7 Le courrier, les passengers, les biens et les services (extraits)
7.1 Histoire
In the 19th, the transport of mails, passengers, goods and banking services was a huge challenge for the Old West. The owners and operators of the stage lines, who obviously stood to make or lose the most money, were referred to as “Stagers.” Unfortunately, for many of these transportation entrepreneurs, the “staging” business was unprofitable, and they wound up in bankruptcy.
While people left many aspects of civilization behind them they still needed to be able to send and receive mails. Stagecoaches, though independently owned, were often paid by the government to handle the mail on regular schedules. The government even improved the roads that were used for this purpose and sometimes posted troops to guard the mail-bearing coaches. In 1860, the transmission of mail between Missouri and Texas took about 25 days per stage
Some mail was also delivered to California by boats that made the trip around South America from the East Coast. It could take up to six months to get a message to the West Coast by ship.
Passengers
Stagecoaches appeared at the end of the 1850s partially thanks to the goverment overland mail subsidies. They were expensive. They transported up to 15 people, but this number could go up to 35. The routes were dotted with road houses or road ranches. The distances covered could be up to 100 miles per day with a change of horses every 12 miles or so. The most famous stagecoaches were the Concorde, the most luxurious, the Mud Wagon, the poor man's Concorde, the Jerky, which connected cities, and the treasure caoches for the transport of gold. In 1857, the Butterfield Overland Company was born, which provided intercontinental transport through the south (ox-bow), 4500 km long, from St Louis to Los Angeles. No less than 200 guarded relays line the route, and it takes 25 days to make the trip.
Freight
Before the railroad, a whole system of transportation existed to bring goods to the pioneers across the Great Plains. In winter, the Indians and bands sometimes interrupted these convoys. The convoys were not only the business of large companies, independent merchants launched into the adventure. Peddlers also travelled the western trails.
On the spot the economy often functions in the form of barter
7.2.1.1 La route du Sud : St Louis/Memphis - San Francisco (1858-1861)
Owner: Butterfield
Business: mail, passengers, freight
Lenght: 2,800 miles
Time: ~ 24 days
The route is known as the Butterfield Overland Mail route.
St Louis/Memphis – Fort Smith – El Paso – Tucson – Los Angeles – San Francisco
1858-1861
In the late 1850’s the citizen’s of California had become exasperated with the poor roads and mail services between the East and West. They petitioned the government for better services and the government contracted with John Butterfield for the establishment of a Southern Mail Route.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Company was born and was organized by men with interests in four of the leading express companies “American Express, United States Express, Adams Express Company, and Wells Fargo”. John Butterfield, of American Express, was made Overland Mail's president
The route began operating on September 1858 with stagecoaches carrying both passengers and mails.
The eastern starting points were St Louis and Memphis, and the western terminal was San Francisco. There was a twice weekly service in both directions. It took 24 days to complete the 2,800 mile route. It was hardly a comfortable journey and passengers were often required to get out and walk up the steep inclines and help push the stagecoach when it got stuck.
The Butterfield Overland Mail Company brought also the opportunity to make money while providing another much needed service. The U.S. Post Office Department was slow to bring postal services to the mining camps, and the miners were reluctant to leave their claims for supplies and travel two or three days to the nearest town for fear of claim jumpers. So the Expressmen did more than carry letters; they brought supplies, mining equipment, newspapers, and carried back the miners’ gold dust for banking, and letters to their friends and relatives back east.
In 1860, the Butterfield Overland Mail Company was taken over by Wells, Fargo & Company due to large debts that Butterfield owed to Wells and Fargo.
When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, they destroyed the Butterfield Overland Mail line and effectively cut off communication from California to the east over land. Butterfield Overland Mail Company was ordered to transfer the company to the Union-held Central Overland Trail.
The last Overland Mail trip through the Desert Southwest was made on March, 1861.
Refer to the next section part « The northern route after 1860 » for details.