The Case of Summerfield

The Case of Summerfield was published in the Sacramento Union newspaper in 1871 and included a character named Black Bart which later became the alias for Charles Bolles. At the time of its publication, this story was the talk of the town more for the concept of being able to set water on fire then for the idea of Black Bart. It was the story's villain, however, that caught Charles Bolles' attention and he later used the intimidating name which would be familiar to many in California as an alias in his poems left behind at crime scenes.