By: HISTORY.com Editors

Black Bart makes his last stagecoach robbery

Published: November 16, 2009Last Updated: May 27, 2025

Authorities almost catch the California bandit and infamous stagecoach robber called Black Bart; he manages to make a quick getaway, but drops an incriminating clue that eventually sends him to prison—a handkerchief with a laundry mark.

Black Bart was born Charles E. Boles, probably in the state of New York around 1830. As a young man, he abandoned his family for the gold fields of California, but he failed to strike it rich as a miner and turned to a life of crime.

By the mid-1850s, stagecoaches and Wells Fargo wagons transported much of the huge output of gold from California. Often traveling in isolated areas, the Wells Fargo wagons and stagecoaches quickly became favorite targets for bandits; over the course of about 15 years, the company lost more than $415,000 in gold to outlaw robbers.

It is believed that Boles committed his first stagecoach robbery in July 1875. Wearing a flour sack over his head with holes cut for his eyes and a fancy gentleman’s black derby, he intercepted a stage near the California mining city of Copperopolis. When guards spotted gun barrels sticking out of nearby bushes, they handed over their strong box to Boles. He cracked open the box with an axe and escaped on foot with the gold, though his “gang” of camouflaged gunmen stayed behind. When the guards returned to pick up the box, they discovered that the “rifle barrels” were just sticks tied to branches.

Heartened by this easy success, Black Bart embarked on a series of stagecoach robberies. During the course of his criminal career he never shot anyone nor robbed a single stage passenger; he gained fame for his daring style and the occasional short poems he left behind, signed by “Black Bart, the Po-8.” Wells Fargo, however, was not amused–the company ordered its private police force to capture the bandit, dead or alive. After several years of searching and tracking down clues, Wells Fargo detectives finally located Boles.

Arrested and tried, Boles pleaded guilty and received a sentence of six years in San Quentin prison. He served just over four years and reportedly moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after receiving a pardon. All told, the “Po-8″ bandit had stolen only $18,000 during the eight years of his criminal career.

Meet Stagecoach Mary, the Daring Black Pioneer Who Protected Wild West Stagecoaches

Would-be mail thieves didn’t stand a chance against Stagecoach Mary. The hard-drinking, quick-shooting mail carrier sported two guns and men’s clothing.

By: Erin Blakemore

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on November 3rd

1844

William Makepeace Thackeray completes his novel “Barry Lyndon”

On November 3, 1844, William Makepeace Thackeray completes The Luck of Barry Lyndon: A Romance of the Last Century, which is published in Fraser’s Magazine. Thackeray was born in Calcutta in 1811. As a young man, he attended Cambridge but left without a degree, then drifted through a variety of professions. He tried studying law, […]

1:12m read

1903

Panama declares independence from Colombia

With the support of the U.S. government, Panama issues a declaration of independence from Colombia. The revolution was engineered by a Panamanian faction backed by the Panama Canal Company, a French-U.S. corporation that hoped to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with a waterway across the Isthmus of Panama. In 1903, the Hay-Herrán Treaty was […]

1:34m read

1918

Central Powers face rebellion on the home front

As the First World War draws to a close, angry rebels in both Germany and Austria-Hungary revolt on November 3, 1918, raising the red banner of the revolutionary socialist Communist Party and threatening to follow the Russian example in bringing down their imperialist governments. By the last week of October 1918, three of the Central […]

1948

Newspaper mistakenly declares “Dewey Defeats Truman”

On November 3, 1948, the Chicago Tribune jumps the gun and mistakenly declares New York Governor Thomas Dewey the winner of the previous days’ presidential race against incumbent Harry S. Truman in a front-page headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Many of America’s major newspapers had predicted a Dewey victory early on in the campaign. A New […]

1957

Soviet Union launches a dog into space

The Soviet Union launches the first animal to orbit the earth into space—a dog nicknamed Laika—aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Laika, part Siberian husky, lived as a stray on the Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space program. Laika survived for a few hours as a passenger in the USSR’s second artificial Earth […]

0:58m read

1962

The Crystals earn a #1 hit with “He’s A Rebel”—which they did not sing

On November 3, 1962, female vocal act the Crystals score a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song “He’s A Rebel”—a record on which the credited artists had not sung a single note. Formed in Brooklyn, New York, by five high school classmates, the Crystals were a legitimate vocal group who managed […]

1:54m read

1964

Lyndon B. Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater for presidency

In one of the most crushing victories in the history of U.S. presidential elections, incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson defeats Republican challenger Barry Goldwater, Sr. With more than 60 percent of the popular vote, Johnson turned back the conservative senator from Arizona to secure his first full term in office after succeeding to the presidency after […]

1:50m read

1964

D.C. residents cast first presidential votes since 1800

On November 3, 1964, residents of the District of Columbia cast their ballots in a presidential election for the first time since 1800. The passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave citizens of the nation’s capital the right to vote for a commander in chief and vice president. They went on to help Democrat […]

2:02m read

1969

President Nixon calls on the “silent majority”

President Richard Nixon goes on television and radio to call for national solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to gather support for his policies; his call for support is an attempt to blunt the renewed strength of the antiwar movement. Pledging that the United States was “going to keep our commitment in Vietnam,” he […]

1:38m read

1979

Communists and Klansmen clash in Greensboro

Five members of the Communist Workers Party, participating in a “Death to the Klan” rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, are shot to death by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis. Several others were wounded in what became known as the Greensboro massacre. Members of the Communist Workers Party had organized the anti-Ku Klux Klan rally […]

1:58m read

1982

Massive truck explosion in Afghanistan’s Salang Tunnel

On November 3, 1982, a truck explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing an unknown number of people, including Soviet soldiers traveling to Kabul and Afghan civilians. Because the Soviet army limited the information released about the disaster, the full details of the tragedy may never be known. Casualty estimates range from the hundreds […]

1:34m read

1992

Dianne Feinstein elected California senator in the “Year of the Woman”

Dianne Feinstein, the former mayor of San Francisco, makes history on November 3, 1992, when she wins election to the U.S. Senate. The first woman to represent the state of California in the upper chamber, she joins a record number of women winning seats in Congress that year, earning 1992 the label “Year of the […]

2:32m read

1998

Former wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura is elected governor of Minnesota

On November 3, 1998, former professional wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura is elected governor of Minnesota with 37 percent of the vote. His opponents, seasoned politicians Hubert Humphrey III (son of Lyndon Johnson’s vice-president and the attorney general of Minnesota) and St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman, spent a total of $4.3 million on their campaigns. […]

2:16m read

2014

One World Trade Center officially opens in New York City, on the site of the Twin Towers

One World Trade Center officially opens in Manhattan on November 3, 2014. The new tower, along with the rest of the World Trade Center complex, replaced the Twin Towers, which were destroyed by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

3:08m read

2016

Chicago Cubs win first World Series title since 1908, snapping “curse”

In the early hours of November 3, 2016, the Chicago Cubs win their first World Series championship since 1908, beating the Cleveland Indians, 8-7, in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain. “Let It Reign,” reads the headline in the next day’s Chicago Tribune sports section. The win snaps the “Billy Goat Curse,” one of the more […]

Crime

42 videos

Crime

Who Killed the Black Dahlia?

The brutal 1947 murder in Los Angeles of aspiring actor Elizabeth Short has never been solved. But there is no shortage of theories.

Crime

What the FBI’s First Unabomber Sketch Got Wrong

The FBI released two sketches of the Unabomber suspect: the first in 1987 and a second, which became iconic, in 1994.

Crime

9 Things You May Not Know About Billy the Kid

Orphaned at 14, Billy the Kid became one of the Wild West’s most legendary outlaws. But how much of his reputation matches the real man?

About the author

HISTORY.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Christian Zapata, Cristiana Lombardo and Adrienne Donica.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.