Geography of Denton County Page: 6
xii, 132 p. : illus. (incl. maps) plates, port. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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GEOGRAPHY OF DENTON COUNTY
not far from Slidell. The Postmaster General signed
the bill for the establishment of such a mail stage line
on September 15, 1857. Different sections of the
country made bids for the road, but the route through
Cooke, northwest part of Denton, Wise, and other
Texas Counties seemed to offer more favorable geo-
graphic consideration. There was much opposition in
the northern states to this choice of route, because Tex-
as was a slave state. The contract was given to John
Butterfield of New York City, who was President of
the Southern Pacific Mail Company. Congress gave
$600,000 annually for semi-weekly service on this
route.
It was agreed in the contract that the trip across the
continent should not exceed twenty-five days. On
September 16, 1858, the first trip began. The stage
line had two starting points, St. Louis, Missouri, and
Memphis, Tennessee. These two roads met at Fort
Smith, Arkansas, and continued across Oklahoma,
entering Texas at Preston's Bend by way of Colbert's
Ferry. This point was a short distance northwest of
Denison. The road continued via Sherman, Gaines-
ville, three miles northwest of Bolivar in Denton
County and on by Jacksboro, Stamford, across west
Texas to El Paso, and on to California. The old forts
in Texas, established for protection against the Indians,
afforded a brief stopping place for the stage coaches,
-6-
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Cowling, Mary Jo. Geography of Denton County, book, 1936; Dallas, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth90885/m1/19/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.