Traveling Coach

Otter visits a stagecoach stop at Fort Croghan in Burnet, TX

Otter learned a lot while visiting the Wells Fargo Museum, including a little about what it was like to ride on a stage coach.  The entire route from St. Louis to San Francisco on the Butterfield route would take about 25 days.  It was about 2,795 miles and took about 596 hours.  That’s a long time in a rough riding, no air-conditioned stage coach.  That same trip would take about 5 days by car and just a few hours by airplane.  Along the route were stage coach stops where the passengers could eat, rest, and get ready for the next part of the trip.  Otter visited one of these stops while at Fort Croghan in Texas.

Inside the stagecoach stop at Ft. Croghan

The stage coach was not a very comfortable ride.  There was no air conditioning or heat.  There was no music to listen to or movies to watch.  It was very dirty and dusty because you were riding behind six horses and they kick up a lot of dust.  The trail they followed was very rough.  It was so bumpy that at times you would fall out of your seat and get hurt.

There were rules posted inside the stage coach for the passengers to follow:

Stage Coach Rules

• Abstinence from liquor is requested, but if you must drink, share the bottle.  To do otherwise makes you appear selfish and unneighborly.
• If ladies are present, gentlemen are urged to forego smoking cigars and pipes as the odor of same is repugnant to the gentler sex.  Chewing tobacco is permitted, but spit with the wind, not against it.
• Gentlemen must refrain from the use of rough language in the presence of ladies and children.
• Buffalo robes are provided for your comfort in cold weather.  Hogging robes will not be tolerated and the offender will be made to ride with the driver.
• Don’t snore loudly while sleeping or use your fellow passenger’s shoulder for a pillow; he or she may not understand and friction may result.
• Firearms may be kept on your person for use in emergencies.  Do not fire them for pleasure or shoot at wild animals as the sound riles the horses.
• In the event of runaway horses, remain calm.  Leaping from the coach in panic will leave you injured, at the mercy of the elements, hostile Indians and hungry coyotes.
• Forbidden topics of conversation are:  stagecoach robberies and Indian uprisings.
• Gents guilty of unchivalrous behavior toward lady passengers will be put off the stage. It’s a long walk back. A word to the wise is sufficient.

The Wells Fargo stage coaches could hold nine passengers inside, and sometimes as many as three passengers could ride outside, along with the three person stage coach team, including one guy hired to protect the coach from Indians and thieves.

Wells Fargo Mud Wagon at Old Town San Diego

Another of the many Wells Fargo stagecoaches and wagons on display at Old Town San Diego.

The Wells Fargo stage coaches also carried mail, money, and gold.  Stage coach robberies became a problem for Wells Fargo so they hired men to ride on the stage coaches and protect their valuables.  If someone helped stop a stagecoach robbery they were rewarded with a gold pocket watch.  There is a pocket watch on display at the Wells Fargo Museum in Old Town San Diego.

Otter had a great time in Old Town San Diego and got to see several different Wells Fargo stage coaches and wagons.  Next, Otter will explore the beginnings of the Pony Express and see how it is connected to Wells Fargo.