Raised in New England and assigned female at birth, Parkhurst ran away as a youth, taking the name Charley.

Parkhurst ran away from the orphanage at age 12, adopted the name Charley, and assumed a masculine presentation.

[1] Treating Parkhurst like a son, Balch taught him to work as a stable hand and gradually with the horses.

Seeking other opportunities as well, Parkhurst, in his late 30s, also left for California, sailing on the R. B. Forbes from Boston to Panama;[5] travelers had to cross the isthmus overland and pick up other ships on the west coast.

Later, Parkhurst went to work for Birch, where he developed a reputation as one of the finest stagecoach drivers (a "whip") on the West Coast.

[7] Stagecoach drivers carried mail as well as passengers, and had to deal with hold-up attempts, bad weather, and perilous, primitive trails.

"[7] He was in his day one of the most dexterous and celebrated of the famous California drivers ranking with Foss, Hank Monk, and George Gordon, and it was an honor to be striven for to occupy the spare end of the driver's seat when the fearless Charley Parkhurst held the reins of a four-or six-in hand... Last Sunday [December 28, 1879], in a little cabin on the Moss Ranch, about six miles from Watsonville, Charley Parkhurst, the famous coachman, the fearless fighter, the industrious farmer and expert woodman died of the cancer on his tongue.

Then, when the hands of the kind friends who had ministered to his dying wants came to lay out the dead body of the adventurous Argonaut, a discovery was made that was literally astounding.

[7]The article noted how unusual it was that Parkhurst could have lived so long with no one discovering his sex, and to "achieve distinction in an occupation above all professions calling for the best physical qualities of nerve, courage, coolness and endurance, and that she should add to them the almost romantic personal bravery that enables one to fight one's way through the ambush of an enemy..." was seen to be almost beyond believing, but there was ample evidence to prove the case.

[10] Parkhurst has been variously interpreted as either a woman using a persona to be able to work and have freedoms that were not allowed for women during that time, or a transgender man or other figure in trans history.

She was a stagecoach driver in the mother lode country during the gold rush days and shot and killed at least one bandit.

She is buried in Watsonville.In 1955, the Pajaro Valley Historical Association erected a monument at Parkhurst's grave, which reads:[15] Noted whip of the gold rush days drove stage over Mt.

The first woman to vote in the U.S. Nov. 3, 1868In 2007, the Santa Cruz County Redevelopment Agency oversaw the completion of the Parkhurst Terrace Apartments, named for the stagecoach driver and located a mile along the old stage route from the place of his death.