One of the greatest adventures any American ever enjoyed was riding the stagecoach to the West. After a 20 day trip, crossing a half a continent 2000 miles by stagecoach from Missouri to Sacramento, who wouldn't be thrilled? Each person had 15 square inches of space, felt queasy from the constant motion, itchy from sand gnats and doing without a bath for 20 days - who wouldn't be thrilled! Not to mention burning eyes and irritated throats from the alkali dust that coasted their hair and clothes...
Later they would joke about the euchre and whist games played aboard the coach, or the time the wheels sank so far that they all had to walk along the coach for miles without water while the men, hip deep in mud, pushed, or the terrifying descent in the Rockies, hairpin curves where you couldn't see the lead horses, when the brakes smoked as the coach careened down the trail above a chasm. What an adventure right?
Each person was allowed 25 pounds of baggage, two blankets and a water canteen. The total cost for this adventure was $600, quite a hefty sum in the 1860s. But they wrote back home about how worth it the cost was. The sights were fantastic, prairie dogs, buffalo, waterfalls, and rock formations never seen before.
Their stage allowed them only two stops every 24 hours at a home station where they could stretch their legs, quench their thirst, and maybe get some sleep. The drivers (called "jehus") would call out before dawn, "All Aboard! Awaaay!" and the fresh but half broken western mustangs would take off at runaway speed - the next day of the 20 day journey was underway!
Care to climb aboard??
Next time - Those Freightmen
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Today in Pioneer History: "On August 24, 1873, William Henry Jackson became the first person to photograph Colorado's elusive Mount of the Holy Cross.
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