Black Bart :: essays research papers

Black Bart&9On August 3 of 1877, a stage was making its way over the low hills in the midst of Point Arenas and Duncans Mills on the Russian River when a solitary figure perfectly appeared in the middle of the road. Wearing a flannel and a mask made from a flour sack, the bandit pointed a double- barreled shotgun at the driver and said, " Throw down the encase" "Ive labored long and hard for bread,For honor and for riches,But on my corns too long youve tred You fine-haired sons of bitches."When the posse arrived later, all they entrap was a bill of lading with the above verse painstakingly written on its back, each annotation in a different hand.&9Almost a stratum later, on July 25 of 1878, the PO8 struck again. A stage from Quincy to Oroville slowed to pull a difficult turn a long the Feather River, the masked troops stepped out of the bushes and asked that the box be thrown down. His soils included $379 in coins, a silver watch, and a diamond ring. Once ag ain, when the posse reached the scene, all they found was a poem"Here I lay me down to sleepTo wait the coming morrow,Perhaps success, perhaps defeat,And everlasting sorrow.Let baffle what will Ill try it on,My condition cant be worse And if theres money in that boxTis munny in my purse"&9Once again the lines were written in variable hands and the work signed "Black Bart, the PO8." In order to make the highways safe once again, Governor William Irwin posted a $300 issue for the capture of the bandit, to which Wells Fargo & Co. added another $300. Another $20 contributed by the postal authorities. The reward went unclaimed for five years, during which Black Bart obviously robbed at will. Often laying low for several months, Bart would suddenly go on a spree and rob three or four stages in as many weeks, and then vanish without a trace. Black Barts talent for covering great distances on foot in impossibly short times was no uncertainty a great asset in his life as a highwayman.&9In another, and it turned out to be his last, stage looting McConnell (the stage driver) turned his head to find the muzzle of a double-barreled shotgun looking at him. You see, Bart knew that this stage was carrying aureate coins and gold amalgam with it. What Bart didnt know is that in the woods pastime the stage was a young hunter that had gotten off a some miles back to do some hunting.