Last month we gathered to talk about our book The Whip by Karen Kondazian. The book is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west. As a young woman in Rhode Island, she fell in love with a runway slave and had his child. The destruction of her family drove her west to California, dressed as a man, to track the killer.
Charley became a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo. She killed a famous outlaw, had a secret love affair, and lived with a housekeeper who, unaware of her true sex, fell in love with her. Charley was the first known woman to vote in America in 1868 (as a man). Her grave lies in Watsonville, CA.
The above two paragraphs are exactly as the synopsis is written. However, the reality is, very little is known about Charlotte, the woman, before she became Charley Parkhurst; man and stage coach driver. What is known, is that as a child she was raised in an Orphanage. According to Fern J. Hill (Author/Editing and Formatting services) In 1812 Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst was born in Lebanon, NH (though her middle name may have been Durkey). (Documented). In 1824 Charley runs away from an orphanage. She reaches Worcester, MA and gets a job with Ebenezer Baich. This is the man Charley supposedly learned her horse skills from. Mid-Late 1840's, Charley leaves Providence, RI for Georgia with one other (stage coach) driver. Her exact whereabouts during that time are unclear. In 1849, upon her return to RI, from Georgia, Charley worked for William Hayden and Charles H. Child. Charley meets Jim Birch and Frank Stevens who leave Providence to start the California Stage Company. In 1851 Charley leaves Boston aboard the R.B. Forbes for Panama on her way to California. Once Charley arrived in California, he became a Stage Coach driver for Jim Birch.
Other known facts, while during Charley's driver career are as follows: She rolled an empty coach once and "busted in" his sides (probably broke a few ribs), but never saw a doctor about it. She drove her passengers over the rain-swollen Tuolumne River reaching solid ground just before the bridge collapsed. An incident with hogs scaring the horses so they "jumped grade" happened on the Santa Cruz Stage. Five deaths occurred. In 1856 while on a run from San Francisco to San Jose, Charley was kicked in the eye (and lost the eye) by an unhappy horse, and became known as "Cockeyed Charley." In 1858 Sugarfoot held up Charley's coach for the first time in June. When Sugarfoot held Charley up a second time six months later, she shot and killed him. Most of these facts are in the book and when you think about it, are pretty amazing.
The problem a couple of us had were the fictional parts of the story about Charlotte/Charley. Firstly, her childhood companion (Lee Colton) from the Orphanage becomes an obsessed stalker/raper of Charlotte. Then Charlotte marries a black man, has his child, but both are murdered by a mob, thanks to Lee. Once Charlotte becomes Charley and is a Whip in California, she has an affair with a man (who upon meeting her suspects she is female) who in the end, is the infamous Stage Coach robber known as Sugarfoot. Remember, Sugarfoot the robber is fact but, them having an affair is pure fiction. These parts seemed to us, not only fictional but, also very unrealistic.
All of that being said, the book was actually well liked and was given a total rating of 3.96. Most everyone enjoyed that it was very easy to read and found it very enjoyable. We loved reading about the old west, which was portrayed very well, and gave us a bit of a refresher course on western history. What was absolutely the most striking of all, of course, was that Charley actually existed! What an incredibly tough, brave, strong, resourceful woman. We imagined and wondered so many things about her. What drove her to become a man in the first place? How did she keep that fact SO well hidden for more than 30 years? Even though she clearly had friendships, some more than 20 years long. Was she lonely and did she lack intimacy in her life?
In the end when Charley died, she was a home and land owner, had owned several other successful businesses after retiring as a Whip, AND had voted (as a man). All of these things were virtually unheard of, not to mention unattainable for an unmarried woman to accomplish at this time in our history.
Upon his death in 1879 from cancer of the mouth, it was, of course, discovered that Charley was a woman. On the day of her death those with her also found a baby dress in an old trunk.....Charley had been a mother at some point in her life. That made us very sad and was also a long point of discussion. What could the facts possibly be surrounding that child?
Charley's grave stands in the Pioneer Odd Fellows Cemetery in Watsonville, CA. It reads...
CHARLEY DARKEY PARKHURST
1812-1879
NOTED WHIP OF THE GOLD RUSH DAYS
DROVE STAGE OVER MT. MADONNA IN
EARLY DAYS OF VALLEY. LAST RUN
SAN JUAN TO SANTA CRUZ. DEATH IN
CABIN NEAR THE 7 MILE HOUSE,
REVEALED "ONE EYED CHARLIE"
A WOMAN. THE FIRST WOMAN TO VOTE
IN THE U.S. NOV. 3, 1868
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