Stagecoach Mary - A True Pioneer

Mary Fields was born a slave in 1832 in Tennessee. She was owned by Judge Dunn and grew up with his family. She and the judge's daughter Dolly became close. Oddly enough she was taught to read and write. After the Civil War, Mary stayed on the farm with the Dunn family for awhile. Dolly became a nun named Sister Amadeus. The sister asked Mary to join her at the convent but shortly after her arrival Sister Amadeus moved to Montana to become head mistress of a school for Native American girls.

Mary worked as a hired hand at the convent and her duties included chopping wood and picking up supplies. She'd worked hard as a slave and was prepared for the physical labor expected of her. Mary was a six foot tall "gritty, cigar smoking, whiskey drinking, fist fighting, six foot tall black woman."

When she heard Sister Amadeus was sick with pneumonia, Mary traveled to Cascade County in Montana and nursed her back to health. While working at the convent, one of the men found out she made more money than he did. He didn't like it. Their argument turned into a gun fight. Shots flew but no one was hurt. Because of the altercation, Mary was fired and the man got a raise.

Next Mary owned and operated a restaurant, but since she could only cook plain food with little variety, it wasn't successful. When she was around 60 years old, she heard the U.S. Postal Service needed someone to deliver mail from Cascade to the surrounding areas. She proved to be the fastest at hitching a team of six horses and got the job.

Reliability was Mary's motto. When the snow was too deep for the stagecoach to pass, she put on snowshoes and delivered the mail by foot, once by walking ten miles to do so. Driving a stagecoach could be dangerous work due to robbers and Indians. Loaded with a rifle and several hand guns, she was able to hold her own. Thus she earned the name 'Stagecoach Mary.'

Mary was the second woman and the first black woman to ever work for the postal service. She retired when she was 70 and when her garden wasn't enough to keep her busy, she opened a laundry.

Mary was a pioneer and an inspiration to not only African-American women but also to anyone wanting to begin a new venture later in their life. She was unwilling to allow the prejudices of being black and a woman hold her back.

Mary lived a fruitful life and passed away in 1914 in Cascade, Montana. She was so well loved by the citizens of Cascade that every year on her birthday they let school out.

References:
http://www.cascademontana.com/mary.htm

About.comEducationAmerican HistoryStates and TerritoriesAmerican WestStagecoach Mary Fields - A Look at Stagecoach Mary Fields

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fields

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda