The Mystery of Charlie Parkhurst

105

he deftly turned the horses to the
side of the road. While he was shoot-
ing it out, he drove recklessly down
the bumpy highway. The road agent
didn’t get the box that time.

In the 1870’s the new railroads were
shoving the stagecoaches into ob-
livion, so Charlie Parkhurst retired.
He was about fifty then. He bought
himself a small piece of land near
Watsonville, California, turned to the
peaceful life of a farmer and made a
success of it. Then rheumatism hand-
icapped him. Finally he fell ill and
could not leave his bed.

Six miles down the road lived the
Harmon family. When they heard of
Charlie’s plight, they sent their
twelve-year-old son to care for the old
fellow. Mr. Harmon came over often
to see how he was getting along.

As Charlie grew worse, on several
occasions he muttered, “I got some-
thing I ought to tell you.”

“Go ahead, Charlie, I’m listening,”
Mr. Harmon encouraged.

Charlie would try to speak, then
shake his grizzled head, “I can’t do
it!” he’d mutter.

One night while the boy was alone
with Charlie, the end came. Charlie
told the twelve-year-old boy nothing
about the past. Charlie left his entire
estate of $600 to the boy, in apprecia-
tion of the attention he had received.

When the ranchers heard that
Charlie was dead, they came to the
cabin to see what they could still do
for him. Men stood about and shook
their heads and wondered again why

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Charlie had been such a close-
mouthed, mysterious fellow. And as
was customary, some of the ranchers
took charge of Charlie’s body and
made ready to wash and dress it for
burial. One ripped off the bedclothes
and the men gasped in horror. A
gnarled hand quickly shot out and
again yanked up the bedclothes.

Charlie Parkhurst was a woman.

Mr. Harmon found his voice first.
“So that was the secret that Charlie
tried to tell me!”

Another man shook his head sadly.
“Old Cock-eyed Charlie, one of the
best men the West has ever known!”

“Guess this is a job for the wom-
en,” one man commented. He started
the procession that trudged quietly
out of the room.

Later the true facts of Charlie Park-
hurst’s life came to light. “He” had
been born at Sandusky, Ohio, in
1828 and was the daughter of the
Frederick Parkhursts. When she was
a young girl of about twenty, she fell
in love, but something happened to
the unfortunate affair and the girl
ran away from home.

She headed west. Perhaps to pro-
tect herself from the men she met,
or perhaps because it was easier for
a man to earn his living, she donned
man’s clothing. Later, perhaps after
she lost one eye in a brawl, she de-
cided that she would stay a man. She
was the forerunner of all the suffra-
gettes that were to come. For “Char-
lie” Parkhurst voted in California
for thirty years.