RIDING THE STAGECOACH

One of the things I am happy I haven’t done is travel across the country on a stagecoach. I’ve ridden one for about five minutes at a re-enactment village. That was enough for me. In my latest work, AN AGENT FOR MAGDALA, the Pinkerton Matchmaker series, my hero and heroine must ride the stage from Denver, Colorado to San Antonio, Texas.

Officially, a stagecoach was a closed four-wheeled vehicle drawn by horses or mules. Used as a public conveyance on an established route, it usually kept a regular schedule. That might be daily or once a week. Every ten to fifteen miles, horses or mules were changed at a station. Their average was five miles per hour. If the inside was filled with passengers, more could ride on top of the coach.  Rather than fares from passengers, the most profitable thing for the stage owners was a mail contract with the U.S. Government.

1869 Stagecoach

 The station where stock was changed might be nothing more than a soddie or dugout with a corral. Or, it might be a decent building in which a family lived. Stages stopped at a stage station only long enough for the animals to be changed. At a waystation, however, the stop might involve food of varying quality being served. Some way stations even had beds to rent for those travelers too weary to ride any further—but the stage kept going.

In fact, stages ran all night. Passengers slept sitting up. In addition, each passenger was supposed to use only fifteen inches of seat space. This puzzles me. My shoulder to shoulder measurement is twenty-six inches. Even if my seat requirements were not more than fifteen inches (way more), my shoulders bone to bone require more than that. Did people pack in and overlap? How did women with long skirts and several petticoats squish into the allotted space? What did the people riding on top of the coach do to sleep?

An example of a Concord coach

The driver was also called “the whip” or “Charlie”. If there was a valuable shipment, a second man rode on the bench with the driver. He was equipped with a shotgun and that meant he was called the “shotgun” or “shotgun-messenger”. You’ve probably heard children call, “I get to ride shotgun”, meaning the front passenger seat. The cash box was usually tucked under the driver’s seat.

A Wells Fargo stagecoach

Not all stagecoaches were equal. The classic used in movies and the one I identify as a stagecoach is the Concord. Even those were not always the same. They might have two or three rows of seats. If they had three rows, the center row had barely enough support to be called a back. This would be for nine passengers.

The windows had leather curtains which could be rolled down. The doors had pocket windows which could be raised. I suspect that even with the curtains down and door window up, a lot of dust and cold air in winter and hot air in summer poured inside the coach.

Coach for tourists at
Fort Worth, TX Stockyards

A Concord might also have only two rows of seats because the center seat was removable. Doesn't that sound like an SUV? Whether six or nine passengers, it had a suspension system that had the coach body riding on leather strapping called thoroughbraces. 

Cheyenne, Wyoming stage 1880

In his 1861 book Roughing It, Mark Twain described the Concord stage's ride as like "a cradle on wheels". Perhaps the vehicle in which he rode was new, although they were reported to be long-lasting.

Other passengers were not so kind. In 1880 John Pleasant Gray recorded after travelling from Tucson to Tombstone:

That day's stage ride will always live in my memory – but not for its beauty spots. Jammed like sardines on the hard seats of an old time leather spring coach – a Concord – leaving Pantano, creeping much of the way, letting the horses walk, through miles of alkali dust that the wheels rolled up in thick clouds of which we received the full benefit ... It is always a mystery to the passenger how many can be wedged into and on top of a stagecoach. If it had not been for the long stretches when the horses had to walk, enabling most of us to get out and "foot it" as a relaxation, it seems as if we could never have survived the trip.

A Celerity stagecoach with extra
seating arranged on top,
the Deadwood stage.

Another type of   stagecoach was the Celerity, also called a mud-coach or mud-wagon. It had a wider wheel-base and lower center of gravity. The Celerity often had canvas sides and top but also could have wooden sides. Many also had collapsing seats so that they made a bed. I suppose one side could be made a bed and the other remain as seats. There was no padding on the seats. I’ve never seen one of these coaches other than in pictures. They were best where the terrain was muddy or had steep grades.

Arizona (year unknown)

When rail travel became more available, stage lines suffered. What actually killed the stage coach travel was the Ford motor bus, also called a motor-coach. By 1918, only a few stagecoaches were in operation. Those were in mountainous areas or in national parks for tourists.

1906 Motor Coach

Sources

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

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/stagecoach/

http://genealogytrails.com/main/stagecoaches.html

http://www.forttumbleweed.net/wellsfargo.html

Photos: Google commons

AN AGENT FOR MAGDALA, Pinkerton Matchmaker Series, is now available for preorder for the August 9 release. Preorder and on August 9, POOF, the e-book magically appears on your reader. The buy link at Amazon is: https://www.amazon.com/Agent-Magdala-Pinkerton-Matchmaker-Book-ebook/dp/B07V3G4QHY

Here's a summary:

She craves adventure, but this may be too much.

His job means the world to him…

Capturing jewel thieves will test them…

Magdala leaps at the opportunity to become a Pinkerton agent. Learning that the position requires a paper marriage shocks but doesn’t deter her. She plans to get an annulment before her unusual family learns of the situation. She’s determined to prove she has the grit to be an excellent investigator. But, why does she have to be partnered with the one man who has been rude to her?

Douglas “Cloud” Ryan loves being a Pinkerton agent. Otherwise, he’d never go along with his boss’ crazy plan to marry him to a female agent. He’s certain women have no business dealing with criminals. After barely surviving the stagecoach trip from Denver to San Antonio Maggie needs to stay in the background and let him solve the case. He has reasons to distrust women, especially women like Maggie.

Can Maggie and Cloud catch the jewel thieves plaguing an historic San Antonio hotel without becoming victims? Will they take a chance on the love growing between them?

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment so we know you were here.

RIDING A STAGECOACH IN THE OLD WEST

In the Eastern United States, riding a coach meant travel from one stage stop to the next, stopping at a tavern or inn for a meal and perhaps spending the night. In the West and Southwest, there were not enough established towns to support this kind of travel. Western travelers had to be made of grit and determination!

In 1858, John Butterfield undertook an overland stage line connecting St. Louis and San Francisco by way of El Paso, Texas. The route also ran through Tucson and Los Angeles, both of which were only villages of a few hundred residents. A federal contract paid the stage company $600,000 a year to carry U. S. mail across the continent. That sum helped subsidize way stations at regular intervals. The company spent nearly a year getting everything into place to support semi-weekly stagecoach service.

When Butterfield’s Overland Mail Line opened for business on 16 September 1858, the journey between St. Louis and San Francisco required three weeks of hard traveling—if the weather was good. Coaches moved all day and all night except for brief intervals at way stations. The fare did not include the cost of meals, which cost an average of a dollar each three times a day. Passengers had to sleep aboard the coach. These mail lines were guaranteed to be rugged but they got the mail through.

The Butterfield Overland Mail transferred passengers and mail to light, durable vehicles for travel over rough roads. 

From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 

October 23, 1858.

At this time, most coaches set on springs which provided a bumpy, jostling ride. If passengers were fortunate, the route included riding in a Concord stagecoach. The first Concord stagecoach was built in 1827 in Concord, New Hampshire. Abbot Downing Company employed leather strap braces under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down motion of spring suspension. They were known to be built so solidly they didn’t break, they just wore out.

Over 700 Concord stagecoaches were built by the original Abbot Downing Company before it disbanded in 1847. However, the company was still building coaches, wagons, and carriages according to their business card of 1898. The coach was noted for its ability to keep passengers dry while floating across streams and rivers. The swaying motion caused some passengers to become “seasick”.

Wells Fargo Coach in a museum display

In his 1861 book ROUGHING IT, Mark Twain described the Concord stage’s ride as like “a cradle on wheels”.

Not all stagecoaches were of one of these types. Celerity or "mud" wagons were much lighter and cheaper to build. They had no springs so they offered a much rougher ride. They were primarily used on lines where passenger and express traffic was too light to justify the expense of Concord coaches. Instead of having a heavy wooden top, the celerity had a light frame structure with thick duck or canvas covering, greatly reducing the vehicle’s weight. Wheels were set further apart and were protected by wide steel rims that helped keep the coach from tipping over or the wheels from sinking in soft sands.

A Concord-made Celerity Wagon exhibited at Seeley
Stable in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. This

vehicle still has its original finish.

While not as comfortable for daytime travelers, they were designed for passenger travel at night. Remember, the Overland Mail coaches didn't stop at night. Waterman L. Ormsby, special correspondent to the New York Herald described the sleeping accommodations.

“As for sleeping, most of the wagons are arranged so that the backs of the seats let down and form the length of the vehicle. When the stage is full, passengers must take turns sleeping. Perhaps the jolting will be found disagreeable at first, but a few nights without sleeping will obviate that difficulty, and soon the jolting will be as little of a disturbance as the rocking of a cradle to a sucking babe. For my part, I found no difficulty sleeping over the roughest roads, and I have no doubt that anyone else will learn quite as quickly. A bounce of the wagon, which makes one’s head strike the top, bottom, or sides, will be equally disregarded, and ‘nature’s sweet restorer’ found as welcome on the hard bottom of the wagon as in the downy beds of the St. Nicholas. White pants and kid gloves had better be discarded by most passengers.”

The Overland Mail stage departs from Atchison, Kansas. Published in Harper's Weekly on 

January 27. 1866.

Unlike the classic Concord stagecoaches, which could be mired in bad weather, mud wagons could travel over trails and roads during inclement weather. The only protection provided for passengers against bad weather and dusty roads were the canvas side curtains which could be rolled down and fastened.

By the way, the word “stage” meant the place where the horses or mules were changed—staged along the route. These were spaced every 12 to 20 miles, depending on the terrain, and were usually operated by a single man living in a small cottage who kept a change of horses in a barn and/or corral. The stage stopped only long enough for passengers to stretch their legs while the horses or mules were changed.

Buffalo soldiers protecting the stage
near San Angelo, Texas

Every 50 miles were the “home” stages, which were usually a couple or family who served meals and could provide overnight lodging—though sometimes passengers slept on a dirt floor. These stations also might include a blacksmith and stables. Drivers might be switched there.

Some coaches had two seats facing one another. The larger Concord squeezed in a center, forward-facing third seat, which made passengers very crowded and uncomfortable. Often the third seat had no back, which must have made retaining balance awkward as the coach swayed along. Often passengers had to interlock knees due to the crowded interior. Imagine you were a lady in the 1800s who’d been raised to observe propriety and you found yourself (while wearing a tightly laced corset) on a long coach ride having to lace legs with a unappealing male stranger. Ugh! Come to think of it, that wouldn’t be comfortable now.

Here are a set of rules posted by Wells Fargo in 1888:

1.      Abstinence from liquor is requested, but if you must drink, share the bottle. To do otherwise makes you appear selfish and unneighborly.

2.      If ladies are present, gentlemen are urged to forego smoking cigars and pipes as the odor of same is repugnant to the Gentle Sex. Chewing tobacco is permitted but spit WITH the wind, not against it. (I’d think this would be a given, wouldn’t you?)

3.      Gentlemen must refrain from the use of rough language in the presence of ladies and children.

4.      Buffalo robes are provided for your comfort during cold weather. Hogging robes will not be tolerated and the offender will be made to ride with the driver.

5.      Don’t snore loudly while sleeping or use your fellow passenger’s shoulder for a pillow; he or she may not understand and friction may result.

6.      Firearms may be kept on your person for use in emergencies. Do not fire them for pleasure or shoot at wild animals as the sound riles the horses.

7.      In the event of runaway horses, remain calm. Leaping from the coach in panic will leave you injured, at the mercy of the elements, hostile Indians, and hungry coyotes.

8.      Forbidden topics of discussion are stagecoach robberies and Indian uprisings.

9.      Gents guilty of unchivalrous behavior toward lady passengers will be put off the stage. It’s a long walk back. A word to the wise is sufficient. (I love this one)

To these, the Omaha Herald in 1877 added cautions to:

Never ride in cold weather with tight boots nor close-fitting gloves.

When the driver asks you to get out and walk, do so without grumbling. He will not request it unless absolutely necessary.

Don’t linger too long at the pewter wash basin at the station. Don’t grease your hair before starting out or dust will stick there in sufficient quantities to make a respectable ‘tater patch. Tie a silk handkerchief around your neck to keep out dust and prevent sunburns. A little glycerin is good in case of chapped hands.

Don’t discuss politics or religion nor point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed.

In very cold weather, abstain entirely from liquor while on the road. A man will freeze twice as quick while under its influence.

Don’t imagine for a minute you are going on a picnic: expect annoyance, discomfort, and some hardships. If you are disappointed, thank heaven.

The heroine in my latest release, CASSANDRA, Bride Brigade book 3, traveled in a Concord coach from Fort Worth to (fictional) Tarnation, Texas. In fact, all the young women in this series traveled on the same coach. The first was JOSEPHINE, followed by ANGELINE. After Cassandra will be OPHELIA, RACHEL, LORRAINE, and PRUDENCE. All but Angeline, who joined them in St. Louis, traveled from Virginia with Lydia Jane Harrison and her friend Sophie Gaston. Wealthy young widow Lydia went to Virginia to recruit the young ladies to Tarnation so that there would be potential brides for the men of the town to meet and marry. Lydia was tired of being the only young woman in town, plus there were no young children. Bachelors were moving away, and she didn’t want that to continue. 

The first of this series, JOSEPHINE, is now only 99 cents. The buy link is here for Amazon, although it’s available on iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. 

CASSANDRA is only at Amazon here.

Caroline Clemmons is an award winning and bestselling author of historical and contemporary western romance. She and her husband live in cowboy country in North Central Texas where they are owned by a menagerie of rescued pets.
Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, Pinterest, and her books at her Amazon Author Page. 
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Sources:

Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas online

http://www.deadwoodmagazine.com/archivedsite/Archives/Stage.htm

http://www.historicthedalles.org/rules_for_stage_travelers.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/stagecoach.aspx

http://www.wikipedia.comhttp://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25449