Butterfield Overland Mail

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The route

The Butterfield Overland Route was a route for stagecoaches in the United States of America. It was navigated from 1857 to 1861. The stagecoaches transported passengers and mail from two eastern stops Memphis (Tennessee) and St. Louis ( Missouri ) to San Francisco ( California ). The two eastern routes first meet in Fort Smith , then the route led through Indian Territory, Texas , New Mexico and Arizona to San Francisco.

On 3 March 1857 instructed Congress under James Buchanan the former Postmaster General, Aaron Brown, with the delivery of mail in the United States from the East (Fort Smith) to the West (San Francisco). Before that, mail for the west had to be transported by ship across the Gulf of Mexico .

background

Between 1840 and 1850 the desire for better communication between the two coasts of the United States arose. Congress hired the Secretary of Post to deliver mail from Missouri to California. A ulterior motive was to colonize the west. The Post Office put out the tender, the bidders should propose routes that should lead from the Mississippi westward.

John Warren Butterfield

John Warren Butterfield and his partners William B. Dinsmore, William Fargo , James V. P. Gardner, Marcus L. Kinyon, Alexander Holland and Hamilton Spencer made a proposal for a southern route that started in St. Louis and led to California. The Ministry of Post received a total of nine proposals. The minister was from Tennessee and preferred a southern route. Although no one had offered this route, the Minister advocated a southern route known as the Oxbow Route. The idea behind this was that the route could also be used during the winter months, as no problems with snow were to be expected in the south. This route was 600 miles (970 km) longer than the central, northern route that would have passed through Denver , Colorado , Salt Lake City, and Utah . Butterfield and his partners were ultimately awarded the contract. At this point in time, it was the largest order in the mail delivery service, which was carried out overland.

Butterfield Overland Mail Route

The treaty came into force on September 16, 1858. In the contract , the route was specified and divided into eastern and western areas, these two large areas were in turn divided into smaller areas. Four areas were in the west and five areas in the east. Franklin in Texas, later also called El Paso , formed the transition between east and west. The smaller areas were numbered from west to east, each with its own overseer.

Area route miles Hours
Area 1 San Francisco to Los Angeles 462 80
Area 2 Los Angeles to Fort Yuma 282 72.20
Area 3 Fort Yuma to Tucson 280 71.45
Area 4 Tucson to Franklin 360 82
Area 5 Franklin to Fort Chadbourne 458 126.30
Area 6 Fort Chadbourne to Colbert's Ferry 282.5 65.25
Area 7 Colbert's Ferry to Fort Smith 192 38
Area 8 Fort Smith to Tipton 318.5 48.55
Area 9 Tipton to St. Louis 160 11.40
total route 2795 595.15

Opening of the route

The Butterfield Overland Mail Company had a 6-year contract that went into effect on September 15, 1857. On that day the first stagecoaches started from St. Louis and San Francisco. The stagecoach from San Francisco reached St. Louis in 23 days and 4 hours with mail and 6 passengers. The route was traveled twice a week for a period of two and a half years. Every Monday and Thursday a stagecoach left Tipton and San Francisco with passengers, goods and up to 12,000 letters. The one-way fare was then $ 200. The company employed more than 800 people, had over 130 stations on the route, 1,800 ladders and 250 stagecoaches in use at one time.

In the 1860s, the route was one of the few that went west and had to be constantly navigable for traveling settlers, miners, and business people. However, the route became increasingly unsafe over time; she was attacked by bandits and Indians . In response, Abraham Lincoln's Department of War ordered Lt. William O. Collins and his troops to protect the stretch between Independence, Missouri and Sacramento, California.

When the American Civil War became foreseeable, the Pony Express was created in 1860 . He chose a more northerly route, which avoided the turbulent south and was also much faster. Delivery only took 10 days. However, the Pony Express did not receive a contract.

In March 1860, the Overland Stage Company was taken over by Wells Fargo due to debt. As a result, John Butterfield was ousted from the company. The route was last used on March 21, 1861, after which it was no longer possible due to the civil war.

Closure of the route

On March 2, the route was closed by a resolution of the congress and the passenger transport stopped. On the same day a new route was operated from Saint Joseph (Missouri) to Placerville (California). It was called the Central Overland Route. In March 1861, prior to the American Civil War, the US government revoked the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach Company in anticipation of the war to come. Under the Confederate States of America , the Butterfield Route continued, but with little success. Wells Fargo continued to run the stagecoaches in mining stores in more northerly areas until railroad tracks took over in 1869.

At least four battles were fought on or near the Butterfield mail route. The battle at Stanwix Station , the battle at Picacho Pass , the battle at Apache Pass and the battle at Pea Ridge . The Confederates tried to keep the Tucson to Mesilla stations open while destroying stations from Tucson to Yuma, Arizona . These were used to supply the enemy army.

today

There are still stations in Oak Grove today and the most famous is near Warner Springs, California. The Elkhorn Tavern in Pea Ridge National Military Park was a station along the route that was rebuilt after the Civil War. This is one of the oldest areas of the route that still exist.

At the summit of Guadelupe Peak, a steel pyramid from 1958 commemorates the centenary of the Butterland Overland Mail, the route led south past the mountains.

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