PROFILES

The people profiled below were either born in Timbuctoo, lived in Timbuctoo at one time, or at least passed (or probably passed) through Timbuctoo during their travels.

Charles Bowles ca. 1880. *Library of Congress*

Charles “Black Bart” Bowles

Admittedly, Charles Earl Bowles (alias “Black Bart”) was never a citizen of Timbuctoo or neighboring Smartsville; However, he did pull off his second known robbery just a few miles north of the Timbuctoo area when he held up the North San Juan to Marysville stage.

William “Wild Bill” Gruber

Born in Illinois in 1900, William Gruber lived in Los Angeles before moving to Northern California. For many years in the mid 1960s he was the semiofficial caretaker of the Wells Fargo building at Timbuctoo. At the first sign of suspicious activity around the building, Gruber and his dog Meany would appear on the scene, Gruber yelling and shaking a stick at the miscreants.

Bill Gruber in 1976. SAMCC — Bill Gruber in 1976. *SAMCC*

Evelyn Brooks in 1879. Bancroft Library — Evelyn Brooks in 1879. *The* *Bancroft Library*

Eveline Brooks

Her parents journeyed from New York to California in search of a better life. Eveline Brooks was born in Timbuctoo on 16 November 1859. Her family’s three-room shack was so crudely built that at times the wind coming through the walls blew out candles. Evelyn was still an infant when, in May 1860, her family left Timbuctoo. (See upcoming entry for Fanny Brooks)

Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens

Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) never resided in Timbuctoo; but it’s likely he’d been through the town. He stayed in the Holbrooke Hotel in nearby Grass Valley, and there is a tantalizing hint that he may have visited Timbuctoo at least once at some point. He wrote a story titled “The Crown Prince of Timbuctoo,” but that had nothing to do with our gold rush town. (See the Lola George entry below)

Mark Twain ca. 1867. *Library of Congress*

Jim “Timbuctoo Jim” Ashenbrenner

Jim Ashenbrenner reportedly purchased the town site of Timbuctoo for $750,000. He dreamed of recreating Timbuctoo, starting with rebuilding the old Wells Fargo and Stewart Brothers store building. “Someday before you die,” he told a reporter, “there will be a town here.”

Lola George

Lola George moved from her native Oklahoma to California and eventually settled in Los Angeles. On 25 June 1952, during a “road trip” to Canada with her husband Bernard, she wrote in her travel diary, "After Donner pass we came down in the valley into beautiful farming country. Acres of peach, cherry, apricot trees. Got in Marysville." In the diary’s margin, probably at the very end of the day, she added, “Went through Grass Valley where Lola Montez house is a museum. Also Timbuctoo of Mark Twain fame."

At the time Lola visited Timbuctoo, the Wells Fargo building was open as a museum. (See the Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens entry above)

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