Stagecoach East

Bob

"The finest vehicles in the world without any dispute are stagecoaches," a Boston paper trumpeted in 1825. After all, these democratic vehicles, the first public transportation, carried "the young and old, the rich and the poor, the great and small, male and female, of all ranks and conditions."

Coming out of the Revolutionary War, the young United States had a constitutional mandate to "promote the general welfare."  The Post Office encouraged swift delivery of the mails, ordered the construction of post roads  and designed "United States Mail Stages." A growing network of mail coaches from New England to Washington, D.C., George Washington declared, was "an establishment, which I had conceived to be of great importance." By the 1780s, papers advertised "The Flying Stage Coaches" of the "Swiftsure Line."  (Scroll down to "III. Stage Coaches")

However, until the great turnpike movement of the early nineteenth century transformed the rocky trails of the Northeast into decent roads, "The Shake Gut Line" could have applied to all stagecoaching. Relay or Swing stations were about 12 miles apart, while cozy taverns providing warm meals, beds, and usually the post office, were 40 miles distant.

Key man was the driver, usually a wiry New Englander, who ruled route, riders, and coach. Since a kid, he had practiced with six lines on a reining rig, learning to manipulate them all simultaneously. Only a light touch told a horse what to do, keeping its mouth uncalloused and "sweet" — often a verbal command did the job. The loud popping of a whip impressed passengers.

Rough roads brought forth the driver's skill. Passengers complained of "reckless speed," but the mail had to go through — or the company paid the government $1 per each delay of a half hour! Passengers who wished greater speed paid one-third more to be among the "limited," going day and night with the mails. Others who wished a more leisurely journey accepted the "accommodation" service.

One noted "whip" was elegantly-dressed Charlie Parkhurst, usually seen dashing around Providence, Rhode Island, with a team of matched grays. Parkhurst became one of those who made the transition West, guiding a coach and six out of Sacramento into the Gold Country when Wells Fargo opened in 1852. Thirty years later, death revealed that Charlie had made another transition: He was a SHE!

By the late 1820s, the mail coach had evolved — first at Albany, the jumping off point for the West, and nearby Troy, New York. James Reeside , who owned so many he was called the "Land Admiral," advertised his "Splendid Red Coaches" of Troy manufacture on his lines from Baltimore to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to New York.

Coach design reached its peak at the stagecoach center of Concord, New Hampshire. There, Lewis Downing and J. Stephen Abbot used Yankee craftsmen to fashion iron, ash, oak, and other woods into strong, egg-shaped coach bodies, suspended on rocking bull-hide leather thoroughbraces. That Connecticut Yankee, Mark Twain, described the Concord coach as "an imposing cradle on wheels."

Most of Wells Fargo's current fleet of historic Concord coaches saw long service in the East, from the White Mountains of New Hampshire, to the bluegrass region of Kentucky. Of course, Concords moved West. In 1867, Wells Fargo ordered 30 from Abbot-Downing — its largest order ever — made extra sturdy and roomier. Wells Fargo paid $1,100 each for classy coaches with red bodies and straw carriages. From New Hampshire to California, Concords spanned the nation.