down the box." As Shine handed over the strongbox, Black Bart shouted, "If he dares to shoot, give him a solid volley, boys!". Rolleri took the rifle and fired as Bart entered a thicket. This time, however, he left behind a note:
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.
It was signed Black Bart – The PO8
Wells Fargo Strongbox.
On his fourth robbery, which occurred almost a year later on July 25, 1878, he also left a note:
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.
It was signed Black Bart – The PO8
Black Bart, Outlaw.
Though there would be no more poems, his signature bank robberies would continue through November 1883 as he made at least 28 stage robberies over the lifetime of his outlaw “career”.
They were able to identify the handkerchief as belonging to Boles, who lived in a modest boarding house. Charles stayed on for two more years before returning east again. He was released after four years for good behavior in January 1888. He kept the $500 in gold coins. However, it was later found that the “rifles” used in the heist were nothing more than sticks wedged in the brush.
In one of the letters he said he was tired of being shadowed by Wells Fargo, felt demoralized, and wanted to get away from everybody. What made the crime unusual was the politeness and good manners of the outlaw. After initially denying he was Black Bart, Boles eventually admitted that he had robbed several Wells Fargo stages but confessed only to the crimes committed before 1879.
When he was released, reporters swarmed around him and asked if he was going to rob any more stagecoaches. He reemerged in official documents in July 1875 when he robbed his first stagecoach in Calaveras County. Others believe he may have returned to some of the old mining camps. Boles described himself as a “mining engineer” and made frequent “business trips” that happened to coincide with the Wells Fargo robberies.
Like the first robbery, other men were said to have been hiding in the bushes. After visiting nearly 90 laundry operators, they finally traced the mark to Ferguson & Bigg’s California Laundry on Bush Street. Black Bart returned to California for another two years.
Black Bart married Mary Elizabeth Johnson in 1854, and the two resided in Decatur, Illinois, and had four children.
Civil War: In 1861, America was thrown into the Civil War.
Charles "Black Bart" Boles enlisted as a private in Company B, 116th Illinois Regiment of the Union Army on August 13, 1862. They saw him stumble as the bullet found its mark. Little is known of him during this time, but in an August 1871 letter to his wife he mentioned an unpleasant incident with some Wells, Fargo & Company employees and vowed to pay them back.
When it appeared that the stage driver was hesitating, the robber said: “If he dares to shoot, give him the solid volley, boys.” Looking around quickly, Shine noticed several rifle barrels pointed at him from the nearby bushes and quickly threw down the strongbox. After visiting almost 90 laundries, he traced the mark to Ferguson & Bigg's California Laundry.
130.