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 robbed at least twenty-nine stagecoaches on the Northern California coast with mild, polite commands, each time brandishing a sawed-off shotgun that is widely believed to never have been loaded. 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 educated man, travelling 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. 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 hi