The Capture Of Black Bart

Black Bart was not the Old West's only stagecoach robber, but he was the most famous. To many people, he was a folk hero: a robber who didn't threaten or harm passengers. He was a bandit with a sense of humor who wrote poetry. In robbing at least 28 Wells Fargo stagecoaches across Northern California between 1875 and 1883, he never fired a shot or injured anyone. His gun, it turned out, was never loaded. Newspaper stories about the poet robber's exploits and about Jim Hume, the unyielding chief detective of Wells Fargo, became popular reading throughout the West. Black Bart seemed to enjoy the chase. During one robbery the driver told him, "They'll catch you one of these days." Bart answered, "Perhaps, but in the meantime, give my regards to J. B. Hume, will you?" For eight years, each new robbery—and each new story—made Hume even more determined to track him down.

For eight years Charles E. Boles lived a double life as Charles Bolton, mine owner and San Francisco man-about-town, and as Black Bart, poetry-writing stagecoach robber.

The true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives. The phrase "riding shotgun" was no teenage game to the men who guarded stagecoaches and trains the Western frontier. Armed with sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns and an occasional revolver, these express messengers guarded valuable cargo through lawless terrain. They were tough, fighting men who risked their lives every time they climbed into the front boot of a Concord coach. Boessenecker introduces soon-to-be iconic personalities like "Chips" Hodgkins, an express rider known for his white mule and his ability to outrace his competitors, and Henry Johnson, the first Wells Fargo detective. Their lives weren't just one shootout after another—their encounters with desperadoes were won just as often with quick wits and memorized-by-heart knowledge of the land. The highway robbers also get their due. It wouldn't be a book about the Wild West without Black Bart, the most infamous stagecoach robber of all time, and Butch Cassidy's gang, America's most legendary train robbers. Through the Gold Rush and the early days of delivery with horses and saddlebags, to the heyday of stagecoaches and huge shipments of gold, and finally the rise of the railroad and the robbers who concocted unheard-of schemes to loot trains, Wells Fargo always had courageous men to protect its treasure. Their unforgettable bravery and ingenuity make this book a thrilling read.

Discover the life of Black Bart Roberts, one of the most successful pirates of all time, capturing close to 500 vessels.

*Includes historic illustrations of Black Bart and other important people, places, and events in his life. *Includes a profile of Black Bart from the famous English pirate history "A General History of the Pyrates". *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "Roberts was a tall black Man, near forty Years of Age...of good natural Parts, and personal Bravery, tho' he applied them to such wicked Purposes, as made them of no Commendation, frequently drinking Damn to him who ever lived to wear a Halter...Roberts himself made a gallant Figure, at the Time of the Engagement, being dressed in a rich crimson Damask Wastcoat and Breeches, a red Feather in his Hat, a Gold Chain round his Neck, with a Diamond Cross hanging to it, a Sword in his Hand, and two Pair of Pistols hanging at the End of a Silk Sling, flung over his Shoulders (according to the Fashion of the Pyrates;)..." - Captain Charles Johnson, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates The people who have lived outside the boundaries of normal societies and refused to play by the rules have long fascinated the world, and nowhere is this more evident than the continuing interest in the pirates of centuries past. As the subjects of books, movies, and even theme park rides, people continue to let their imaginations go when it comes to pirates, with buried treasure, parrots, and walking the plank all ingrained in pop culture's perception of them. Charles River Editors' Legendary Pirates series covers the lives, piracy, legends, myths, and legacies of history's most famous pirates. The Golden Age of Piracy generally refers to the era when history's most famous pirates roamed the seas of the West Indies from 1670-1720, engaging in colorfully daring and oftentimes murderous attacks on any ship they felt emboldened enough to take on. And it is no coincidence that the end of the Golden Age was marked by the deaths of Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts, best known as Black Bart. Black Bart may not be as well known today as other pirates of the era, but he was truly the gold standard during the Golden Age of Piracy. Despite the fact he was initially reluctant to become a pirate and had to be talked into it, Roberts and his crew captured nearly 500 ships in just a few years, making him the most successful pirate in history. Although he was the most successful pirate of his time, he suffered a fate typical of the era's legendary pirates. In a battle with a Royal Navy ship in February 1722, Black Bart was killed by artillery on deck and his ships were captured, but not before his crew had tossed his body overboard, never to be seen again. Black Bart's death in battle was so important that pirate historian Marcus Rediker would later write, "The defeat of Roberts and the subsequent eradication of piracy off the coast of Africa represented a turning point in the slave trade and even in the larger history of capitalism." While Black Bart's success and infamous demise were both important parts of his story, the main reason he has endured is that he gave rise to some of the best known pirate stereotypes. In addition to making his crew swear to and uphold a pirate code, Roberts was known as a colorfully courageous commander who looked the part with extravagant costumes. It is thus no surprise that Roberts has been depicted as one of the foremost pirates of the age in literature and film, including in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Legendary Pirates: The Life and Legacy of Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart) looks at the life and legends of the famous pirate, attempting to separate fact from fiction while analyzing his lasting legacy. Along with pictures depicting Roberts and important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about the famous pirate like you never have before, in no time at all.

New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian John Boessenecker separates fact from fiction in the first new biography in decades of Black Bart, the Wild West’s most mysterious gentleman bandit. Black Bart is widely regarded today as not only the most notorious stage robber of the Old West but also the best behaved. Over his lifetime, Black Bart held up at least twenty-nine stagecoaches in California and Oregon with mild, polite commands, stealing from Wells Fargo and the US mail but never robbing a passenger. Such behavior earned him the title of a true “gentleman bandit.” His real name was Charles E. Boles, and in the public eye, Charles lived quietly as a boulevardier in San Francisco, the wealthiest and most exciting city in the American West. Boles was an educated man who traveled among respectable crowds. Because he did not drink, fight or consort with prostitutes, his true calling as America’s greatest stage robber was never suspected until his final capture in 1883. Sheriffs searched and struggled for years to find him, and newspaper editors had a field day reporting his exploits. Legends and rumors trailed his name until his mysterious death, and his ultimate fate remains one of the greatest mysteries of the Old West. Now historian John Boessenecker sheds new light on Black Bart’s beginnings, reputation and exploits, bringing to life the glittering story of the mysterious stage robber who doubled as a rich, genteel socialite in the golden era of the Wild West.

The Ballad of Black Bart: a riveting western novel from Spur Award-Winning Author Loren D. Estleman. "Loren Estleman is my hero."—Harlan Coben Between July 1875 and November 1883, a single outlaw robbed the stagecoaches of Wells Fargo in California’s Mother Lode country a record of twenty-eight times. Armed with an unloaded shotgun, walking to and from the scenes of the robberies, often for hundreds of miles, and leaving poems behind, the infamous Black Bart was fiercely hunted. Between robberies, Black Bart was known as Charles E. Bolton, a distinguished, middle-aged man who enjoyed San Francisco’s entertainments in the company of socialites drawn to his quiet, temperate good nature and upper-class tastes. Meanwhile, James B. Hume, Wells Fargo’s legendary chief of detectives, made Bart’s apprehension a matter of personal as well as professional interest. The Ballad of Black Bart is a duel of wits involving two adversaries of surpassing cleverness, set against the vivid backdrop of the Old West. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Considered the major source of information about piracy in the early 18th century, this fascinating history by the author of Robinson Crusoe profiles the deeds of Edward (Blackbeard) Teach, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny, others.