By Mark McLaughlin ·
Charley Parkhurst at the reigns of a stagecoach. ·
Stagecoach companies were big business during the Comstock’s heady years of massive silver production. One of the most successful lines was the Pioneer Stage Company.
The Pioneer Stage route followed the old trail between Placerville past South Lake Tahoe, to Genoa, Nev. The company maintained 12 Concord Coaches with six horses to each stage. Business was brisk with more than 100 daily passengers using the line to reach Virginia City from California. Besides passengers, the stages hauled gold and silver bullion, as well as mine company payrolls.
Stage robbery was a constant danger and bandits employed many strategies to ambush a stagecoach. The most common method was for bandits to hide behind a thicket of trees or lay flat on the ground. When the stage approached, the crooks would jump to their feet with guns drawn. Thieves rarely met with much resistance from the stage drivers, since the drivers had passenger safety foremost in mind. The gang was usually after the Wells Fargo moneybox with its valuable contents. Passengers were seldom hurt, but they were certainly relieved of their cash, watches and jewelry. If the road agents had time, the baggage and traveling trunks were searched, as well.
Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad over Donner Pass in 1868, the only transportation through the Sierra was by stage. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, rugged teamsters held rein over six wild-eyed horses as they tore along the precipitous mountain trails. During winter, converted sleighs hauled mail and the few passengers willing to endure the frigid ride. The beautiful alpine scenery passed by in a dizzying blur and passengers who looked out of the carriage windows often turned pale with fear. Sheer granite cliffs towered over the crude narrow trails and canyons yawned into dark depths far below. The stagecoaches were driven by skilled and fearless men who pushed themselves and their spirited horses to the limit.
One of the most famous drivers was Charles D. Parkhurst. Charley came west from New England in 1852, seeking his own fortune in the Gold Rush. He spent 15 years running stages in both California and western Nevada. Over the years, his reputation as an expert whip grew legendary. Charley handled all six reins plus the whip with an easy dexterity.
From 20 feet away, he could slice open the end of an envelope or cut a cigar out of a man’s mouth. Parkhurst smoked cigars, chewed wads of tobacco, drank with the best of them, and exuded supreme confidence behind the reins. His judgment was always sound and his pleasant manners won him friends everywhere.
One time, as Charley drove down from Carson Pass the lead horses stumbled off the road. Charley bit hard on his two-bit cigar and used all his strength to stop the runaway coach, but the terrain was too rough. The wooden wheels nearly splintered when the stage struck the rocky embankment. A wrenching jolt threw Charley from the rig, but he hung on tight to the reins. The horses dragged Charley along on his stomach, but he soon managed to steer the frightened horses back onto the road. Charley had saved all his passengers and was now a bona fide hero.
During the peak of the Gold Rush, bands of surly highwaymen stalked the roads. These outlaws would level their shotguns at stage drivers and shout, “Throw down the gold box!” Charley Parkhurst had no patience for the crooks despite their demands and threatening gestures.
The most notorious road agent was nicknamed “Sugarfoot.” When he and his gang accosted Charley’s stage, it was the last robbery the thief ever attempted. Charley cracked his whip defiantly and the horses bolted. Charley then grabbed his six-shooter, and with bullets blazing, raced away without loss or injury. Sugarfoot, however, was later found dead with a fatal bullet wound in his stomach. In appreciation of his bravery, Wells Fargo presented Parkhurst with a large watch and chain made of solid gold.
In 1862, Charley relocated to work as a stage driver on the route from Santa Cruz to San Juan Bautista. A few years later, tired of the demanding job of controlling a half dozen spirited horses on narrow, winding roads, Parkhurst opened his own stage station. He later sold the business and retired to a nearby ranch where he farmed and worked in the woods near Soquel. The years slipped by and Charley died on Dec. 29, 1879, at the age of 67.
A few days later, the Sacramento Daily Bee published his obituary. It read; “On Sunday last, there died a person known as Charley Parkhurst, aged 67, who was well-known to old residents as a stage driver. He was in early days accounted one of the most expert manipulators of the reins who ever sat on the box of a coach. It was discovered when friendly hands were preparing him for his final rest, that Charley Parkhurst was unmistakably a well-developed woman!”
Once it was discovered that Charley was a woman, there were plenty of people to say they had always thought he wasn’t like other men. Even though he wore leather gloves summer and winter, many noticed that his hands were small and smooth. He slept in the stables with his beloved horses and was never known to have had a girlfriend.
Charley never volunteered clues to her past. Loose fitting clothing hid her femininity and after a horse kicked her, an eye patch over one eye helped conceal her face. She weighed 175 lbs., could handle herself in a fistfight and drank whiskey like one of the boys. Parkhurst never drove the day after payday; he was usually too tired from drinking all-night and gambling for cigars.
It turns out that Charley’s real name was Charlotte Parkhurst. As a child, she was raised in a Massachusetts’s orphanage, unloved and surrounded by poverty. Charlotte ran away when she was 15-years old and soon discovered that life in the working world was easier for men. So she decided to masquerade as one for the rest of her life.
The rest is history. Well, almost. There is one last thing. On Nov. 3, 1868, Charlotte Parkhurst cast her vote in the national election. She became the first woman to vote in the United States, 52 years before Congress passed the 19th amendment giving American women the right to vote.
Tahoe historian Mark McLaughlin is a nationally published author and professional speaker. His award-winning books are available at local stores or at thestormking.com. You may reach him at mark@thestormking.com. Check out Mark’s blog at tahoenuggets.com.
