Writer and illlustrator , J . Ross Browne holds tight as Charley Parkhurst drives the stage . Illustration from
Wells Fargo archives .
from being kicked in the face by a horse in 1858 while on a stage run . He was known by a number of names , including One-eyed Charley , Cock-eyed Charley , and Six-horse Charley . He was said to be well dressed , wearing a heavy muffler , a buffalo skin coat , gloves , cap and blue jeans . Besides the tobacco chewing , Charley was also distinguished by his special sharp whistle . The sound was a signal to let oncoming riders know the stage was approaching a bend in the road .
After decades driving the stage , and following his final San Juan to Santa Cruz run , Charley retired to settle on a ranch near Watsonville , where he raised stock . He died in his cabin on December 18 , 1879 .
It wasn ’ t until after his death that the public found out Charley ’ s “ secret .” After his body was undressed to be washed and laid out in the casket , it was discovered that Charley was not the hard-cussing man everyone thought he was . Charley was a hardcussing woman , born Charlotte Parkhurst , who had masqueraded all those years as a masculine stage driver !
Another claim to fame , unknown to the public during those pre-suffrage years , was that Charlotte was later attributed to be the first woman to vote in the United States . Charley was registered to vote , and reputedly cast this first female vote , under the assumed name of Charley Parkhurst , at a polling booth in a Soquel hotel on November 3 , 1868 .
More of a legend in death than life , Charles Darkey Parkhurst , noted whip of the Gold Rush era and beyond , lies buried in the Watsonville Cemetery .
Published in 2012 “ The Whip ,” has won numerous awards to include : the USA News Award / Best Historical Fiction , 2013 National Indie Excellence Award for Best Western , International Book Award / Best Western Fiction and Best eBook Global Award . Karen Kondazian resides in Morgan Hill .
Published in 2008 , “ Charley ’ s Choice : The Life and Times of Charley Parkhurst ,” won the 2009 Willa Award for Historical Fiction awarded by the Women Writing the West , and the 2009 Greater Lehigh Valley Writers book-length fiction award .
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