1194: Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst
California Stagecoach Driver
Born: 17 January 1812, Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States of America (or Possibly Sharon, Vermont, United States of America)*
Died: 18 or 28 December 1879, Watsonville, California, United States of America**
Also Known As: One-Eyed Charley or Six-Horse Charley
Charlotte was abandoned by her parents, according to some sources, and grew up in an orphanage. Around the age of twelve to fifteen (sources differ), she decided to run away and donned men’s clothing in order to do so. She maintained the persona for the rest of her life, building on it and making it more believable over time. Charlotte eventually found work in some stables, cleaning the stalls, and washing the carriages.
Charlotte moved to Rhode Island with the owner of the stables she worked at. While working for him, she also learned how to ride horses and drive stagecoaches, quickly becoming known as the best stagecoach driver on the East Coast.
In 1851, following the rush of miners who flocked to California during the Gold Rush, Charlotte moved across the country to join the crowds. She worked for several stagecoach companies over the years, including Wells Fargo. Charlotte drove routes all over the state, from Stockton to Mariposa, San Jose to Santa Cruz, Sacramento to Placerville, and more.
Around 1856, Charlotte was kicked in the head by a horse she was trying to shoe, and wore an eye patch the rest of her life as a result. She was known for being a rough and rowdy character who drank whiskey, chewed tobacco, and swore just like the rest of the men. In 1858, a bandit robbed Charlotte’s coach. When he tried to rob her again a few months later, she shot and killed him. To say Charlotte was one tough SOB—er lady that is!--would be an understatement.
In 1864, John Ross Browne, a journalist from Harper’s Monthly Magazine, rode a coach that was driven by Charlotte. A year later he summed up his experience for the magazine, immortalizing Charlotte forever under the name “Charlie.” Charlotte was attributed the following quote about her experiences on the road:
“Fact is I’ve traveled over these mountains so often I can tell where the road is by the sound of the wheels. When they rattle, I’m on hard ground; when they don’t rattle, I generally look over the side to see where she’s a going.”
Charlotte registered to vote in 1868 (although it is unknown if she ever actually cast a ballot). If she did ever vote, she could have been the first woman to vote in the United States (Sacagawea voted in newly acquired US territory and did not vote in a nationally balloted election).
In the 1870s, Charlotte stopped driving stagecoaches and moved on to operate a saloon for a time, as well as a way station (she sold both companies). Charlotte also owned a stake in a cattle ranch for a while, but she sold that as well. When she retired from the stagecoach, she was known as the “Best Damn Driver in the West” according to some.
She passed away from tongue and throat cancer. It is said that in the last few months of her life, she kept telling the family she was living with that she had a secret she wanted to share, but she always postponed actually telling them the secret.
Two articles I read note that the medical examiner viewing her body determined that she had given birth at one point in her life (one of the sources also states that the child had died at a young age—though how that could be determined by viewing the mother’s body I have no idea!). The only other source I found who noted this fact was her Wikipedia article. The Wikipedia article states that the source for the having given birth story is the Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography by Dan Thrapp. I’ve never read this book myself so I cannot verify this one specific fact, but I still thought it interesting enough to include.
Charlotte never revealed her secret and its only known because of her body being examined after her death. In this article, I have referred to her with female pronouns and her name at birth because there is no evidence she actually wished to become a man in the way we see transgender men do today. Charlotte socially transitioned to that of a male in order to survive and attain the job she loved, that of a stagecoach driver, because it would have been next to impossible for her to do so as a woman.
Charlotte has a Daughters of the American Revolution chapter named after her in Folsom and El Dorado Hills, California. The chapter was founded and organized in May of 2021.
*The differing birth location is because it seems every other source I found listed either New Hampshire or Vermont. Wikipedia seems to think the differing opinions stems from the fact that Charlotte was born in Vermont, but the orphanage she was raised in was in New Hampshire, HOWEVER I went a little further and clicked on the sourced link Wikipedia used for this fact, and that article also states Charlotte was born in New Hampshire and not Vermont. I have no idea which state she was born in, but at least they are side by side. To cover my bases I will list Charley on both Vermont and New Hampshire’s listings, just in case. I also decided to do a quick search, and according to Google Maps the two cities (which still exist as of 2024) are less than eighteen miles (or around twenty-nine kilometers) apart. I included an image from Google Maps below.
**Sources also differ on whether she died on the 18th or the 28th of December, with the sources being split equally between the two dates.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Located In My Personal Library:
Haunted West: Legendary Tales From the Frontier (Magazine Published by Centennial Today, Fall 2020)
America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins
Stagecoach Women: Brave and Daring Women of the Wild West by Cheryl Mullenbach
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charley-Parkhurst
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/charley-parkhurst/
https://thenovelhistorian.com/truth-and-fiction/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Parkhurst
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25451
https://folsom.californiadar.org/index.php/about-us/chapter-history
