All the World's a Stage on the Overland Trail
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Following the mail from Fort Smith, Arkansas to San Francisco, California Page 1 of 5 BY JOHNNY D. BOGGS All the World's a Stage on the Overland Trail Following the mail from Fort Smith, Arkansas to San Francisco, California. Shortly after the army abandoned Fort Phantom Hill in 1854, a fire destroyed most of the post buildings’ log walls and thatched roofs. Even so, four years later, the property was reoccupied as a way station on the Overland Mail route. Today, the 22-acre site near Abilene, Texas, has much to offer visitors, including an intact stone powder magazine, stone guardhouse and an almost-intact commissary “Then the rattling of the coach, the clatter of our six horses’ hoofs, and the driver’s crisp commands, awoke to a louder and stronger emphasis; and we went sweeping down on the station at our smartest speed.” What better way to travel a Renegade Road than with Mark Twain, even if he went roughing it on the central route from Missouri to California via Denver and Salt Lake City, while my assignment covers John Butterfield’s original path, south through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Even if I have no plans on roughing anything, especially me. The Overland Mail Company came into existence in 1857 when Congress authorized mail service to the Pacific Coast: twice-a-week service with delivery taking no more than 25 days. (If only my bosses could get my check to me in no more than 25 days.) Traveling the Overland Mail Company route could begin in St. Louis (via railroad to Tipton, Missouri) or Memphis, http://www.twmag.com/travel/renegade-roads/rroads-11-06.htm 11/7/2006 Following the mail from Fort Smith, Arkansas to San Francisco, California Page 2 of 5 Tennessee. St. Louis has the Cardinals, the Gateway Arch, a great zoo and god-awful humidity. Memphis has FedEx (since we’re talking about the mail), barbecue, Blues, Graceland and god-awful humidity. By default then, we’ll begin in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the St. Louis/Tipton and Memphis routes converged. Fort Smith blends Old West history with Old South charm (except for all those obnoxious Razorback fans). It has Fort Smith National Historic Site, with Hanging Judge Isaac Parker’s courtroom and 1886 gallows restored for history buffs. There’s no Overland Mail museum, but the city does have a trolley museum and carriage tours—and god-awful humidity, though not quite as god-awful as you’d find in St. Louis or Memphis. Stagecoach Jam This Fort Selden monument in southern New Stations were built at about 20-mile intervals, and the company had a Mexico celebrates its Overland Mail history. At year to get things ready for the first run. On September 15, 1858, the first the halfway point on the “Journey of Death,” Overland journey began, 2,800 miles to San Francisco, California, with privates of the Third Cavalry were stationed in the 1860s at Aleman station, which not only coaches running day and night. served as a stage stop but also as a post office and later, a telegraph office. With a $600,000 contract, Butterfield and his associates purchased 250 stagecoaches and 1,800 horses and mules, and hired 1,200 men as superintendents, guards, blacksmiths, clerks and drivers. The drivers had to cover about 60 miles (armed guards, 120 miles). For $200, passengers could travel from St. Louis to San Francisco (shorter routes were about 15 cents a mile). Those Concord coaches could get crowded, too. As a San Antonio Herald reporter noted in 1858, “To make excellent jam; squeeze six or eight women, now-a-days, into a common stage-coach.” Roughin’ It in Oklahoma The route covered 197 miles in Oklahoma, from Walker’s Station at the old Choctaw Agency to Colbert’s Ferry on the Red River. About all you’ll find are historical markers as you travel the trail. Geary’s Station lies under Atoka Reservoir near Springtown, but most stations (Holloway’s, Pusley’s, Blackburn’s, Waddell’s, etc.) are remembered by markers; you’ll do some roughin’ it traveling to many of the markers the major highways bypassed. Yet, there are some interesting sites to visit along the way: Robber’s Cave State Park near Red Oak, a former hideout of Jesse James and home to Holloway’s Station near the “Narrows”; Lutie, home to Riddle’s Station and the Old Riddle Cemetery; Boggy Depot State Park near Boggy Depot; and Fort Washita, not far from Durant, an 1842 fort built to protect the Five Civilized Tribes from Plains Indians. From Colbert, the trail crossed the Red River into Texas. Originally, the stages ran to Sherman, west to Gainesville and on toward Jacksboro and Newcastle, but the route eventually dipped from Sherman south to Denton, and then over to Decatur and Jacksboro (check out Fort Richardson, now a state park) and Newcastle. The Overland Trail covered a lot of forts in Texas. One of my favorites, and among the most overlooked old Texas forts, is Phantom Hill near Abilene. Cool name. Cool ruins. Cool cactus. Not as much god-awful humidity. Not the Prettiest Town, But ... In fact, Abilene is one of Texas’ most underrated burgs. The city’s top-notch custom bootmaker (Alan Bell) and plenty of attractions should please adult and children visitors. The city didn’t come along until the Texas and Pacific Railroad came through in 1881—too late for the Overland, but Frontier Texas!, a multi-million dollar history/entertainment facility downtown, lets visitors get up close with the region’s history between 1780-1880. Just down the pike, nearby Buffalo Gap Historic Village offers re-creations of West Texas of 1883, 1905 and 1925, complete with 15 historic structures, including log cabins, a schoolhouse, railroad depot and the 1879 Taylor County Courthouse. Take U.S. 277 past Fort Chadbourne near Bronte and into the bustling Texas town of San Angelo. Then ride along U.S. 67 and 385 toward Girvin. Historical markers (at a roadside park on 67/385 south of Crane and another on F.M. 11 north of Girvin) note the importance of Horsehead Crossing, the famous ford of the Pecos River and a crackerjack Elmer http://www.twmag.com/travel/renegade-roads/rroads-11-06.htm 11/7/2006 Following the mail from Fort Smith, Arkansas to San Francisco, California Page 3 of 5 Kelton novel (which has nothing to do with the Overland Mail Trail, but we like to give Elmer free press). Choices ... choices ... Horsehead Crossing is important because here is where the trail split again. The original route turned north, to Emigrant Crossing, the Pinery, Guadalupe Pass, Hueco Tanks and into El Paso. This is a great trip. Spend time at Guadalupe Mountains National Park and visit the ruins of the Pinery Station, and hike up McKittrick Canyon or Devil’s Hallway. Then swing down past the Salt Flats with another good hiking venture at Hueco Tanks State Historic Park before entering El Paso. The later route continued southwest toward Fort Stockton, which was established in 1859 to protect the stagecoach route, and then on through some of Texas’ most spectacular country: through Fort Davis, Van Horn’s Wells, San Elizario and into El Paso. This is a great trip, too. You should definitely hang out in Fort Davis and visit the Fort Davis National Historic Site and the Overland Trail Museum (one of the few museums along the trail actually named after that trail!). Then swing north to Van Horn before picking up I-10 and heading west into El Paso. Land of Enchantment From El Paso, the trail entered New Mexico Territory. Las Cruces/Mesilla is always a fun stop, if only for food at La Posta de Mesilla. Built in the 1840s, the compound is said to have become an Overland station. Later, it was home to the Corn Exchange Hotel. Forget Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Albert Fountain, John Butterfield and the other historical figures who passed through here. The greatest of them all had to be Katy Griggs Camunez, who started La Posta de Mesilla Restaurant in 1939. (Can you say Banquette Elegante and a cranberry margarita?) I like New Mexico’s brief trail because these stagecoach stations had the coolest names. Cooke’s Spring. Soldier’s Farewell. Steins isn’t so bad, either. It’s a ghost town off I-10 near the Arizona border, although the town didn’t come around till the Southern Pacific came in 1880. Shakespeare, near Lordsburg, is also a favorite among ghost-town buffs. In Arizona, the trail cut through San Simon and Apache Pass, so plan on visiting Fort Bowie National Historic Site. A hiking trail takes visitors past the station ruins on the way to the weathered ruins of the old fort, originally established in 1862 and moved to a nearby hill six years later. Pinery Station ruins in the Guadalupe Mountains Tucson Pampering of West Texas. Abundant water from Pine Spring and grazing land made this station one of the most favorably situated along the Overland For convenience (and gas), head back to I-10 from Fort Bowie via route. The station was abandoned in 1859 when Willcox and continue west to Tucson. The Westward Look Resort in it was passed by for roads at Forts Stockton and Tucson was not a station, and that’s too bad. We still might be riding stages Davis. to California had John Butterfield hired Jamie West as his executive chef. Forget hardtack, jerky, pork, beans and coffee (not to mention sharing coffee cups).