Bruce Bradley
'The Walker' is the untold story of Black Bart. True Story: In the early 1870's, a man named Charley was working a gold claim near present day Butte, Montana. Wells Fargo tried to buy the claim, but Charley wouldn't sell, so they bought all the land around him and cut off his water. Unable to work his claim, Charley wrote to his wife and swore to get even--and he did. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed Wells Fargo stagecoaches 28 times as Black Bart. But who was Charley? Born Charles Earl Boles in Norfolk, England, Charley's family migrated to America when he was two years old. He grew up on a farm in Jefferson County, New York. When he was twenty years old, gold was discovered in California. He and his cousin, David, headed west. By 1850 they were prospecting on the North Fork of the American River. 'The Walker' is told in first person, from Charley's perspective. It explains his mistrust of horses (the reason he walked everywhere) and tells of his memorable first trip across the American continent. In 1854 he married Mary Elizabeth Johnson. They had three daughters before the Civil War and one son after. When the Civil War struck, Charley joined the 116th Illinois Infantry Regiment. He fought with distinction, was promoted from Private to Lieutenant First Class, and fought in seven major battles. He was badly wounded at the Battle of New Hope Church, but came back in time to join Sherman's famous 'March to the sea'. After the war, Charley rejoined his family in Iowa and began life as a farmer. For a time, things went well. His only son, Arian, was born and, for a time, he was a happy man. Then a blight of 'cinch bugs' wiped out the corn and wheat crops in Kansas and much of Iowa, and Charley went back to prospecting. For a time, things were good again. Then two things happened that would change Charley's life forever: The death of his five-year old son, Arian, followed by the actions of the Wells Fargo agents. 'The Walker' is a work of fiction--only because I chose to tell it that way. Many of the people and events inside the book were real and were related as accurately as possible. The events that took place during his first crossing of the plains were real, the men of the 116th Illinois Infantry and Civil War battles they fought in were all, very real. Charley held up Wells Fargo stagecoaches 28 times. The newspapers called him 'The Gentleman Bandit'. He was always very polite and never took from passengers. They also called him 'The Plundering Poet', because he twice left poems at the site of his robberies. After his capture, they learned he had never loaded his shotgun. After seeing the carnage of the Civil War, he decided he would never let his revenge bring harm to those who were innocent. Charley spent four years in San Quentin Prison. Upon his release in January of 1888, he spent a month in San Francisco. He wrote to his wife that the Pinkerton Detectives were everywhere he went--they knew he still had treasure and were determined to get it from him. After one month, he headed south. He checked into the Visalia House Hotel in Visalia, California--and disappeared. The Pinkertons were never again able to find him. But the story doesn't end there. In recent decades documents and family recollections have emerged that tell where Charley went after eluding the Pinkerton Detectives, what he did and possibly, how long he lived...
