Charles Boles – Black Bart
You have found the medallion for Charles E. Boles, also known as Black Bart. He was one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers in Northern California in the 1870’s and 80’s. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was seriously wounded. In 1867, while prospecting in Idaho and Montana he had an unpleasant encounter with some Wells Fargo & Company agents and vowed revenge.
Boles adopted the nickname “Black Bart” and robbed Wells Fargo stagecoaches 28 times between 1875 and 1883. He was afraid of horses and made all his robberies on foot. He dressed in a long coat and a bowler hat wearing a flour sack with holes for his eyes as a mask. He carried a shotgun but never used it.
He was finally captured by James Hume, Chief Special Officer of the Wells Fargo Company and former El Dorado County Sheriff. After four years of imprisonment he was released, disappeared, and was never heard of again.
To find the next miner from Black Bart’s medallion . . .
Continue on Main Street toward Cedar Ravine. It is fitting this medallion looks upon the courthouse as this miner was a lawyer and judge in Placerville. Find his medallion on a sign near a crosswalk. For more information on this scavenger hunt, please visit the Welcome Page.
