Legends of the Old West - SWINDLERS Ep. 5 | “Fool’s Gold”

Episode Date: August 16, 2023

Charles Baggs, who became known as Doc Baggs, followed the gold rush to Colorado in the late 1850s. He quickly decided that there were easier ways to make money than by mining for gold. For years, he ran elaborate cons in Denver, and he always found ways to outwit the legal system. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senor Miguel Otero stepped out of a hotel lobby and strode down the sidewalk. The morning air was crisp in Denver, and Otero was likely in a good mood. Yesterday, he had been unexpectedly lucky. He had stepped out of his hotel and started to stroll down the sidewalk just like he was now. But yesterday, a young man stopped him and greeted him warmly. The young man introduced himself as an old friend, but Otero didn't recognize him. The young man seemed convinced, and Otero would have felt bad if he had turned him away. After the two men exchanged pleasantries, the acquaintance asked Otero to accompany him to a local policy shop. The young man wanted to see if his draw had won.

Otero had heard of policy shops. They were shops that gave the public access to state- his draw had won. Otero had heard of policy shops. They were shops that gave the public access to state-run lotteries. Otero agreed and followed his new-slash-old friend. When they arrived at the shop, Otero decided to test his luck. He drew a few numbers and actually won. He could scarcely believe how easy it was to win the lottery, and he was glad he had decided to take this spontaneous adventure. The clerk in the policy shop had told him to collect his earnings the next day, and now, Miguel Otero strolled down Larimer Street in downtown Denver to do just that. He retraced

his steps to the shop and turned the final corner and then he stopped short. There was no sign of the policy shop. At the spot where the shop stood just yesterday, there was now a locked door. For a moment, Otero thought he was in the wrong place. But as he looked around, he grew more concerned. All the other shops and restaurants he had seen yesterday were still there. He was in exactly the right place. His feeling of concern likely grew far worse. Yesterday, the clerk at the shop had asked him to prove his credit standing so that he could receive his lottery winnings. Otero had obliged and given the clerk a banknote worth $2,400. Otero had not been suspicious because it was a state-run enterprise,

but now his mind raced with possibilities. Had he been swindled? From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the stories of some of the legendary con artists of the Old West. This story is about the mastermind behind the gold brick scheme and several other elaborate cons. This is Episode 5, Fool's Gold. Episode 5, Fool's Gold. Around a decade after the California gold rush, history repeated itself, this time at Pike's Peak.

Gold had been found in the Rocky Mountains in the early 1800s, but it wasn't until new discoveries in 1858 that prospectors rushed to Pikes Peak. The number of miners who swarmed the area ran into the thousands. Mining camps quickly grew into settlements. And, as always, a lucky few struck it rich. Some found a little bit of gold but not enough to change their lives, and most found nothing but back-breaking work and endless frustration. Sixteen-year-old Charles Baggs was in that last group. He spent almost two months searching the mines near Boulder and finally gave up in June of 1859. Baggs never lost the thrill of taking a risk. He just sought a different way of finding it. Baggs was born in Soda Bay, New York in 1843, and he decided at a young age that he would never

hold an ordinary job. A painful incident swore him off a conventional life in the office. Baggs worked as a postal clerk in Illinois. His responsibilities included operating the printing press. In an unfortunate accident, the machine cut off one of his fingers. That drove Baggs to join the Pikes Peak Gold Rush at the tender age of 16. After he came up empty in 1859, he began to travel the West. the West. For a while, Baggs bounced around from place to place without any particular direction. He served in the American Army as a quartermaster. Then, as an agent for the famed Overland Stage Company, Baggs ventured north to Virginia City in Montana Territory. He spent three years working with his father in Virginia City.

Baggs' father was a lawyer who also had a position in the government. We don't know the exact circumstances of how Baggs decided to pursue a life of swindling, but several sources say he started his long career as a con man under the instruction of the notorious King of Three-Card Monty, William Canada Bill Jones. Newspaper articles called Baggs a disciple of Canada Bill. Canada Bill was a sometime partner of riverboat gambler George Duvall, and Baggs worked as a shill for Canada Bill on trains running out of Nebraska. A shill was responsible for luring the mark into a trap by pretending to win big. There are records of Baggs and a few other shills being arrested for looting a man on a train outside Omaha in July of 1873.

Eventually, Baggs went to Denver, and he was no ordinary con man. He had spent nearly 15 years traveling and learning and perfecting his trade. He advanced well beyond the simple sleight-of-hand tricks of three-card Monty. The swindles bags planned were elaborate, and over time, his schemes grew more daring and complicated. A newspaper quoted him as saying, It's as easy to make big money as little money. In my profession, $100 is just chicken feed. We think in thousands, not tens. It is as easy to separate a sucker, the right sucker, from $5,000 as from $50.

In the booming city of Denver, bags had plenty of suckers. In the booming city of Denver, Baggs had plenty of suckers. At the same time that George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry were being transferred to Dakota to square off with the Lakota and Cheyenne, and Buffalo Bill, Texas Jack, and Ned Buntline were performing Scouts of the Prairie for audiences on the East Coast, and Jesse James and the James Younger Gang were robbing their first train, Charles Baggs was launching one of his most famous cons, the so-called gold brick scam. A portly man in an expensive tailored suit shifted his weight in anticipation. He was accompanied by a poorly dressed man in dirty

clothes and a thin gentleman in a dapper suit. A clutter of metal scales and other scientific tools littered the table in front of them. The walls of the shop were lined with jars and vials filled with different colored liquids. Behind the counter, a man wearing a leather smock turned over a heavy gold brick. Setting it down, he carefully carved out a small piece of the metal. His face was set in an impressively serious expression. The unusual trio of men looked on eagerly as he started running tests on the slice of gold. The portly man in the expensive suit leaned closer. He waited anxiously for the outcome. He was the sucker in this elaborate charade.

He just didn't know it. Finally, the man behind the counter set down his equipment. He looked up at his expectant audience. In a deliberate, measured voice, he said that the gold was of a very high quality. The portly man was excited because he believed he had just stumbled into a small fortune. That, of course, was what Charles Baggs wanted the man to believe. And here's how it started.

On a sidewalk in Denver earlier that day, On a sidewalk in Denver earlier that day, a shill in tattered clothing tapped on the arm of the man in the expensive suit. The man turned to look at the shill. The man was irritated at being bothered by a stranger in ratty clothing. The man rudely asked the shill what he wanted. The shill just stared back at him without speaking. The portly man grew impatient. He muttered that he was busy and he started to walk away. But then another man stopped him. This man was well-dressed, complete with a top hat and a silk umbrella. That was Charles Baggs, and he said he was acting as the shill's translator. The man in the expensive suit remained irritated, but Baggs went on to say that the shill wanted the man to do a favor.

The man's irritation turned to curiosity. What could the ragged-looking stranger do for him? Baggs nodded at the shill. The shill lifted up a grimy cloth sack. The sack was weighed down by something heavy, and the portly man couldn't help but wonder what was inside. Bags instructed the shill to open the sack. The shill carefully rolled down the top of the sack.

Inside, a gold brick glinted in the daylight. Bags informed the man in the expensive suit that the stranger in tattered clothes wanted to sell the gold brick. The portly man in the expensive suit was astonished, and Bags lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone as he suggested they speak in a more private location. The trio walked to a quiet alleyway. Bags told the portly man that the shill was willing to sell the brick for much less than it was actually worth. The shill placed the gold in the portly man's hands. The man was impressed by the weight of the brick, and he examined it closely. As far

as he could tell, there was nothing unusual about it. But he also realized that he didn't know much about precious metals. The man put the gold back inside the sack, straightened his back, and spoke authoritatively as if he were actually in control of the situation. He said he wanted to verify the brick of gold at an assayer's office. After all, he was a businessman who conducted his affairs in a lawful manner. Baggs and the shill exchanged a glance. Baggs said the poor man in the ratty clothes had no reservations about taking the gold to an assayer. Baggs conveniently suggested an assay office, since the businessman was not from Denver. After a brief pause, the businessman agreed.

Bags led the unlikely group up the sidewalk to a narrow storefront on which the name of the assay office was printed in bold letters. The three men stepped inside. The portly businessman glanced around the room. It looked well-equipped to test the metal. The assayer, wearing his heavy leather smock, cut a sliver of the metal from the brick. After running some tests, he declared that the gold was of the finest quality. Baggs helpfully guided the portly businessman to a bank so that they could withdraw the money to buy the brick. The businessman paid Baggs and the shill and went back to his business with a smile on his face. His pocket was weighed down by the gold brick, but his bank account was much lighter. It wasn't until much later that he realized he had been swindled.

The shill and the assayer were part of Baggs' gang. The assayer's office was a fake, and the gold brick was just a chunk of painted lead. The scheme worked to perfection, as it had so many other times. And for Baggs' next big con, he would go even further with the fake business idea. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch. And organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell and grow at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage.

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no matter what stage you're in. shopify.com slash realm. Senor Miguel Otero was a reputed banker and statesman from New Mexico. He was visiting Denver to attend a lecture by Oscar Wilde, the famous Irish poet and playwright who was touring America. Otero decided to leave his hotel to take a short stroll. As he walked down Larimer Street, a man approached him. The man greeted Otero decided to leave his hotel to take a short stroll. As he walked down Larimer Street, a man approached him. The man greeted Otero warmly. As the young man earnestly shook Otero's hand, Otero looked at him blankly. He simply could not recognize the man.

Otero knew that he was a man of considerable note. The young man seemed like he meant well. When the young man realized that Otero didn't know who he was, he mentioned a few names of Otero's friends and family. He even remembered the name of one of Otero's closest friends. Otero became convinced that the young man was indeed an old acquaintance. Otero sheepishly blamed his poor memory for the lack of recognition. Otero sheepishly blamed his poor memory for the lack of recognition. The young man brushed it off cheerfully.

He asked Otero if he would accompany him to a policy shop nearby. A policy shop was essentially a shop that sold lottery tickets, and the young man wanted to see if he had won a prize. Otero obliged. With the young man in the lead, they chatted as they walked down the street. The pair bumped into one of the young man's friends along the way. The friend also had a lottery ticket with him. Otero thought this was a little odd, but the friend said something that distracted him. He said he had a way to outsmart the system. The friend volunteered to go to the policy shop to demonstrate his technique. Otero was amused and curious to see

how this would play out, so the three of them strolled down the street to the shop. The policy shop was being run by a trim man with a dark beard and green glasses. When he put out his hand to take the lottery ticket from the young man, Otero noticed that he had a missing finger. Otero's acquaintance didn't win anything, but his friend, the third man in the group, had won a prize, just as he predicted he would. Another lottery drawing was about to happen,

and the lucky winner drew again and won. The policy shop clerk asked if the winner wanted to keep going. The man said, despite his recent luck, he was strapped for cash. Then he asked Otero if Otero would be willing to fund the venture for a 50-50 split. Otero thought it over. He had seen the man win repeatedly. He thought this was a chance for him to earn some easy money. The clerk asked the pair to establish their credit. They had to guarantee the amount they were willing to bet. Once again, the lucky winner helplessly looked

at Otero. Otero smiled and signed over a five-day note worth $2,400. The clerk with the missing finger thanked him. When the pair of bettors finished their run, the clerk told Otero to return the next day to collect his winnings. Comforted by the fact that it was a legitimate, state-sanctioned lottery, Otero agreed. The next morning, Otero eagerly retraced his steps to the policy shop. To his dismay, there was no sign of it. All that remained was a rusty lock on the doors. Otero fumed as he realized he had been swindled. There are other versions of the story, but they

all have two things in common on the criminal side. The fake policy shop and the clerk with the neatly trimmed dark beard who was, of course, Charles Baggs. This con earned Baggs a lot of attention, from journalists and police. He was boldly quoted in the local newspaper, I am a poor man and Otero is rich. He has served several terms in Congress and is afraid of publicity. I need the money, and he can afford to lose it. He dares not complain. But Baggs was only partially correct. Otero did make a complaint, but he wanted no part of the publicity that followed, and he failed to appear in court to testify against Baggs. By Baggs' own admission, he was arrested, quote,

about a thousand times, but he was never convicted. Even if Charles Baggs was slightly exaggerating when he said he'd been arrested a thousand times, he still spent a fair amount of time dealing with the law. That came with the territory. And since Baggs, who had been nicknamed Doc Baggs at some point along the way, was headquartered in Denver, he regularly butted heads with Sheriff Michael Spangler. On one memorable occasion, Sheriff Spangler dragged bags into court on the charge of being a bunco-steerer. That was a charge commonly made against conmen

and swindlers. Bunco was a slang term for a con or a swindle, and the men who perpetrated cons or swindles were often called bunco-ste steerers. On this occasion, Sheriff Spangler would receive a lesson in the nuances of the legal system. The trial took place at the courthouse near the post office with Judge Victor Elliott presiding over the matter. The courtroom buzzed with excitement. Rumor had it that Doc Baggs was going to represent himself. Even his friends were surprised at his decision. Sheriff Spangler was sure that Baggs was out of his depth this time. But Doc Baggs still had a trick up his sleeve. The label con man is short for confidence man, a man who gains the confidence of an innocent person so he can steal the person's

money. To be a good con man, you needed an abundance of confidence in yourself. You had to sell your scheme to your victim. But even with Doc Bagg's abundance of confidence, people thought he might have gone too far this time. It was one thing to have the confidence to sucker some random person in a street hustle. It was a completely different thing to have the confidence to defend yourself in a court of law. Doc Baggs was immaculately dressed. As he stood up to address the court, a hush fell over the room. He posed a simple question to Judge Elliott. How could he, Doc Baggs, be arrested for a charge that was not defined in the criminal statutes? He pulled out a thick dictionary. As he thumbed through the book, Baggs declared that the term bunco-steerer did not appear on any of the pages.

If the term didn't exist, then there couldn't be a law against such a person. Judge Elliott ordered a check of all the statutes and law books. It turned out Baggs was right. The term bunco-steerer wasn't defined anywhere, and Judge Elliott was forced to dismiss the case. Sheriff Spangler fumed as Baggs cheerfully walked out of the courthouse. Sheriff Spangler fumed as Baggs cheerfully walked out of the courthouse. At that point, Spangler employed a new strategy to rid Denver of the notorious conman. He told a deputy sheriff to follow Baggs everywhere.

If Baggs talked to someone, anyone, the deputy was instructed to inform the person that he was dealing with an infamous swindler. It didn't take long for Doc Baggs to have fun with the new dynamic. Baggs disguised himself in different costumes to slip past the deputy. Then Baggs happily informed Sheriff Spangler that his deputy was doing a bad job. Soon, Baggs told his gang members to go up to the sheriff and pretend to be random good Samaritans. The gang members informed the deputy about the disguise that Baggs was wearing that day. Armed with the information, the deputy sheriff would, of course, quickly find a person on the street who matched the description. The deputy would rush up to the innocent man and accuse him of being a notorious criminal.

When the man rightfully protested, the deputy believed it accuse him of being a notorious criminal. When the man rightfully protested, the deputy believed it was all part of the ruse. Innocent people were accosted all over the streets of Denver, while Doc Baggs and his cronies stood a safe distance away and laughed at the fun. Baggs and his team outwitted the sheriff's department for a while, but they couldn't keep it up forever. Eventually, Doc Baggs took a breather from Denver to chase a new challenge. And when he went back, he formed the partnership that would be his final act. In 1880, Doc Baggs visited Kansas.

His mark was a cattleman from Texas. Baggs hoped to sell the cattleman a salted gold mine. Just like the great diamond hoax of 1872, Baggs made sure there was enough gold in the mine to make the cattleman believe it was worth far more than it actually was. Baggs was handsomely dressed. He played the part of a respectable, honest landowner. His courteous manners and charm won the cattlemen over. The man bought the mine for the hefty sum of $4,500. When he realized he

had been conned, the cattlemen was impressed instead of outraged, which probably meant he had money to burn. He sent Baggs an elegant gold watch with a note saying that Baggs was, quote, the only man in the world who ever got one cent the best of me. When Doc Baggs returned to Denver, it wasn't like the old days. returned to Denver, it wasn't like the old days. Sheriff Spangler's vigilance made it nearly impossible to pull off the elaborate cons that Baggs had completed before his famous court appearance. His accomplices were getting arrested, and one evening in 1885, Baggs gathered his trusted friends and boarded a southbound train out of town. Baggs was leaving Denver behind, but not the game.

After Denver, Baggs partnered with a notorious swindler named Clay Wilson. Wilson had worked some of the same territory as Baggs, and he was also on the run from Denver. One of Wilson's high-profile marks was the son of the president of a bank in the boomtown of Leadville, Colorado. In 1882, Wilson took the young man for $25,000 by running the infamous gold brick scam. Wilson was arrested but escaped

prosecution by returning part of the money to the victim. Wilson made his way to Denver, where he found himself on the bad side of a gambler named Jim Moon. One night, Wilson and Moon were involved in an altercation in the Saloon Arcade. A drunken Moon slapped Wilson across the face. Moon shoved Wilson out of the saloon and threatened to kill him, but Wilson was the one who made good on the threat. Wilson returned with a pistol and killed Moon in the saloon. Wilson was acquitted of the crime, but Moon's friends swore revenge, and Wilson fled Denver.

After that, Bags and Wilson partnered up. They traveled the country swindling people out of their money, and they had a long run of it. In 1903, they came very close to swindling a man named Dr. Abbott out of $15,000. But a single handshake saved Abbott at the last minute. Clay Wilson played the part of a prospector. He told Dr. Abbott that he had struck gold at a claim in Arizona, and the owner of the neighboring claim was unaware of Wilson's find. Wilson wanted Dr. Abbott to help him buy the neighboring claim. If Abbott could put up $15,000, they could buy the neighboring claim and then Wilson's gold would be secure. Wilson and Abbott would own everything in the area and they could get rich.

Wilson put on a brilliant act and Dr. Abbott was convinced, especially since Wilson claimed he couldn't read or write. Wilson would have to rely on Abbott to finalize the deal. The new partners met the owner of the neighboring claim, who was obviously Doc Baggs. Baggs, of course, agreed to sell his claim to Dr. Abbott, and they were about to solidify the deal when it all fell apart. When Wilson stood up to leave, he shook hands with Dr. Abbott. Dr. Abbott was surprised by the feel of Wilson's hand. Wilson said he had spent his whole life doing hard labor in the mines, and yet, as Abbott put it, Wilson's hand was as soft as a woman's. Dr. Abbott became suspicious and he called off the deal, which probably made him one of the few people to survive a Doc Baggs swindle when he was in so deep.

Doc Baggs continued his life of grift for another 12 years after the failed attempt on Dr. Abbott. A wanted poster from 1912 testifies that Doc Baggs and Clay Wilson ran together for 30 years before Baggs finally called it quits. The details of how Doc Baggs gave up the life of a swindler are hazy. Some sources report that Baggs ran his last con in 1915, a con in which he stole a remarkable $100,000 from his target. After that, it sounds like he retired to a comfortable life at a ranch in California. If the numbers are true, Doc Baggs ran cons for more than 50 years and survived to retire when he was in his 70s. Next time on Legends of the Old West, it's the story of the huckster who tarnished the name of snake oil forever,

Rattlesnake King Clark Stanley. That's next week on the season finale of Swindlers, here on Legends of the Old West. members of our black barrel plus program don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes they receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships began at just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Rhea Perowit. Original music by Rob Vallier.

Copy editing by me, Chris Wimmer, and I'm your host and producer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com, for more details, and join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And all of our episodes are available on YouTube. Just search for Legends of the Old West Podcast. Thanks for listening.