Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas. Page: 23
180 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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to San Diego via El Paso, or "from no place through
nothing to nowhere," as someone described it. This
route had proved extremely slow, and the Californians
had petitioned for a route that would consume less than
thirty days. On March 3, 1857 a Post Office appropriations
bill was passed by Congress requiring that the
Postmaster General contract for the delivery of mail at
regular intervals over a route extending from the
Mississippi to San Francisco, the time of travel not to
exceed twenty-five days each trip.
The route determined upon stretched from St. Louis
through Fort Smith, to Colbert's Ferry, just south of the
modern city of Colbert, Oklahoma, into Texas. The first
stop after crossing the river was Sherman, and the
second was at Westview Inn in Whitesboro. The rest
of the route took the stage across Texas to Franklin, a
short distance from El Paso, and west through Tucson,
Ft. Yuma, San Diego, and Los Angeles, to San Francisco.
The total distance was officially 2,7561/ miles, no small
journey under the most promising circumstances. But
in a day when the stage company had to blaze its own
route, see that bridges were built, fight off the Indians,
and even dig its own wells, the undertaking was staggering.
John Butterfield and associates received the contract
for making a stage along this route a reality.
Butterfield immediately shortened the time of travel
by taking advantage of rail facilities from St. Louis to
Tipton, Missouri. From Tipton to San Francisco he ercted
at average distances of eighteen miles 139 stations.
In some sections of the line hay and oats for the
animals that were to pull the coaches had to be secured
from a great distance. Horses and mules were bought
in great numbers. Personnel were hired to man the
lonely stations, many of which were subject to Indian
attack.
Numerous designs of coach were used at different
stages of the journey. Butterfield preferred the heavy
Concord coaches to the lighter ones made in Troy, NewYork. These were used in the smoother reaches of the
route; but for rugged terrain where the horses or mules
would have all they could do to draw a light coach, the
"celerity" or mud wagon was employed.
Only one passenger cared to make the first transcontinental
stage journey. He was Waterman L Ormsby,
correspondent of the New York Herald. The coach used
in the first run had three seats. The backs of these were
arranged to be laid flat so that a bed of sorts was made
for between four and ten people. Ormsby reported that
he was unable to sleep for the first three days of his
ordeal until the bouncing and jolting of the coach so
wearied him that he became relatively insensible of discomfort.
Dangers of the trip not only included Indians
and natural cataclysm but the unruliness of the six
horses drawing the coach and the rigors of the food
hastily eaten at the Butterfield Overland stations.
Ormsby's letters to his paper form an interesting
chronicle of a very significant journey. Those portions
descriptive of Grayson County are here presented as
a unique word picture of our region by a skilled writer
of cosmopolitan experience.
A ride of three hours brought us to Colbert's ferry,
on the Red river
the boundary between Texas and
the Indian territory. We arrived here on Monday, the
20th inst., at ten minutes to ten
being altogether,
thirty-four hours ahead of time to this point. But here
was a difficulty. There was no team to carry on the
mail. Arrangements had been made to put it through
in quick time on the regular day, but it was not expected
a day and a half in advance. Indeed, there was nothing
left to do but. to put up with it. We had by several
mere accidents, been enabled to obtain our relays
so far in advance, and now we could afford a little loss
of time. We had a good dinner, and I took advantage
of the opportunity to write to you
the first chance
off the wagon since Thursday, the 16th. Mr. Colbert,BAER'S FERRY, which operated north of Denison, is typical of
the Red River ferries, of which Colbert's Ferry was the most
famous.
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An illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas with numerous photographs and a pioneer name index (p. 120).
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Landrum, Graham. Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas., book, 1960; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24647/m1/27/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.