Black Bart :: essays research papers

shadowy baronet&9On August 3 of 1877, a level was making its way over the low hills between Point Arenas and Duncans Mills on the Russian River when a lone figure unawares appeared in the middle of the road. Wearing a duster and a cloak made from a flour sack, the bandit pointed a double- barreled shotgun at the driver and said, " Throw down the calamity" "Ive labored farsighted 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 found was a waybill with the above pen painstakingly written on its back, each line in a different hand.&9Almost a year later, on July 25 of 1878, the PO8 struck again. A stage from Quincy to Oroville slowed to make a difficult overthrow a long the Feather River, the masked man 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 again, when the poss e reached the scene, all they found was a verse form"Here I lay me down to sleepTo wait the access morrow,Perhaps success, perhaps defeat,And everlasting sorrow.Let come what will Ill try it on,My condition cant be worse And if thithers money in that boxTis munny in my purse"&9Once again the lines were written in varying hands and the run signed "Black baronet, the PO8." In order to make the highways safe in one case again, Governor William Irwin posted a $300 get for the capture of the bandit, to which surface Fargo & Co. added another $300. Another $20 contributed by the postal authorities. The reward went unclaimed for five years, during which Black Bart seemingly robbed at will. very much 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 extensive distances on foot in impossibly short times was no doubt a great asset in his life as a highwayman.&9In another, and it sour out to be his last, stage robbery McConnell (the stage driver) turned his head to find the muzzle of a double-barreled shotgun smell at him. You see, Bart knew that this stage was carrying gold coins and gold amalgam with it. What Bart didnt know is that in the woods following the stage was a young hunter that had gotten off a few miles back to do some hunting.