|
On the afternoon of September 28,1858, the
conductor of the first westbound Butterfield Overland Mail
Coach sounded his bugle to announce the coach's arrival at
the Pinery. The station was named for nearby stands of pine.
With abundant water from Pine Spring and good grazing, it
was one of the most favorably situated stations on the original
2,800-mile Butterfield route. Located at 5,534-foot Guadalupe
Pass, the Pinery was also the highest.
After a meal of venison and baked beans
and a change of horses, the weary travelers jolted slowly
down the pass on their rough-riding stage. Shortly after sunset,
near the base of Guadalupe Pass, the westbound coach from
St. Louis pulled alongside the eastbound from San Francisco.
The excited passengers and drivers exchanged comments about
their history-making encounter. For the brief space of a conversation,
the ends of the continent were connected. But there was mail
to deliver; the stages rolled on as contracted, traveling
an average of five miles an hour around the clock, and averaging
120 miles a day. The Butterfield contract called for semi-weekly
runs, covering 2,800 miles in a maximum of 25 days. In its
two and a half years of operation the Butterfield never broke
its contract.
Imagine the feeling of isolation experienced
by the station masters and their crews, and the sense of excitement
and companionship brought by the stages. Between Fort Chadborne
and El Paso, a distance of 458 miles, there was no sign of
habitation other than outpost stage stations. The stage route
between Fort Smith, Arkansas, and San Francisco, California,
passed through only two real towns: Tucson and El Paso. One
stretch of route had no settlements for 900 miles; another
had no water for 75.
|
