THE LEGEND OF BLACK BART- THE POET BANDIT OF CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH DAYS
1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast
Jon Hagadorn
4.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 20 August 2023
⏱️ 52 minutes
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Summary
Between the years of 1875 and 1883, stagecoaches working along the routes that connected the mining towns in California's gold rush country on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains were used to holdups. A lot of robbers were shot or later caught and sent to prison-but there was one bandit the Wells Fargo agents couldn't catch- and that was Black Bart. Over a period of 8 years he successfully held up 28 stages. At two of these holdups he left a poem in the empty strongbox and signed it Black Bart- PO8. His MO was to appear alone from behind the bushes or a large rock with a shotgun at a point in the trail when the stage had to slow down, and demand that the strongbox be thrown down to him. He wore a flour sack over his head so no one could identify him, and he always escaped on foot in rough country. Curiously, although there were many stage companies working the area, he only held up Wells Fargo stages- as if he had some kind of a grudge to settle- and as it turns out he did.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | . |
| 0:30.0 | Welcome back everyone to one thousand one heroes legends histories and mysteries podcast |
| 0:36.8 | this is your host John Hegedorn today a great story the legend of black Bart the poet |
| 0:43.6 | robber of California gold rush history. |
| 0:47.9 | There were a thousand stories and legends that came out of the California gold rush but |
| 0:52.1 | none so rich as the legend of black Bart the man they called the poet robber. |
| 0:58.3 | I can honestly tell you that his story which is true as follows became a legend along |
| 1:03.7 | with his name black Bart. |
| 1:06.4 | He certainly wasn't the first or the worst to the criminals that prowled around the edges |
| 1:10.4 | of the gold and silver camps and towns and he wasn't the first band to hold up stage |
| 1:14.7 | coaches carrying strong boxes with gold cash and valuables between the towns that were |
| 1:20.4 | springing up all through the Sierra Nevada mountains but black Bart was a one of a kind |
| 1:25.5 | bad guy and here's what set him apart from others. |
| 1:29.9 | There were lots of stage coach lines running between the towns and gold camps but strangely |
| 1:34.9 | he only robbed Wells Fargo stages and he never fired his preferred weapon a double barrelled |
| 1:41.2 | ten or twelve gauge shotgun small note historians are still nitpicky about what gauge it was. |
| 1:49.2 | He was always polite and never harassed or stole from stage passengers over a period |
| 1:54.7 | of eight years he robbed twenty eight stage coaches averaging a little over three hold |
| 1:59.9 | up a year and made a pile of money while avoiding getting caught until one small slip up |
| 2:06.3 | occurred in 1883 which ended up getting him nailed. |
| 2:10.6 | His MO or motor's upper end eye was to appear from out of hiding wearing a flower sack |
| 2:16.3 | over his head with holes cut for the eyes and asking the stage driver to stop and throw |
... |
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