California's Infamous Stage Robber

Must have been a slow news day

Eastern newspapers (known to romanticize western outlaws) printed many stories that had no basis in fact.
For example, the New York Dailey Times printed a story that had Black Bart robbing trains. Bart never was a train robber.
In 1946 the New York World Telegram reported in a Sunday feature that Black Bart pointed his cane at a passing stage to play a joke on the driver. The driver was so frightened that he threw down the strong box. They said that Bart thought that if stage robbery was this easy why not become a robber. The author of the story obviously had no respect for the facts.

The "Black Bart" of the Upper Peninsula.

Black Bart in Michigan? What was he doing there? Well he wasn't, but Reimund Holzhey was. Holzhey was a really bad man and robber that sometimes carried a rifle and two guns. Now you ask what possible connection could there be between Reimund Holzhey and Black Bart? Well, here it is: In his day Reimund Holzhey was know as the "Black Bart" of the Upper Peninsula. He was, for a time (five months), the terror to all who were obliged to travel by other than rail in the Gogebic district. Holzey took Bart's name after reading about him in a dime novel, sort of a off-hand compliment to Bart. However, the real Black Bart never shot or killed anybody.

Reimund Holzhey's last robbery had a little history to it: On August 26, 1889 the last stagecoach robbery east of the Mississippi River was in Gogebic County, Michigan, on the road from Gogebic Station to The Gogebic Hotel. During the robbery a passenger decided to be a hero and pulled a gun and started shooting. The robber fired back, the shooter and an innocent passenger (possibly shot by the shooter not the robber) were wounded and the passenger later died. The robber, Reimund Holzhey, escaped. Three days after the robbery Holzhey arrived in Republic, Michigan, and checked into the hotel as Henry Plant but, the hotel manager recognized him and called the sheriff. The next morning as he left the hotel they arrested him. Holzhey served 23 years in prison and was released. Holzhey died in 1952 of suicide.

A Hole in a Tree

There is a story that Black Bart had an affair with a woman that lived on a ranch near Petaluma, California in Sonoma County. On the ranch there is a tree, where at the base of it, a large section of bark (about 3'x3') was perfectly cut out to reveal a 'hole' within the tree. Basically, the 3x3 piece of bark acted like a lid over the 'hole.' Allegedly Black Bart used this to hide cash in during his travels. Could this be the mystery women? Today that tree is on the property of the Bush-Field Estate Vineyards & Winery. If you ask them about it, maybe they will show it to you.

Setting the Table for Black Bart

A story from Mendocino County, California:
A lady said her great grandmother always set an extra place at the table for Black Bart. The story is that all the ranchers up and down the valley kept a place for him at their supper table so that he could join them if he were in the area. If they did this, then Bart would not rob them.

HI HO ...... no one

Unlike all the other bad guys, Black Bart never used a horse in any of his robberies.

Throw down that strong box

In every robbery Bart jumped out in front of the coach, pointed a 12 gauge shotgun at the driver and demanded the strong box. He never fired a shot or harmed anyone. When he was captured it was discovered he never even loaded the gun.

Where is the Reynolds Ferry?

November 3, 1883 stage driver, Reason E. McConnell stopped at the Reynolds Ferry Hotel on the Stanislaus River. He picked up Jimmy Rolleri, headed for Funk Hill, and the last robbery of Black Bart. Today the Reynolds Ferry and the hotel are at the bottom of the New Melones Lake. New Melones Lake is a reservoir behind the New Melones Dam, on the Stanislaus River, between the cities of Angels Camp and Sonora in the central Sierra Nevada foothills of California. Upon the dam's completion, the valley filled with water, covering the old mining town of Melones, the original Melones Dam and old location of the Reynolds Ferry. The New Melones Lake provides irrigation water, hydroelectric power, flood control, wildlife habitat, fishing, camping, boating, and other recreation as part of the Glory Hole Recreation Area.

Black Bart the Movie

In 1948 the movie "BLACK BART" was released by Universal Studios. The 80 minute color movie starred Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea. Duryea played the part of Black Bart (Charles E. Boles). The screen writers, headed by Luci Ward, did not care for historical fact but instead chose to grab the name of Black Bart and write a movie that had absolutely no resemblance to the real Black Bart.

Synopsis
Worthless as history, Black Bart is nonetheless an enjoyable fabrication about the fabled western outlaw. Rescued from a "necktie party," outlaws Charles E. Boles (Dan Duryea) and Lance Hardeen (Jeffrey Lynn) decide that it would be best to part friends and go their separate ways. When next seen, Boles is a prosperous rancher who supplements his income by robbing the Wells Fargo gold shipments under the alias of Black Bart. Upon learning this, Hardeen rides back into Boles' life demanding a piece of the action. Both of the hero-villains are foiled when they succumb to the charms of the bewitching international courtesan Lola Montez (Yvonne DeCarlo). The story is related in flashback-from a jail cell-by the outlaw's erstwhile partner Jersey Brady (Percy Kilbride).

The Wells Fargo Treasure Box

Gold dust, gold bars, gold coins, legal papers, checks, and drafts traveled in the famous green treasure boxes, stored under the stagecoach driver's seat. Loaded with bullion, they could weigh from 100 to 150 lbs. "About as much as one likes to shoulder to and from the stages," wrote John Q. Jackson, Wells Fargo agent, in an 1854 letter to his father. Because they carried the most valuable assets of the West, these sturdy boxes of Ponderosa pine, oak, and iron were more prized by highway bandits than anything else.

But the real security of the treasure boxes came from who was guarding them — the Wells Fargo shotgun messengers. Thieves who were foolhardy enough to try and steal a treasure box would find themselves staring down the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun, loaded with 00 buckshot.

The Concord Coach

Built high and wide to handle the rough, rutted roads of a new country, the design of a classic American vehicle was perfected in Concord, New Hampshire. Carriage builder J. Stephens Abbot and master wheelwright Lewis Downing built the famed stagecoaches of Wells Fargo & Co.

Concord Coaches weighed about 2,500 pounds, and cost $1,100 each, including leather and damask cloth interior.

The curved frame of the body gave it strength, and perhaps a little extra elbow room. Perfectly formed, fitted, and balanced wheels stood up to decades of drenching mountain storms and parching desert heat. The unique feature of these coaches was the suspension. Instead of steel springs, the coach body rested on leather "thoroughbraces," made of strips of thick bullhide. This feature spared the horses from jarring and gave the stagecoach a (sometimes) gentle rocking motion, leading Mark Twain to call it, "An imposing cradle on wheels."

Mud Wagon

While the Concord Coach was considered the 'Star of the Road,' the Passenger Wagon, also called the Celerity Coach, was the true work horse. The advantage of the passenger wagon and the origin of its nickname, Mud Wagon, was the lightness that enabled it to pass frequently over poor and soft roadways, through mud holes, or up steep mountainous slopes. These light semi-enclosed carriers are equipped with canvas or enameled leather storm curtains, and brakes for mountain travel.

The Mud Wagons are lighter and the wheels are three inches wide, as opposed to Concord’s two-inch wheels. With its outside framing and square body they were less expensive to build and durable in service. These vehicles cost about 35% of what the Concord cost to build. The body of these wagons are bolted to iron rockers that, in turn, rest on leather thoroughbraces. The body measures from 6'10" to over 8' high, the track 5'2" (in the U.S.) or 4'8" (in Canada), and it weighs from 800 pounds, for the commonest nine-passenger model, to 1200 pounds for a 18 passenger. It has two to three inside seats (no roof passengers), and baggage is stored in the single rear boot or piled inside with the passengers. Up front is the driver and shotgun rider. Selection of the type of stage to use might be determined by availability, the terrain – such as mud or soft sand, and the passengers and cargo to be carried in each direction.

The Mud Wagon was often employed in hostile Indian country, where the Concords might be too valuable to risk. Indians were likely to set the coach afire if they took it. For the driver's sake, the front boot and the seats were protected by sheet metal, heavy enough to stop an arrow and perhaps a bullet.

Captain Bartholomew Roberts, Pirate ---- aka The Great Pirate Roberts or Black Bart

Bartholomew Roberts was tall, dark, handsome & very brave, though this personal bravery was used for wicked purposes. He was a very snazzy dresser, adorning himself in a rich waistcoat and breeches, a hat with a red feather and his diamond cross which hung on a heavy gold chain around his neck. During battle, he carried two pairs of pistols at the end of a silk sling across his shoulder. His fellow pirates thought he was a bit of a dandy when it came to his choice of attire, though his valor was never questioned.

Roberts (Black Bart) was killed aboard his ship, the Royal Fortune, on February 5, 1722, in a battle with the warship Swallow.