Charley Parkhurst moved from New Hampshire to California during the 1849 Gold Rush.
Once there, Charley became a stage driver—one of the best in the business. Parkhurst
lost an eye due to a horse kick to the face, but that didn’t end the driving career.
Charley settled down in the 1870s, working in lumber and ranching and raising chickens
near Watsonville, CA, until dying in 1879 at the age

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows