Tie a silk kerchief around your neck to keep out dust and prevent sunburns. 9-10, T. 1 S., R 13 E.) about 3 miles southwest of Wesley, Atoka County, Geary's Station (Sec. In June 1864, they moved their operations from Walla Walla to Umatilla to run stagecoach operations from there to the Boise Basin. Once when a driver turned back, Henry Todd "fired" him, swung the pouches across his own back, swan the raging stream, and delivered the mail at Fort Sill a few hours later. To be a driver for the Overland Stage Line was an exciting job, and the company employed a number of individuals who later helped to form the legends of the West, including Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917) and Wild Bill Hickock (1837-1876). His coach first made the trip from Boston to Providence, Rhode Island, on May 13, 1718, and in doing so began a system of travel which would endure for nearly 200 years. The colony of Rehovot is known to have promulgated detailed regulations for stagecoach operation, soon after its foundation in 1890, which were greatly extended in 1911. [note 1] A professional coachman might accompany them to avert disaster. Its characteristic layout beyond the central coach entrance from the Market Square has a long enclosed rear courtyard, old stables and another entrance to the rear. And so, they were left dangling in the air to pay the penalty of the daring life led by the frontier outlaw. In a 1967 article in The Carriage Journal, published for the Carriage Association of America, Paul H Downing recounts that the word post is derived from the Latin postis which in turn derives from the word which means to place an upright timber (a post) as a convenient place to attach a public notice. One could recline comfortably upon these sacks of grain" (Donaldson). In 1884, the Union Pacific Railroad completed the Oregon Short Line, which left U.P. In 1864, Holladay obtained a contract to carry mail from Salt Lake to the Dalles, Oregon, via Boise City in Idaho Territory and Walla Walla and Wallula in Washington Territory, a distance of 675 miles. Feet are interlacing, heads severely bumped, Friend and foe together get their noses thumped; Dresses act as carpets-listen to the sage; Life is but a journey taken in a stage.. Before rail service reached the West Coast steamboats, stagecoaches, and wagons were the principal means of transportation to and from the inland areas of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho territories. Blackburn's Station (Secs. "With all of this dirt and neglect, it must be said that as a rule the people who kept the home stations were good, decent people, charitable and attentive to the travelers. The steamer Tenino on a single trip from Cielo to Lewiston in May, 1862, collected $18,000 for freight, fares, meals, and berths. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. In 1877, the Omaha Herald published suggestions to stagecoach travelers providing practical ideas to make the journey as comfortable as possible. Stagecoach development in Palestine was greatly facilitated by the 1869 visit of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. Organised long-distance land travel became known as staging or posting. List of Butterfield Overland Mail States in Oklahoma, Published in Oklahoma Chronicles Spring 1957. He found another horse, which he purchased, and started himself with the second mail. For a particularly grueling uphill grade, the horses were at a slow walk and passengers had to get out and walk themselves, to lessen the load. The stagecoach was a closed four-wheeled vehicle drawn by horses or hard-going mules. Stagecoaches, post chaises, private vehicles, individual riders and the like followed the already long-established system for messengers, couriers and letter-carriers. The Stagecoach: A Photo Essay on Western Travel [14], Steady improvements in road construction were also made at this time, most importantly the widespread implementation of Macadam roads up and down the country. The responsibility therefore rested entire on the young man's shoulders. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated February 2023. [10], Steel springs had been used in suspensions for vehicles since 1695. Home stations (usually the older stage stations) had horses, plus housed the riders between their trips. Posting remained popular in France and other European countries with less developed rail networks. They have not been verified by HistoryLink.org and do not necessarily represent its views. But I wish the circumstances that led me to that decision never existed. (This station was better known locally after the Civil War as "Carriage Point."). Old relay post, Cond-sur-l'Escaut, France, "Le relais", by Achille Laug, 1909, Fine arts museum of Carcassonne, France, 600 year-old facade of the Angel and Royal Inn showing its central entrance for coaches. Relay rider stations usually had a single caretaker for the horses. Stations that already existed for the stagecoach line were also used for The Pony. The average distance between them was . . Later, he conducted a hotel there. At home stations, which were usually associated with previously established stagecoach stations, employees of the stage company were required to take care of the ponies and have them in readiness when required. A stage station or relay station, also known as a staging post, a posting station, or a stage stop, is a place where an exhausted horse or horses could be replaced by fresh animals. With the assistance of officers of the law a vigilance committee began q quiet investigation, and soon picked up the trail of the robbers northwest of Caldwell. The sheriff was sitting outside with Todd. 5:10 PM - The Marcus King Band. This town today is one of those passed through on the Fort Elliott trail, now a modern highway, leading out of Elk City, Oklahoma. An interesting phase of this hold-up was the fact that Todd was unarmed. The Overland Trail Across the American West - Legends of America Stage passengers could be victims, but usually thieves were after money or gold being transported, especially by stages operated by Wells, Fargo. The Overland Stage Line operated by Ben Holladay (1819-1887) and the Utah, Idaho, and Oregon Stage Company operated by John Hailey controlled early stagecoach transportation throughout the West. Walking Away Is Not Forever. 3:55 PM - Neal McCoy. 1, T. 3 S., R 9 #), 10 miles south and west of Atoka, Atoka County, and about 4 miles south of present bridge (west end) across Clary Boggy River. Marshals would vigorously pursue anyone who robbed the mail. These men still held the contract for carrying the mail between Caldwell and Wichita, the nearest railway station, until July 1875. The fifth and last member of the gang, a one-armed man known by the name of Smith, was arrested while on the open range. The stage stations were one-story log houses with dirt of mud roofs, the men and horses sleeping under one shelter. A. Pony stations were generally located between 5 to 20 miles apart. 6 How far apart were stagecoach relay stations? The Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad connected Walla Walla to markets throughout the West. Each service crossed more than 2,800 miles from San Francisco, California, to Missouri and was required to be completed in 25 days or less. [8], The first route started in 1610 and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. By 1829 Boston was the hub of 77 stagecoach lines; by 1832 there were 106. The novelty of this method of transport excited much controversy at the time. Stock feed was hauled from Wichita by wagon, as no part of the country then had ever been touched by the plow. Another stagecoach "Relay" station. Speeds improved from 4 or 5mph (6.4 or 8.0km/h) in the 1690s to 10mph (16km/h) in the 1830s. "Don't smoke a strong pipe inside especially early in the morning. 8 How long were stagecoaches used? . Stagecoach with a guard sitting on top, protecting whatever wealth it mighthave been carrying. They included: "The best seat is the one next to the driver. The English visitor noted the small, sturdy Norman horses "running away with our cumbrous machine, at the rate of six or seven miles an hour". The Painful Truth About Stagecoach Travel In The Old West Until the late 18th century, stagecoaches traveled at an average speed of about 5 miles per hour (8km/h), with the average daily mileage traversed approximately 60 to 70 miles (97 to 113km),[4]. This latter building was enclosed in a corral. It was regularly used as a public conveyance on an established route usually to a regular schedule. Steamboats on the Columbia River were eventually replaced by railroads. If a team runs away, sit still and take your chances; if you jump, nine times out of ten you will be hurt. No shampoo, either Shutterstock And a stage could carry more people, providing the rider was willing to cling to the railings amid luggage lashed to the top. The faade of the main building as it appears today was built about 600 years ago. The business of running stagecoaches or the act of journeying in them was known as staging. Once they had attracted passengers they arranged partnerships with the others along their route and after deducting wages and hire of vehicles divided surplus takings according to the work done by their horses. the work is severe; the diet is sometimes reduced to wolf-mutton, or a little-boiled wheat and rye, and the drink to brackish water; a pound of tea comes occasionally, but the droughty souls are always out of whiskey and tobacco.. "The 'home' stations were houses built of logs and usually occupied by families. Ah, the Old West, when men were men and women were women and you could tell the hero from the villain by the color of the hats. [ 5] Food was available for travelers, but conditions were sparse and the quality of the food so questionable that travelers described it with passion many years afterward. Or any of a hundred other things we take for granted in the United States today. Kinnear's mail and express line: That day's stage ride will always live in my memory but not for its beauty spots. The cost of this private travel was at least twice that of travel by stagecoach but by the 1830s there were as many travelled by post or by hired two-wheeled gig (particularly commercial travellers) as by stagecoach.[12]. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The riders were frequent targets for robbers, and the system was inefficient. 1:30 PM - The Cactus Blossoms. It was the longest stagecoach service in the world. The average distance between them was about 160 miles. . Spent horses were replaced with fresh horses at stage stations, posts, or relays. In the beginning, the relay rider stations were set approximately 20-25 miles apart, but later, more relay rider stations were established at shorter intervals, about 12-15 miles apart. 11 Facts About the Pony Express | Mental Floss 19, T. 1 N., R 12 E), about 1 miles southwest of Stringtown, Atoka County. They then made their way to another homestead, where they found Bill's brother, Haz Books, whom they arrested in the same manner. A stage moved at a fair gait, depending on the terrain, of course we're talking dirt paths, and an unpaved road, at best. Thus, the origin of the phrase "riding shotgun". Spent horses were replaced with fresh horses at stage stations, posts, or relays. Stage is the space between the places known as stations or stopsknown to Europeans as posts or relays. His patent lasted 14 years delaying development because Elliott allowed no others to license and use his patent. Pony Express, which began operations in 1860, is often called first fast mail service from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, but the Overland Mail Company began a twice-weekly mail service from Missouri to San Francisco in September 1858. They came to be known as road coaches and were used by their enterprising (or nostalgic) owners to provide scheduled passenger services where rail had not yet reached and also on certain routes at certain times of the year for the pleasure of an (often amateur) coachman and his daring passengers. This article is about the horse-drawn carriage used by long-distance passenger transport operators. They were rich in little save dirt. Costing $1200 - $1500, these coaches weighed more than two thousand pounds. A simple stage supposedly held up to nine adult passengers, but that was if everyone's legs and knees were intertwined. Wells Fargo ordered the factory's largest stagecoach model capable of seating nine passengers inside reinforced with extra iron hardware for use on rough western roads and painted bright red with yellow wheels and running gear. Stagecoach on the Overland Trail near Laramie, Wyoming. The diligence, a solidly built stagecoach with four or more horses, was the French vehicle for public conveyance with minor varieties in Germany such as the Stellwagen and Eilwagen. A novel sight How far apart were stagecoach stops? c. 1900, The Duc de Rovigo gives the following account of Napoleon's arrangements for his journeys:. One pamphleteer denounced the stagecoach as a "great evil [] mischievous to trade and destructive to the public health". Though many types of stagecoaches were used for various purposes, the most often used for passenger service was the Concord Stagecoach, first built in 1827. [13] Coachbuilder Obadiah Elliott obtained a patent covering the use of elliptic springs - which were not his invention. The coffee and the tea were peculiar to the country. The inside, which is capacious, and lofty, and will hold six people in great comfort is lined with leather padded, and surrounded with little pockets, in which travellers deposit their bread, snuff, night caps, and pocket handkerchiefs, which generally enjoy each others company, in the same delicate depository. Pony stations were generally located between 5 to 20 miles apart. The first division ran from St. Joseph, MissouritoFort Kearny, Nebraska; the second division from Fort Kearny to Horseshoe Station (above Fort Laramie), Wyoming; the third from Horseshoe Station to Salt Lake City, Utah; the fourth from Salt Lake City to Roberts Creek, Nevada; and the fifth division, from Roberts Creek to Sacramento, California. Their coaches were built in Long Acre and maintained at Millbank. Next morning the young driver, who had slept soundly throughout the night, secure in the feeling that every precaution had been taken for the safety of his valued team, awoke to find it gone. The driver's daily work averaged this fifty or sixty miles, at a rate of about five miles an hour. I have eaten dinner at a home station when the meat was never more ambitious than bacon. At first the stage stations were far apart; one located at Pond Creek, called Sewell's Ranch; another at Skeleton, now Enid; still another at Buffalo Springs, now Bison; Kingfisher, Darling, Canadian Crossing which was also known as George Washington Ranch; Wichita Agency, now Anadarko, and Cache Creek, about twelve miles from where Fort Sill is Stagecoaches and mail coaches were known in continental Europe as diligences and postcoaches. In 1861, riders traversed the westward. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Stagecoach History: Stage Lines to California - CA State Parks Describing a journey he took in 1861, in his 1872 book, Roughing It, Mark Twain wrote that the Concord stage's ride was like "a cradle on wheels". Coaches with iron or steel springs were uncomfortable and had short useful lives. Later, a piece of strap iron was put on the face of the stringer, and after that a 26-pound rail was laid the entire distance. "It was the wonderfully rich traffic which appeared with the discovery of the Salmon river mines that enabled the steamboats on the Lewiston-Cielo run to make records for money-making that have never been equaled. 7:40 PM - Brandi . Medieval couriers were caballari postarus or riders of the posts. This road went over mountains, through deserts, and along dugways, often hundreds of feet above the bottom of canyons" (Waite). In England regular posts were set up in the 16th century. At each relay (swing) station, riders would exchange their tired horse for a fresh one. But as True West Magazine tells us, passengers were often packed together in ways that made good friends of total strangers, whether they wanted to be or not. Every stagecoach route in Texas stretched along a series of stopping points where drivers could hitch on a fresh team in 10 minutes and be on their way again. The mules at Pond Creek and Skeleton were stolen that same night. Stagecoaches carried small parcels like samples and patterns and bundles of bank notes. [6], The riders of the posts carried the governments letters. 24, t. 6 N., R. 21 E.) at east end of the Narrows, about 3 miles northeast of Red Oak, Latimer County. The stages stopped forty minutes at the home stations and about five minutes at the other stations, time enough to change horses or teams" (Donaldson). These owners were (often very expert) amateur gentlemen-coachmen, occasionally gentlewomen. The body of the carriage rests upon large thongs of leather, fastened to heavy blocks of wood, instead of springs, and the whole is drawn by seven horses.[18]. The route to the Clearwater goldfields went from Walla Walla to the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake, where Lewiston was founded. Russell, Majors and Waddell actually suspended delivery between Carson City and Salt Lake City for about a month in June 1860. The first stagecoaches were brought to Palestine by the German religious group known as the "Templers" who operated a public transportation service between their colonies in the country as early as 1867. It was isolated, primitive and dangerous. The Horses Pulling a Stage. Chaplin alone had 1800 horses and 2000 employees. Goods were taken by wagon, and later by railroad, from Wallula to Walla Walla. And a stage could carry more people, providing the rider was willing to cling to the railings amid luggage lashed to the top. [3] Post-horses would be hired from a postmaster at a post house. Life at both the home and relay stations was very hard. Stagecoaches were familiar vehicles along the main roads of the East and the South before the coming of railroads in the 1830s and 1840s. Its trails reached out and traversed all sections of the Indian country, going into Fort Smith, Arkansas, Fort Dodge, Kansas, to Paris, Gainesville, Henrietta, and Mobeetie, Texas. Organised long-distance land travel became known as staging[1] or posting. [7] By the mid 17th century, a basic stagecoach infrastructure had been put in place. Pie was another staple article, and such pie! 7-8, T. 5 S., R 9 #.) Stage drivers were sworn officers of the United States and U.S. mail carriers. changing horses at relay stations set at 10-15 mile intervals along the nearly 2,000-mile route; the . A woman by the name of Mrs. Maines, who was much less excited than most of the men appeared to be gave the animals a rider's test and selected those on which the prisoners rode away. Designed by the Abbot Downing Company, the coach utilized leather strap braces underneath, giving them a swinging motion instead of a spring suspension, which jostled passengers up and down. The stagecoach, funded by Palmer, left Bristol at 4pm on 2 August 1784 and arrived in London just 16 hours later. Typically, home stations had an agent or station keeper in charge of five or six boys. Where the rail network did not reach, the diligence was not fully superseded until the arrival of the autobus. Ironically, the cost of maintaining even this hard living at each Pony Express station was high. "When the driver asks you to get off and walk, do it without grumbling. All of those things should be remembered when the romance of stagecoach travel comes to a grinding halt and reality rears up. As the railroad continued to push westward, stagecoach service became less and less in demand. about 4 miles west of Durant, Bryan County. Pony Express Route - National Geographic Society The larger stations, called Home Stations, generally run by a couple or family, were usually situated about 50 miles apart and provided passengers with meager meals and overnight lodging. "Never attempt to fire a gun or pistol while on the road, it may frighten the team; and the careless handling and cocking of the weapon makes nervous people nervous. John Carr, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Our Rhodesian Heritage: How "Wild West" coaches opened up Rhodesia", Sherman & Smiths Railroad, Steam boat & Stage route map of New England, New-York, and Canada, The Overland Trail:Stage Coach Vocabulary- Last Updated 19 April 1998, Stagecoach Westward - Frontier Travel, Expansion, United States, Stagecoach History: Stage Lines to California, Wild West Tales: Stories by R. Michael Wilson; Stagecoach, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stagecoach&oldid=1152177018, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 17:43. How far apart were stagecoach relay stations? [2] Sometimes, to be sure of return of the same horses, with a postilion as passenger. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. How many horses usually pulled a stagecoach? The stockholders of the southwestern Stage Coach Company were H. M. Vaill, I. P. Williamson, of Independence, Missouri, and John R. Mino, also a citizen of Missouri. We'll need your StagecoachSmart card number and details of the ticket you bought on board. Spit on the leeward side of the coach. The driver on the eastbound stage would meet the driver of the westbound stage at a timetable station and they would exchange mail and passengers and turn back. Often braving terrible weather, pitted roads, treacherous terrain, and Indian and bandit attacks, the stagecoach lines valiantly carried on during westward expansion, despite the hazards. The trio assumed control of the route July 1, 1874, which was one year after the establishment of the business by Tisdale and Parker, of Lawrence, Kansas. Many interesting incidents connected with his father's life in the early days are fresh in the merchant's memory. These meals were always prepared after the stage arrived because it was not possible to know beforehand how many passengers would be aboard and how much food to cook. [4] Unless a return hire was anticipated a postilion of a spent team was responsible for returning them to the originating post house. By 1866, the company operated 18 to 20 first class steamboats, one of which, the Okanogan, earned back its entire cost on its first voyage. Cobb & Co was established in Melbourne in 1853 and grew to service Australia's mainland eastern states and South Australia. Stage station - Wikipedia One day the six-mule team trotted into the little town without either driver or passengers, Human blood was on the seats and the running board. Through metonymy the name stage also came to be used for a stagecoach alone. Photo by Kathy Alexander. Pony Express Route by William Henry Jackson, 1860, Division One St. Joseph, Missouri to Fort Kearny, Nebraska, Division Two Fort Kearny, Nebraska to Horseshoe Creek, Wyoming, Division Three Horseshoe Creek, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, Utah, Division Four- Salt Lake City, Utah to Roberts Creek, Nevada, Division Five Roberts Creek, Nevada to San Francisco, California, The original Pony Express Stables in St. Joseph, Missouri, now serves as a museum. The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. Over the years, the New Hampshire-based company manufactured over 40 types of carriages and wagons, earning a reputation that their coaches rarely broke down; instead, they just wore out. The coaches weighed more than a ton and cost between $1500 and $1800. Later, it was usually transported by steamers unless there was some problem. 5 miles, 60 miles, or 200 miles. A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. The terrain and its effect on horse travel determined the number and the distance between stations. In 1868, this was a sight never before seen - Wells Fargo History Post came to be applied to the riders then to the mail they carried and eventually to the whole system. [12], The period from 1800 to 1830 saw great improvements in the design of coaches, most notably by John Besant in 1792 and 1795. They built their first Concord stagecoach in 1827 employing long leather straps under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion.[20]. Mmoires du Duc de Rovigo, vol. What do you need to know about the fetal station? Some stages covered over 100 miles in a day. A swing station only provided fresh horses. [6] The first recorded stagecoach route in Britain started in 1610 and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. For the first time, East was now linked to West, via the Butterfield Overland Mail, which ran from Tipton, Missouri to San Francisco. It is always a mystery to the passenger how many can be wedged into and on top of a stagecoach. Q. Travel by stagecoach in the west's early days was described by Thomas Donaldson in his 1941 book, Idaho of Yesterday. Don't discuss politics or religion, nor point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed. iv. By 1829 Boston was the hub of 77 stagecoach lines; by 1832 there were 106. It turned out to be a great decision in the long run. Provincial routes developed in the following century, particularly in the 1770s. How far apart were stagecoach stops? - Answers Not all the stations listed were used all of the time. Better suspension allowed coaches to travel faster and remain safe. Hailey's stage line from Walla Walla to Boise and on to Kelton, Utah, was said to be one of the longest stage roads in the United States. However, this was not the end of the stagecoach, as it continued to be utilized in areas without railroad service for several more decades. (FYI: Only two states of the Pony Express Trail actually existed at the time: Missouri and California. . It was in 1875 that the elder Todd was acting as general manager of the Southwestern Stage Coach Company, which had its headquarters in Caldwell, Kansas, and its terminal at Henrietta, Texas. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Lighter faster and better-bred horses were used as the road surfaces smoothed and heavy mud-slogging could be forgotten. While horses were plentiful in that section, he, nevertheless, found it no easy matter to pick one up. The term stage originally referred to the distance between stations as each coach traveled the route in stages.. What was the station called on a stagecoach? The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Don't grease your hair before starting or dust will stick there in sufficient quantities to make a respectable "tater patch." The riders mounted fresh horses at each post on their route and then rode on. Place of rest provided for stagecoach travelers. Beginning in the 18th century crude wagons began to be used to carry passengers between cities and towns, first within New England in 1744, then between New York and Philadelphia in 1756. This arrangement allowed the mail to speed across the country in record time. Systems of arranging a supply of fresh horses to expedite travel along a particular route had been in use at least as far back as the ancient Romans when they were used by messengers and couriers or bearers of letters. The first crude depiction of a coach was in an English manuscript from the 13th century. If you are disappointed, thank heaven" (Osburn et al., 30). The first rail delivery between Liverpool and Manchester took place on 11 November 1830.
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