Gentleman bandit : the true story of Black Bart, the old West's most infamous stagecoach robber Cover Image

Large Print Book

Gentleman bandit : the true story of Black Bart, the old West's most infamous stagecoach robber / John Boessenecker.

Boessenecker, John, 1953- (author.).

Summary:

"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." -- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9798885787444
Physical Description: 561 pages (large print) : illustrations, map ; 23 cm.
Edition: Large print edition.
Publisher: Waterville, ME : Thorndike Press, a part of Gale, a Cengage Company, 2023.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 509-557.

Formatted Contents Note:

You fine-haired sons of bitches -- The gold hunter -- The rifleman -- The charge of the Light Brigade -- Wounds of war -- I have had a rough life of it -- The poet highwayman -- Wells Fargo detective -- The gentleman bandit -- The chances I have to take -- Buckshot for Black Bart -- Throw down the box -- Fiasco at Funk Hill -- Black Bart throws up the sponge -- That telltale handkerchief -- A war of words -- San Quentin sojourn -- I have abandoned crime of every kind -- Black Bart robs again -- Myth and mystery.