James B. Hume

James B. Hume was a miner, trader, and lawman in California after the Gold Rush began, but he left his mark on history as a Wells Fargo Detective who captured stagecoach robbers such as Black Bart.

In 1860, he took a job as a deputy tax collector for El Dorado County, California. He began his career as a lawman in 1864 when he was appointed City Marshal of Placerville, California. The same year, he was hired as an undersheriff of El Dorado County.

In 1871, Wells Fargo & Company hired him as a detective, and when Black Bart robbed a coach in November 1883, Hume hunted him down and arrested him after months of collecting evidence against him for his crimes in other towns.

In 1885, Hume and John N. Thacker published a report called The Robbers Record where they recorded details of 347 robberies on Wells Fargo Stagecoaches and trains between 1870-1884. They provided detailed descriptions of 205 robbers to aid law enforcement.

James Hume became known as, "The Sherlock Holmes of the Wild West" and continued to work for Wells Fargo until his death in 1904.