"This guy Bart were a kinda strange duck compared to the other outlaws. He were well spoken, worn socks over his boots to keep from gettin' caught, and left poems at his scenes. Sometimes he'd even asked "please" for a safe box. He got his name Black Bart from readin' them dime novels I was tellin' y'all 'bout. There was one fictional character named Black Bart in them that was robbin' Wells Fargo coaches and takin' their money. I read them novels that he liked but I ain't really think there were nothin' special 'bout the stories. I'd a picked a better name if it were me. So that's tha backstory on him. Now for the interview. I ain't lettin' y'all know my secrets or nothin' so don't be askin'."
Rex rides his horse up to an old shack with a few farm animals around and knocks.
"Hello!"
"Is this here Charles Bolles?"
"..Yes?"
"Charles E. Bolles, AKA Black Bart??"
"Maybe. How may I help you?"
"Well, let me start by sayin' that I knows you wanna be discreet and what not but I'm tryin' to put together some interviews with former outaws and I need you. I ain't gonna give up your location."
"I will tell you one story, but you must tell me how you found me. I disappeared after I got out of jail and I'm positive that I didn't leave any trace of my whereabouts."
"Heh, well I ain't. I'm kind've a bloodhound sometimes. It ain't nothin' I'm gonna tell you or nobody else. Now if you'll tell me a story I'd pay ya and leave."
"A story?.... Hmm, okay I'll tell you about the last robbery I performed. It was, in fact, the one that got me caught. It is also the one that has been on my mind for a long while. So, I was going to rob a stagecoach at the very same location of the first stagecoach that I ever robbed. It was on a place called Funk Hill. Now this wasn't anything new. I'd robbed many coaches and I didn't have any reason to be worried. I was pretty successful and incredibly clever so if it hadn't been for this incident then I don't think I would have ever been caught. By the way, I haven't told anybody this before, but this was going to be my final robbery. It just so happens to be the one that finished me on someone else's terms."
"Yeah? Tell me more."
"Well, so I met up with this coach and it didn't have any passengers on this day. That was fine because I wanted the bank's money anyway. I pulled the driver over and told him to unhitch the horses. The strongbox was bolted to the floor and I was having some trouble getting it out. While I was busy, some stupid kid walked up to the driver with his rifle. I was unaware when I stopped the driver that he had recently picked up a kid and dropped him off to hunt. So now they had a rifle that I didn't know they had. After I came out of the coach, the driver grabbed the rifle and fired at me. He missed of course and then the kid reloaded and fired some more! I don't know what they were so angry about! I wasn't taking their money! So I fled before I could gather my belongings."
"That's all? So how'd ya get caught n'stuff?"
"Well, if you would have some patience then I would tell you. I was about to finish the story before you interrupted!
So I fled the scene without the money. Some people thought they actually shot me but let me say that those two couldn't hit a buffalo if it was standing right in front of them! I was not injured. I went to my safe house and realized that I had left my handkerchief with my laundry mark at the coach. Now this was the only stupid mistake I had ever committed during a robbery. However, I was still arrogant enough and I didn't think they were clever enough to make enough connections to track me down - but they did. I ended up spending four years in jail. It was supposed to be six but I was on good behavior so they shortened it."
"I ain't mean to be rude but you're kind of'a wuss of an outlaw."
"Perhaps your mind is too feeble to understand the beauty of my style."
Author's note:
Black Bart was an intellectual sort of outlaw. He was similar to Doc Holliday in that he was smart enough to choose another profession but wanted something exciting and perhaps more profitable. Black Bart was bored after the Civil War and participating in the Gold Rush. He was a farmer before he became an outlaw but became bored with this too. There was apparently some unknown incident that changed his life. He wrote a letter to his wife that made him seem like he was in big trouble with Wells Fargo. After, she didn't hear from him anymore. She presumed he was dead. He was very thorough with his crimes. He wore socks outside his boots and wore sacks and linen to cover up his clothing. "Black Bart" was an anonymous character up until they found his handkerchief. If they hadn't found his handkerchief, they might never have found his true identity. Soon after his release from prison he vanished without a trace. Many theories circulate about his destination but none have been confirmed.
As far as my story goes, I'm not sure what kind of personality he really did have but from 1-2 sentence interviews provided on Wikipedia, he seems to be a nice fellow with a good sense of humor. He really vanished without a trace and this is why it is strange that Rex is able to find him. The two men shot at him while he was robbing the stagecoach and nobody is sure whether they actually hit him or not. He was an intellectual and left poems at the scenes of the crimes. I didn't really have to make anything up except his personality.
Bibliography
History and Story
Wikipedia
Image Info
Portrait of Black Bart. Found at Wikipedia
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Story 2 (Billy The Kid)
Story 3 (Jesse James)