The Po 8

By Mr. Frank A. Podesta

The book is sort of a biography about a famous character through the eyes of my grandfather Peter Podesta. My grandfather was one of the last living stage coach drivers for Wells Fargo Co. The book started out to be a book about the Po8 and ended up being the book about the lives of three men. The book tells the story, according to Peter Podesta, and other sources that has never been put to print to this date. There are many attempts to define and determine what happened to the Po8, however, the best kept secret in the West was discovered, but covered up time after time. No one has ever mentioned my grandfather except about his stage being robbed outside of Jackson, California. Little known to friends and family was the relationship he had with the Po8. This book will bring to light Peters telling of this extraordinary story about the real old west and a mystery that has been long in the minds of authors and historians alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524690571

Mr. Frank A. Podesta

Mr. Frank A. Podesta Jr. Starting writing this book in High School in 1964. He continued throughout his life by reading all that he could about the subject matter. He verified through books, documents and periodicals about what his grandfather had told him. He stuck with the task and finally finished the book some 50 years later. It was a fun and most exciting and eventful task. The length of time, helped verify some of the facts and he found a most interesting battle of the news papers of the times.

Book preview

THE

Po 8

Mr. Frank A. Podesta Jr.

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© 2017 Mr. Frank A. Podesta Jr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse     07/31/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9058-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9057-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017906776

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1      It All Started In The Beginning

Chapter 2      School For Charles

Chapter 3      Gold Fever

Chapter 4      Settling Down

Chapter 5      War Is No Game

Chapter 6      The Lost Soul

Chapter 7      San Francisco

Chapter 8      The Birth Of Bart

Chapter 9      James Humes

Chapter 10    A New Beginning For James

Chapter 11    The Lawman

Chapter 12    Politics And The Law

Chapter 13    Wells Fargo’s Man

Chapter 14    Black Bart The Po8

Chapter 15    Life Behind Bars

Chapter 16    The Deal

Chapter 17    The Job

Chapter 18    The Holdup Of Peter

The Acknowledgements and Explanations

DEDICATION

Dedicated to all my children, Johnathan, Sara, Christina, Frankie III and to Julisa and her family. I also want to dedicate this book to all the women in my life that inspired me to continue this book.

I want to thank my late Grandpa Peter Louis Podesta, for who inspired me from my youth, and made this book possible. I sat down with my Grandpa night after night while he told me the story of his friend Charles.

This happened when I was eleven to nineteen years old. It took me twelve more years throughout my life, to research this story. I believed my Grandpa, however, I wanted to research the history that was written about this character to find any similarities with my grandfather’s stories.

I thank all of these fine human beings that put up with me and my dream of making this book come to life. It was not an easy task to search out for the truth.

I started writing this book about twelve years ago, after I had read every book, old newspaper, and periodical that I could locate only to find that none had a clue as to the real story of this character. This book is like an unauthorized biography through the eyes, and ears of my grandfather. He was there! He was Charles’s secret friend.

INTRODUCTION

The Po8 is about a true living human being that spent a great deal of his life in California around the San Francisco Bay area and the Sierra foothills, better known as the Mother Lode country. There are books written about the Po8, an what they assumed were his adventures back in the 1800s, however, none to my knowledge can answer the mystery of what really happened to this colorful gentleman. This book will go back into his early childhood and through letters, papers, documents and pictures, bring you a more reliable conclusion to this mystery. His legend died with him in what is believed to be between 1888 and 1917. There are a few who have written about him and came up with some possible endings to the story, however, I believe that none can compare with what you are about to read.

Even though he was not as famous worldwide as, Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, or even Doc Holiday, to one particular company; he was a terror to their business of delivering gold, mail and bullion up and down California and Oregon. There were magazines and periodicals written about him and there was a great deal of talk through out the territories about him and his mannerisms during his colorful career.

My Grandfather Peter Podesta was one of the last Stage coach drivers that drove for Wells Fargo and Co., and he told me many stories at our home in the evenings, when I was around eleven years old to when I was nineteen. He would sit in his rocking chair and after the Friday night fights on TV, he would tell me the ongoing story of the Po8. At first I thought it was a fictional character, but after many questions to my grandfather, he told me that the Po8 was his friend from early on and he did not think that anyone else knew. It was their secret. When I got older I started taking notes, for which I am very glad I did. These stories just might answer the question of what became of the Po8.

Oh yes, the Po8 has a name, in fact a few names under which he was known. So let us get with it, and remember, it all started in the beginning.

CHAPTER I

It all started in the Beginning

T he time was 1829 and the place was Norfolk County, England. Born in Norfolk, England in 1829 to John and Maria Bowles, Charles was one of 9 siblings. Maria and John had seven boys and three girls. In Norfolk at that time was not a good time for families raising small children. There were a lot of diseases going round that were dangerous to younger ones and especially small children. It was difficult enough to try and scratch a living out of the earth as a farmer and be able to keep the family healthy and free from a death defying disease.

England had many epidemics during the early 1800s and so John and Maria decided to gather up what belongings they had, with the children they had at that time, and take a very big chance. That chance was to sail to the Americas by way of the great sailing ships and start a new life. They had heard that the Americas were the place for a new start, where farming and the land was much richer and more beautiful than where they were. Kind of like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. The times were so bad in England for the farmers and lower classes of people that it was considered the thing to do and the rewards far outweighed the risks.

At the age of two years old, Charles and two sisters, four brothers, and his Father and mother; started on their journey to the Americas. Their ship was to leave the docks in England area and head for a city named New York. They were told that there was great farming country in upper State New York.

The trip was long and hard coming across the Atlantic Ocean, as were most of those voyages at that time. It was exciting at first with all the new sights, sounds and smells of the ship and cargo. There was lots of chatter about the new world ahead of them. Of course reality begin to set in due to the many stories the sailors told them of the dangers at sea. I am sure that some of those stories were a bit seasoned by the sailors and crew to bring to the passengers a bigger than life view of their importance. Never the less this made the passengers a bit terrified of the mass of water ahead of them. These tales of what happens to ships at sea did not help the matter. Of course Charles, being only two had little memories of that trip. As was told by his parents, he was somewhat of a good sailor. His blue eyes seemed to stare into the horizon, as they came across the ocean with little sense of where they were going. Charles seem to enjoy the ride, so to speak, and was quite calm about the rocking and noisy makings of the ship. The sails sometimes flapping in the breeze and the wood masts making their grinding and binding noises.

Below deck, while lying in the makeshift bunks, a person would hear all kinds of sounds during the night. At first almost deafening noises such as the water constantly slamming up against the ship, and the up and down motion of the ship finding its way through the never ending waves of water. The ship moaned and creaked and growled to a point where you thought it was ready to fall apart and dump its contents into the deep deep seas. A real scary thought for those land lubbers that had no idea of the construction of the ship, or even how it stayed upright.

Then there were those who seemed to be constantly weary of the sea. They could not hold down a meal, and seemed to look like the blood was drained from their bodies.

Finally on one, what seemed a clear day, Charles parents saw birds flying over the ship, which seemed to circle around and around the ship’s mast and sails. These birds were making such a chattering noise that the sailors on board started to chatter and everyone seemed to be in a talkative mood. One of the sailors, for which they called him the lookout, yelled, land ahoy. That seemed like a word everyone was looking for and a since of relief poured over the entire crew and the passengers alike. One man started dancing a jig, another started signing like he was in the old country. Most just stared in amazement at the land before them. John heard one of the sailors on the ship joking and saying that he hoped that they reached the right land, unlike Columbus… The sailors laughed and John his wife Maria and most of the passengers did not understand the joke, but were just happy that there was something in front of them besides water. The harbor was in sight in the distance, but slowly faded away due to the fog. The ship sailed straight into this foggy bank, and you could hear the sailors yelling and lighting up the lanterns to warn other ships that may be coming out of the harbor. The passengers were unaware of what the sailors were doing and just stood on the rails and tried to make out and picture the oncoming land, harbor and other boats and ships in the harbor. The smell of the ship seemed to fade away as the smells from the land and the docks came into being. The passengers and crew were now extremely excited to dock the ship and rush to shore. The passengers were excited, however, they were also a bit scared as to what would happen when they got there.

The anxiety was so overwhelming, waiting for that plank to drop and bond the ship with the new land. People voices became louder and more aggressive, little children tugged at their parents or brothers and sisters to let them run off the ship and into this new land.

A new land that had so much to offer but was so unfamiliar to the newcomers. Most of the people on board either had relatives that were waiting for them, or had written to the authorities on what land was available for farming. Some were hoping to find some type of work in order to survive in this new world.

Charles’s parent’s John and Maria were to meet some friends that had come before them. Their friends told them of land up in Jefferson County New York where they could Homestead about 100 acres for farming. These were new sections of land that were being developed by the incoming immigrants.

John was 43 years old and Maria 38 when they stepped foot on to this new soil called New York. In 1831 43 years old was considered to be quite old. After all Maria was only 14 when she got married to John who was then 19. They had Harriet, their first child 5 years later. James came along in 1818 three years down the road, then came John Jr. a year later in 1819. Robert came next in 1822 and two years later Lucy was born. There was a five year period before Charles came forth in 1829.

John and Maria were now unloading what little belongings they brought from home, and they sat everything down in a pile waiting for their friends to arrive. Finally about when the sun was half way through the day or around what we would consider lunch time, John heard a familiar voice shouting, John, Maria, John, Maria. John shouted back, we are over here next to the pile of fishing nets. Just then Anna And Jim Bidleman came into sight, and what a pleasant site that was to see their old friends. Anna looked happy and a little tired, and Jim looked like he always did. Jim was a tailor in England and was very polite and liked to ask a lot of questions. In England, being a Tailor, most likely gave Jim a gift of gab. He was a little over 5 foot tall and had to stand on a stool to measure a lot of his clients. Jim’s wife Anna was a hard working mother of four young children, who supported Jim in most ways. She was hesitant about moving to this new land a year ago, and like many did not want to give up her home and belongings in England. Jim had to give up his hard earned business of being a very good and well known tailor in Norfolk County. They lost one child to small pox and that is all it took to convince Anna that this move would be good for the family.

Anna was the one that wrote all the letters to Maria and John asking them to come to this beautiful land. At first Anna wrote those letters out of loneliness for her friends at home and then after about a year started to settle in and make a home of this new land. The letters became more and more convincing to John and Maria, and now they were here to experience this better place to live.

Jim and Anna helped John and Maria load all their belongings into the buckboard. All the children jumped up on the buckboard and it was quite a site to see. The buckboard was loaded down with belongings and people to the point where the team had to go very slow in order to be able to move the heavy load. This was not an uncommon site to see, as the immigrants started arriving in New York. Sometimes you would see a wagon broke down along side of the road, because it was grossly overloaded.

When they finally arrived at the town, they drove the team down Main Street where you could see the building going on. Carpenters and laborers were putting this town together. The excitement of seeing this new town being erected right before their eyes, was again proof that they had come to the right place. Down they went along Main Street until they saw Wall Street, where the team made a right turn and traveled down about four homes. Then on the right they arrived at the Bidlemans. The Bidleman’s home was located on a business street where Jim had a sign up in the window of the bottom level of their home. The sign shown as J.C. Bidleman Merchant Tailor. Their living quarters were up stairs where they had two rooms. One room for their four children and one room for Jim and Anna. They had a stove, which was hard to find in the beginning of this town called Plessis. The home was very cozy and John and Maria felt very comfortable staying in their store room for the coming week. The plan was to go to the Land Agent and find out where their new home would be in