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Gentleman Bandit: The True Story of Black Bart, the Old West's Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber

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New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian John Boessenecker separates fact from fiction in the first new biography in decades of Black Bart, the Wild West’s most mysterious gentleman bandit.

Black Bart is widely regarded today as not only the most notorious stage robber of the Old West but also the best behaved. Over his lifetime, Black Bart held up at least twenty-nine stagecoaches in California and Oregon with mild, polite commands, stealing from Wells Fargo and the US mail but never robbing a passenger. Such behavior earned him the title of a true “gentleman bandit.”

His real name was Charles E. Boles, and in the public eye, Charles lived quietly as a boulevardier in San Francisco, the wealthiest and most exciting city in the American West. Boles was an educated man who traveled among respectable crowds. Because he did not drink, fight or consort with prostitutes, his true calling as America’s greatest stage robber was never suspected until his final capture in 1883. Sheriffs searched and struggled for years to find him, and newspaper editors had a field day reporting his exploits. Legends and rumors trailed his name until his mysterious death, and his ultimate fate remains one of the greatest mysteries of the Old West.

Now historian John Boessenecker sheds new light on Black Bart’s beginnings, reputation and exploits, bringing to life the glittering story of the mysterious stage robber who doubled as a rich, genteel socialite in the golden era of the Wild West.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2023

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John Boessenecker

22 books61 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for Samantha.
2,659 reviews183 followers
abandoned
March 24, 2023
Another one for the “middle-aged suburban dads will love this!” bucket.

Nothing wrong with middle-aged, suburban dads, of course, but they don’t tend to have the same taste in nonfiction History as I do, and unfortunately this one is more their bag than mine.

Boessenecker writes well enough from a narrative standpoint so the book flows relatively well, and it’s certainly well researched. Alas, way too many detailed battle descriptions from the Civil War, specifics on weapons, and general military stuff for me. I was a little surprised to see such a heavy focus on that since this is purported to be about train robbery.

And indeed it is, but I still left this one feeling like I would have preferred more detailed discussion of train travel at the time and Old West atmosphere than what I actually got.

This is well crafted and there’s definitely an audience for it, but that audience is definitely not—no matter how much I love train-related nonfiction—me.

No rating because I only read to 70% and don’t feel that my enjoyment (or lack thereof) of this book is at all indicative of its quality for greater enthusiasts of its content.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Profile Image for Mark.
2,530 reviews31 followers
July 29, 2023
Serviceable examination of the life and times of Charley Boles, Civil War vet, farmer miner and scourge of the Wells Fargo stagecoaches of Northern California...meticulously researched, pricking the balloons of many of the popularly held myths about Black Bart's attacks...Good context as to the influences of the times...Decent Read!
Profile Image for Melody.
402 reviews21 followers
April 13, 2024
This took me ages to finish, but the book is only partially to blame...it's been challenging for me to really get back into nonfiction (or any sort of disciplined reading if I'm being honest) since my personal life blew up 5 years ago, so the fact that I even decided to read this is something I'm proud of!

The writing was engaging - it flowed well and felt well organized with a nice combination of quotes and dialogue sprinkled throughout the research and background information. The second half was much more enjoyable for me than the first half, as I got bogged down in the Civil War chapters and it took me quite some time to recover. Being native to Northern California, I really enjoyed all the place names and details as well as the final chapter addressing all the myths that have sprung up, even as recent as the present decade.
Profile Image for C.S. Poe.
Author 42 books1,355 followers
January 24, 2024
My first nonfiction read of 2024, and it was a whirlwind of action, adventure, danger, intrigue, even a dash of mystery, all wrapped up in the stupendous research and technical skills of John Boessenecker and his biography: Gentleman Bandit: The True Story of Black Bart, the Old West’s Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber.

Boessenecker wasn’t the first to write a biography on Charles E. Boles, better known as Black Bart, and he highlights those authors who came before him in his acknowledgments, as well as includes their research and effort in the book’s fantastic bibliography. That being said, I’d argue that Boessenecker has written the biography. This is what needs to be read and studied by others researching or learning about America’s Wild West (with a shoutout for his excellent Civil War details too!)

Charles E. Boles lived an astonishing life. Even disregarding the romanticized exploits of his later years, the man traversed the country by land and by ship—going down and around South America. He survived small pox as an infant, malaria as a young man, was wounded twice while serving in the Union Army, took part in a number of famous battles—often those with incredibly high mortality on both sides—and even mined the western frontier. And when we delve into his deeds against Wells Fargo & Co. and the US mail service, he was the most prolific stagecoach robber in the 19th Century—and he did it all completely alone and without ever firing his weapon at drivers, shotgun messengers, or passengers. He was arrested, sure, but not after making Wells Fargo’s Detective Hume crazy for over half a decade, and even while in jail he met and was friendly with New York City’s infamous Jimmy Hope (my area of knowledge, and seeing Boessenecker’s research align almost word for word with John Oller’s work on Rogues’ Gallery was incredibly satisfying.)

Boessenecker includes dates and times of holdups, the treasure Black Bart absconded with, details of his double life in San Fransisco, and even brief biographies on not only the multiple detectives, sheriffs, town marshals, and trackers on his heels, but the stagecoach drivers he held up (and let’s not forget Black Bart’s abandoned wife and three daughters!)

This book was so, so good, and I’m thankful this is how I rang in the New Year. For the research I needed to do for my own writing, Boessenecker’s book answered all of my questions and gave me a wonderful understanding of the real man behind the myth. Gentleman Bandit is intensely readable and I highly recommend it to literally anyone!
Profile Image for Richard West.
473 reviews9 followers
August 3, 2023
If you were one of those people who grew up in the 1950's or '60's when Westerns were King on television, you probably recognize the name Black Bart as being one of those outlaws that always got captured by the good guys, or killed by them because he was a desperado and they were the bad guys and never won or got away.

If one of those characters was the stagecoach robber (he robbed between 29 and 33, there are a few which are questionable) Black Bart, you do realize all those programs and movies were fiction, don't you? While the real Black Bart did eventually get captured and served a few years in San Quentin, the real Charles Boles (Black Bart) was nothing like the person portrayed in the movies or TV.

This is the story of Charles E. Boles, the "gentleman bandit" who never shot anyone or even discharged his shotgun in a robbery. And if you were a passenger on a stage he robbed, he never robbed from you - he was after what Wells Fargo was carrying (and sometimes it wasn't much) and what was in the Mailbags.

Author John Boessenecker goes into details about his life in what is actually a somewhat fascinating and interesting read. And there are photos included as well, one of which I remember because it's of one of his homes in Decatur, Illinois. The only reason for remembering is because they tore down the house in 1979 while I was living in that area when the city or Macon County (don't remember which was the culprit) decided not to make a tourist attraction out of it and instead came in with the bulldozers. Lesser people's homes have become attractions, but even in death Black Bart got cheated. But small minds prevailed in that instance.

We find that Boles trekked to California, among other places, leaving a wife and family he was to never see again alone to fend for themselves in the Midwest, eventually winding up in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri which is famed more for being the home of humorist and writer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). That was his loss.

And what happened to Black Bart after being paroled from San Quentin? The end might surprise you and I'm not going to tell - if you want to find out, you'll have to read the book. And if you enjoy a good tale of the Wild West - this is it. You won't be disappointed.

Profile Image for Amber Ray.
1,090 reviews
February 21, 2024
Interesting story. Charles Bowles was the most successful stage bandit and renowned for being "gentelmanly" towards passengers as he didn't threaten or rob them, just the stage and mail. His history with the civil war and his robberies are an interesting part of CA history.
The author makes the point that this was a man who really, really should not have married and I strongly agree with him. He must have had a fair degree of charm because his poor, deluded wife held out hope for far, far too long he'd return and he certainly didn't support his family after he became an affluent robber.
Bowles also could have gone straight or just gotten a more gentlemanly job. He stuck with mining and farming because he knew them, but never succeeded at them. While getting education or training for a better job might have been hard in those days, it wasn't impossible and even Abraham Lincoln managed to claw his way up from a frontier farm to lawyer and beyond. Especially after his release from jail, Bowles could have turned to working in a pharmacy for an honest position, but instead gambled on robberies to provide the high life.
No one knows if he wandered on, surviving with heists or if he finally went straight. My feeling is some combo of frontier life/injury from robbery and his advancing age did for him.
Fascinating story, but very much a man who served himself only.
Profile Image for Natacha Pavlov.
Author 9 books96 followers
November 8, 2023
Yet another great reason to dig into local history: you discover figures like the famed Black Bart the Po8, and the latest book written on him published this 2023 year.

This book offers a page-turning account of this complex man who went from Civil War accolades to years of generally well-mannered robbing in the northern California region. It's a fascinating look into Wild West and early San Francisco & Bay Area history that boomed in light of the 1849 gold rush. It also references other bandits of the time, such as Joaquin Murrietta—and whose dime novel written on him by John Rollin Ridge, of Cherokee heritage, made it one of the first novels written in CA and the first novel to be published by a Native American.

I appreciate the thoroughness, which included resolving the anecdote that had first caught my attention on Black Bart; namely that he'd been a teacher (possibly in a familiar local area) before (or even during) his robbing stints. But as history will remind, it was just another case of fake news, courtesy of an SF newspaper, no less.

Overall, if this great factual-based account predictably changed my initial impressions, I find it a testament to an effective biography vs clinging to idealized myths.
Profile Image for Tom.
143 reviews
January 27, 2026
A meticulously researched, well-written narrative about a fascinating character from the Old West, this book is rich in detail of young Charley Boles’s experiences as a Union soldier at the Siege of Vicksburg, at Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and Sherman’s march into Georgia, all defining moments in Charley’s life of which he would remain proud till the end.
He made an attempt at living the life of a conventional married man and farmer, but having experienced so much adventure as a young man in the war, it was never a good fit for him. The California gold fields were calling to him, and he could not resist the Siren song. Mining and farming both proved too onerous for him; he was looking for the Big Fix and a thrill to match. Enter Black Bart, the most successful stagecoach bandit in our history.
At some point or other most of us have heard of Black Bart, but JB separates the fact from the deep piles of fiction that have obscured the truth. The real man is actually much more remarkable and mysterious than the legend.
I thoroughly enjoyed the deep dive JB takes into the bold adventures of Charley Boles.
Profile Image for Ken Heard.
761 reviews13 followers
May 9, 2023
John Boessenecker has written, in my opinion, one of the best researched books I've ever read. It has meticulous details and multiple sourcing to disprove some of the myths that surrounded Charley Boles for years.

Even bits about Boles's Civil War experiences were very thorough, and provided a motivation and method into why and how he robbed the various Wells Fargo stagecoaches. He learned to steal, Boessenecker suggests, from taking food from locals when he served in the Union Army during the Civil War to stay alive. He also was able to make long hikes during his heists rather than use horses to avoid detection, a skill her gained while marching miles during war efforts.

Boessenecker finds letters Boles wrote, newspaper accounts, info on the thefts and notes from detectives and others in the case. It is a remarkable piece of work.

I'm not a big fan of Western history, but this book kept me glued to it. It's a fascinating look at a piece of old American history and well worth the time to read.
Profile Image for Daniel.
738 reviews2 followers
April 1, 2025
I listened to a digital audio edition of Gentleman bandit. I had never heard of Black Bart before listening to Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly. I want to know more about him so I decided to listen to Gentleman bandit.

Gentleman Bandit talks about Black Bart's early life, his wife and kids, his time in the Civil War as a Union Soldier, his wells Fargo Stage Coach Robberies, his time in San Quentin, what he did after he got out of jail, myth's about him and some theories about what have ultimately happened to him after he disappeared.

My favorite thing about the book is listening to his stage Coach robberies and what he did in San Francisco and I also liked learning about some of the myth's that surround him. I thought he did not like to ride horses so he walked to his robberies; not true according to the book. I also thought he did not load his gun; not true either according to the book.

So I thought Gentleman Bandit was a pretty good book about Black Bart.







This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Adam.
1,257 reviews5 followers
April 5, 2023
I love Wild West history and just finished The Lonesome Dove so this book came at a perfect time for me. A very enjoyable and accessible read, there was a crazy amount of detail included (including some Civil War battles). Black Bart was a really interesting character overall but since his method was so straightforward and his capture was straightforward as well, I'm glad the book managed to be so interesting.
Profile Image for Bobby Liverettie.
82 reviews1 follower
April 25, 2023
This was okay. It was the biography of Charles Boles aka Black Bart the famous stagecoach robber.
This guy led one helluva life. He was a good miner, a soldier for the Union side in the Civil War and obviously a stagecoach robber.
The biography itself was interesting but the writing style was horrible. It was way overwritten and just took forever to get to the point.
Like I said the guy's life was very interesting and colorful but the writing about it was just awful.
1,299 reviews3 followers
June 19, 2023
Features of this book:
1. Well-researched and supported
2. Many details and asides
3. Asides tell the full story of the character/event--Boessenecker doesn't leave you hanging.
4. Chronology drives the book, not characters or plot. This suits best those who have an intrinsic interest in either Black Bart or the time period.
5. The forensics capability of this pursuit was an unusual addition to works of this genre.
375 reviews
June 13, 2024
I mostly paid attention to this audiobook. Far too detailed and lacked any kind of critical theory on ideas like emerging resistance to capital or frontier masculinity or navigating mountains. It's the inspiration for a story I'm writing, so I'm glad to have slightly more info than wikipedia. My criticism of pop history is often disappointment that there isn't some socialism or anthropology or cultural linguistics or something to make it meaningful, but just a series of things happening.
Profile Image for Brian Niemiec.
183 reviews
October 20, 2023
What an interesting fellow. Kind, polite and never fired his shotgun at anyone. He never robbed passengers, which was news to me, just the mail and Wells Fargo boxes. There are some long stretches of this book I skipped, like all his Cvil War service. I thought it could have been summed up in a few paragraphs instead of multiple, detailed chapters. Other than that, a worthwhile read.
5 reviews
June 1, 2025
Ever heard of such thing as a decent Robber? Me either. Thats until I met Black Bart the infamous stagecoach Robber. What type of criminal commits his crimes with a profound sense of honor? What type of Criminal never used Violence? What type or criminal will a poetic note at the crimes scene? The Gentleman Bandit, Black Bart, thats who!
Profile Image for Jim.
1,164 reviews
April 26, 2023
A deep look at one of the Old West's greatest outlaws. It is interesting how easy it was for someone to disappear in the early days of the wild west and live a duplicate life. Well worth the time to read.
Profile Image for Armand Rosamilia.
Author 258 books2,742 followers
October 31, 2023
Loved this book and the insight into the man who became Black Bart. The good, the bad and the ugly the man did in his life. I especially liked his Civil War heroics and how he used them to further his own personal gain. In the end, Black Bart was a flawed human like everyone else.
Profile Image for HTP Books.
1,580 reviews212 followers
Read
March 1, 2023
Law Enforcement Biographies & Autobiographies, West United States History, Criminals & Outlaws Biographies & Autobiographies
23 reviews
March 30, 2023
I enjoyed this well researched story of Black Barts life before, during and after his criminal career. If you are a civil war buff this is also a good read.
658 reviews12 followers
April 4, 2023
A meticulously researched, easy-to-read book about a complete jerk. Others may find the subject of this book more tolerable. More power to them...
Profile Image for Vanessa.
85 reviews
June 22, 2023
I loved this book. Thank you so much. I learned so much more about California history and I have traveled most of those areas, Never knowing of this gentleman's history.
Profile Image for Bob Manning.
235 reviews1 follower
July 5, 2023
A somewhat interesting story about a stagecoach robber in California during the second half of the
19th century. Not a page turner, but a change from the normal topics that I read about.
Profile Image for Ryan Miller.
1,721 reviews7 followers
October 24, 2023
Well-researched, and the author takes pains to debunk a slew of unsubstantiated stories about Black Bart and his stagecoach robberies.
Profile Image for Lisa.
146 reviews4 followers
January 6, 2024
Very interesting book! I didn't know much about Black Bart, and this book was fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews

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