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.
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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FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE.
Sources:
Texas
State Historical Association Handbook of Texas online
