Recently in Overland Mail Co. 150th Category

Charles

Send a comment to Charles

Casey's 20-odd-day trip across the West re-created the first Overland stagecoach journey in 1858. All the while he was out there, Casey and his traveling partners photographed, videoed, interviewed, presented, shook hands and made friends. Oh yeah — they fought a hurricane, too.

The trip ended on October 10th as Casey rolled into San Francisco to a noisy celebration. We all celebrated Casey's feat, the legacy of the stagecoach and a job well done. Guided By History is proud to be part of Casey's magnificent journey. Welcome home, old friend! (CR)

Casey

This morning provided me one of those rare opportunities: to sleep in! It felt great!

Today is shaping up to be a relatively easy day, with an event planned at the Wells Fargo Store in downtown San Jose. I was looking forward to the event as I was meeting Bev Smith, Historical Services Manager and Anne Hall, Curator of the San Francisco Wells Fargo History Museum. Those two have been a constant source of support during this undertaking, and it will be good to see them both.

After breakfast and a walk around the Coyote Valley RV Resort   grounds, Juan arrived from his night of freedom, and we were off.

This was my first trip to San Jose , and I must say I was very impressed with the city's downtown — it is truly a beautiful place. Ormsby tells of the prosperous ranches that lead to the "old Spanish" town of San Jose , which was founded on November 29, 1777. The first full name was El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe, and it served as the temporary state capital until 1851.

When I arrived, the store was abuzz with excitement and activity. Planned for the afternoon was a visit by a group of children from the Third Street Community Center.  In addition to the presentation that I would be doing, the students were being treated to a presentation by Barbara Johnston and a group of volunteers from History San Jose.  Dressed in period costumes, they dramatized different events in California history, focusing on historic travel.

One of my favorites was the character of Charlie Parkhurst, whom many of you will know as the one-eyed stagecoach driver with a secret.

The secret?  Charlie was actually a woman named Charlotte. She lost her eye after a horse she was trying to shoe decided it didn't want a new shoe. The woman who played this part was great, and the kids — as well as the adults — in attendance really got a kick (pun intended) out of her.

With the help of local Team members including Janine Nguyen, Lynne Van Hyning, Alex Torres and many others, the event was a success. I really enjoyed meeting everyone — especially the students of the Third Street Community Center.

Although my San Francisco arrival isn't scheduled until tomorrow, I have to be up early in the morning for the final school event in San Rafael  (just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County ). Bev graciously invited me to spend the evening at her house, and I quickly took her up on the offer — a night in a real bed was too hard to pass up. And although they had no way to know, Charlie and Eddie were about to be treated to the run of a big backyard and some new friends: Bev's dogs, Penny and Carlos.

So, as the sun was setting on the day and metaphorically on this great adventure, I head to San Francisco with mixed emotions. I am truly excited about tomorrow's events, but also more than a little sad that my trip is coming to an end.

Casey

After leaving Visalia, I headed north toward Fresno . Fresno is not on the actual route, but I had been invited to speak to a group of 4th and 5th graders at Riverview Elementary School. So, I took a small detour and was glad to do it!

I met with Tim Rios, Senior Vice President Community Development Manager, and Kim Andersen, a member from his team who did a wonderful job of setting up the event. I had a great time with the kids and they, as well as the teachers, seemed to enjoy my tales from the road and stories of Wells Fargo's history.

Next I headed toward San Jose. This was to be a relatively short day, as the event in Fresno was the only one on the schedule. The road to San Jose was beautiful -- the weather was amazing and the views were stunning. In the little town of Hollister just off Highway 25 I passed (but could not pass up!) Casa De Fruta.  This is a fruit stand extraordinaire! It's a combination fruit stand, gourmet food and candy shop, and amusement park that has been in operation for 100 years.

The stop provided a much needed break, a chance for the dogs to take a walk, and for me to stock up on my favorite candies and fruit. I'm a Jelly Belly  freak, and this place has flavors even I haven't had before.

With my belly full and my wallet emptied, I headed north. About 33 miles south of San Jose is the town of Gilroy.  Ormsby passed through this area 150 years ago and made note of the fact that he came across the first "croaker"; of the whole trip. Dictionary.com  describes a croaker as someone who grumbles or forebodes evil. This is exactly what Ormsby had in mind when describing this guy as "the only man that was not glad to see the stage and to speak well of the enterprise.";

Lucky for me I met no such croaker on my journey. The area today is much as it was in Ormsby's day: a fine agricultural district with lots of farms and fresh fruit.

Further north I came to the town of Morgan Hill , where I found the Coyote Valley RV Resort.  Wow! This is the Hilton of RV parks and where I decided to stay for the night as I was not to arrive in San Jose until tomorrow. Juan had a friend who lived nearby, so he escaped from our 24 foot abode for a restful night in a real home.

But I was content. I had my dogs, beautiful surroundings and a bucket full of Jelly Bellies. I spent the evening pondering sentimentally my journey thus far — a little sad that it was quickly coming to an end, but looking forward to my San Francisco arrival.

One more day to go!

Charles

Casey moves inexorably to the Butterfield's finish in San Francisco.

Here's the video report from Fort Tejon and Visalia!

Casey

About 85 miles from Los Angeles the stage route reaches the Tejon pass near Fort Tejon State Historic Park . My first of just two stops today, Ft. Tejon is a peaceful little spot surrounded by velvety smooth hills. When Ormsby arrived, Ft. Tejon was an active fort with "some very fine adobe buildings" and "few settlers." Today Ft. Tejon is a state park with recreated and original buildings from the old fort. With Juan and the boys, I arrived after closing time.

Turns out we were not exactly alone — a family of deer was taking advantage of the open space in the closed park. I spent nearly an hour walking around, videoing, and sharing the space with them. It really added to the tranquil feeling of the place and helped transport me to another time when I'm sure wildlife was abundant here.

Tranquility aside, I had to be off. Further up Highway 99  is another town I'd never heard of, but will never forget: Visalia, California . When I arrived, it was already dark out and I was getting quite hungry. After locating the KOA in Visalia  and registering for the night, I headed into town. Being a weeknight, I was worried there would be nothing open in such a small town this late.

Boy, was I surprised! As I approached downtown, I was greeted by a huge party. Not in my honor, of course, but that night just happened to be the 15th Annual Taste of Downtown Visalia .

I was amazed. There was live music. The streets and restaurants and bars were filled to the brim with people enjoying all that downtown Visalia has to offer.

And does it have something to offer! Nearly every kind of cuisine you can imagine was available. Juan and I settled on steak, and soon found the Double LL Steakhouse. I have to say, I've had steak a few times on this journey (when there was no catfish available), and this was hands down the best steak of the trip. In fact, I would venture to say one of the best steaks I've ever had. And the mashed potatoes were to die for! (And you will if you eat all that they put on your plate!)

Unfortunately, the next morning was to be an early one, so I wasn't able to take part in the festivities. After stuffing myself, I headed back to the KOA. Before hitting the hay, I grabbed my copy of Ormsby's book to research for the next day's visit and filming in Visalia and had another "Ormsby moment"....

Casey

My first stop of the day took me to the city of El Monte  , just outside Los Angeles. El Monte was called the "end of the line" of the Santa Fe Trail   by many settlers to this area well before Los Angeles became the mega city it is today.

Having been settled by Texas emigrants, it also has the distinction of being the first permanent American settlement in Southern California. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to spend in this little community, but I was able to make a stop at the Santa Fe Historic Park .

The park is small but full of history — including the old city well. And being the site of the well, it is most likely the spot where the stage stop was located.

When I arrived, the park was gated shut, but thanks to the kindness of one of the maintenance workers I was given access to the beautiful little spot.

Ormsby had great things to say about El Monte and considered it an oasis of civilization after thousands of miles into the wild. For Ormsby and undoubtedly others, civilization meant shingled roof tops....

Casey

I awoke this morning in beautiful Borrego Springs  to my normal routine of walking the boys, having breakfast, and preparing for the days videoing and site-seeing. First I consult my notebook to see which cities and sites are on the agenda for the day. Then I consult Ormsby via his book, The Butterfield Overland Mail Route.

Notebook, check. Ormsby...uh oh...I couldn't find Ormsby! I searched in all the usual spots but with only 24 feet of space there aren't that many spots to look in. No luck. Ormsby was nowhere to be found.

So, I thought back to the last time I had seen the book, Box Canyon. While filming at Box Canyon I laid the book on top of the site marker. Oh, man! Without Ormsby I had no guide. I wouldn't know what had happened on that first historic journey.

I had to make a decision, continue without him or go back. No brainer. I had to go back and retrieve Ormsby.

I feared that I wouldn't find the book because the wind had been blowing so hard the past 24 hours. I just knew the book had blown off the marker, and I would have to search the vast canyon.

The trip back to Box Canyon took nearly an hour. As I hiked to the marker, I strained my eyes in anticipation of seeing the book atop the marker undisturbed. It wasn't there.

But, as I approached the marker I discovered to my joy and amazement that the book was indeed there — it had been placed sacrificially below the marker. Not only that, but some kind soul (Ormsby's perhaps) had placed stones on top of it to keep it from blowing away!

Ormsby, I think, must be watching over my journey.

Casey

Well, it was a long ride last night from Phoenix to Yuma, but I was happy to be back on the road. We reached Yuma late in the evening and after consulting the Woodall's Campground Directory  found a place to park for the night.

I awoke this morning at the Riverfront RV Park  in Yuma, Arizona. Turns out I was in a prime spot. The park is located right on the Colorado River. So not only was it a beautiful spot to take the boys for a walk, but it also provided a great location for filming. Near this spot was once a ferry that would have provided safe passage over the river for the stagecoach. So the videoing continues!

As I was preparing to leave, the owner of the park came over to share some information. She had noticed the RV (how could you not) and wanted to tell me about some ruins she was sure had once been a stop on the Butterfield Route. It's always great to talk to folks about the Butterfield Route, and it's nice to not have to do the talking from time to time. And let's face it, much of the information I've gained during this trip has been through all the great people I've met along the way.

When it's a random meeting like this it is particularly exciting...

Casey

After not sleeping especially well, worrying about making it to the grand opening event in Yuma  today, I awoke early. First on the agenda was coffee. Next I put in a call to Bill over at Premier Transmissions  for an update on the RV.

What I was hoping to hear was that the RV was fixed and ready to go so we could make our event. The folks in Yuma were really excited about adding the RV and the story of our journey to their event and had lined up press to cover it. They were all expecting the RV and me to be there along with the stagecoach to celebrate the grand opening.

On a personal note, I knew that Marge Rice had really been instrumental in setting this up, and I really didn't want to let her down. Marge is "the bomb"  and has been a great partner helping with all things marketing for this great adventure. I had no control over the RV's mechanical problems, obviously. But, not making the event would have been the first failure of the journey. And because I had become so personally staked out of necessity in its fortunes, its failure was my failure.

There is no way I could pull this trip off with all the long hours of research and planning and finally all the hours put in on the road up to this point unless I had embraced it completely and utterly. And I have. This has become a labor of love and to use another tired cliché, my baby. And not to be able to share my "baby" with all those folks in Yuma was terribly disappointing.

Luckily, Ormsby never had Transmissions trouble. The biggest delays his historic trip suffered were at the hands of unruly and uncooperative wild mules. And here I was with all my modern technology delayed and behind schedule. But I held out hope.

Unfortunately the call to Bill did not go as I had hoped. Despite all the hard work and extra hours his men put into fixing the old clunker (and they stayed late last night trying to fix it), an unexpected problem delayed the works completion. He tried to explain what the problem was, but he may has well been speaking Latin. As I stated before, mechanics is not my thing and all I heard was, "Blah blah blah Transmissions blah blah case blah blah blah I'll have it done by 2:00pm."

Well 2:00pm was too late. Now, I had the unfortunate task of calling Marge and Teresa Mosley of the new Yuma store and delivering the bad news. They were both disappointed but very understanding and for that I was grateful.

Soon Bill and the team at Premier Transmissions completed their work. I have to tell you, mechanics sometimes get a bad rap but Premier Transmissions is first rate. Bill kept me up to speed on what was going on, and, understanding and appreciating the nature of my journey, worked really hard to get us back on the road as soon as possible. Before we found them our options had been bad and worse. But Bill saw to it that the work was done quickly at a very reasonable price, always with my safety and the success of the rest of the trip in mind.

I can't thank him enough, but I can say that if you are in Phoenix and need some work done, you can't make a better choice than Premier Transmissions.

With the RV fixed and the mail safe and secure, I was on my way again. Destination, Yuma, Arizona!

Casey

Although I had to be up early, it was nice that Eddie let me sleep as long as I could. Seems he knew the RV was in the shop and decided not to even check on it this morning.

We had a bit of a drive on our hands to meet up with Daryl Hatch at the Butterfield Trail near Gila Bend . Daryl is a driver for our Stagecoach Appearance Program and owns lots of horses and wagons. Turns out he's also a really nice guy and yet another "real" cowboy (see Day 7 of trip journal) I've had the pleasure of meeting on this trip.

We arrived a bit late — Daryl was waiting patiently with his horses out and spring wagon ready to go. It was a very warm and dry day out in the Arizona desert, but I was looking forward to the ride. Just before we were set up to go, I received a call from the RV rental company. They informed me they had located a place in Phoenix that would fix the transmission and that it would be done possibly by the end of the day.

They gave me the number of Premier Transmissions  and told me to speak to Bill. Well, turns out Bill is not only a first-rate mechanic but also a real pro and a great guy. He assured me he would do everything he could to have the RV up and running as soon as possible. I felt much better after talking to him and looked forward to making the event in Yuma the next day.

Feeling as though we were back on track, I loaded up the boys in the spring wagon and we headed to the trail. While I've had the opportunity to ride on the parts of the actual Butterfield Trail, this was the first time I was doing it in an actual horse-drawn wagon! The ride was very bumpy as you can imagine. Unlike the Concord coaches, which have a suspension system of leather thoroughbraces  that create a rocking motion, this wagon had next to no suspension system and created a jerking motion.

While Charlie quickly lay down, I was a little worried about Eddie. He likes to be where the action is and doesn't sit still. So I held on tight.