Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory
The Butterfield Overland Mail was a transport and mail delivery system that employed stagecoaches that traveled on a specific route between Saint Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and which passed through the New Mexico Territory. It was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until March 30, 1861. The route that was operated extended from Fort Yuma, across the Colorado River into New Mexico Territory via, Tucson to the Rio Grande and Mesilla, New Mexico then south to Franklin, Texas, midpoint on the route. The New Mexico Territory mail route was divided into two divisions each under a superintendent.
Stations
List of stations within two divisions:[1]
3rd Division
- Swiveler's Station - Located 20 miles east of Fort Yuma. Subsequently replaced by the post office for nearby Gila City.
- Gila City, a later station located 22 miles east of Fort Yuma.[2]
- Mission Camp - a later station located 11.49 miles east of Gila City.[2]
- Fillibusters Camp - Located 18 miles from Swiveler's Station.
- Antelope Peak Station, a later station located 15.14 miles east of Mission Camp, at the foot of Antelope Peak. It replaced Fillibusters Camp Statiion, 6 miles to the west.[2]
- Peterman's Station - Located 19 miles from Fillibuster Camp, 12.8 miles from Antelope Hill. Later called Mohawk Station.
- Texas Hill Station, a later station located 10.98 miles east of Mohawk Station, replaced Grizwell's Station.[2]
- Griswell's Station - Located 12 miles from Peterman's Station, later abandoned.
- Flap-Jack Ranch - Located 15 miles from Griswell's Station,[3] later called Grinnel’s Ranch or Station, located 27.11 miles from Mohawk Station, 16.13 miles from Texas Hill Statiion, sometimes called Stanwix Ranch and Stanwix Station by Union Army reports.[4]
- Burke's Station, a later station 9.43 miles from Grinnel’s Ranch midway to Oatman Flat Station.[2]
- Oatman Flat Station - Located 20 miles from Flap-Jack Ranch.[5]
- Murderer's Grave Station - Located 20 miles from Oatmans Flat Station, later Kenyon Station.
- Gila Ranch - Located 17 miles from Murderer's Grave Station.
- Desert Station - Later station located 21.82 miles from Gila Ranch.[2]
- Maricopa Wells Station - Located 40 miles from Gila Ranch, and 18.57 miles from Desert Station.[2]
- Casa Blanca Station - Station established in the latter part of 1858, located 11.35 miles from Maricopa Wells.[2]
- Socatoon Station - Located 22 miles from Maricopa Wells and 11 miles from Casa Blanca Station.[6]
- Oneida Station - Later station, located 13 miles from Socatoon Station.[6]
- Blue Water Station - Later station located 11 miles from Oneida Station.[6]
- Pechacho or Picacho Station - Located 37 miles from Socatoon Station, 14 miles from Blue Water.[6]
- Pointer Mountain Station - Located 22 miles from Picacho Station.
- Tucson Station - Located 18 miles from Pointer Mountain.
4th Division
- Seneca Springs Station - Located 35 miles from Tucson, no water on the route except at station. Later known as Cienega Springs.
- San Pedro Station - Located in Arizona, 24 miles from Seneca Springs, no water on the route except at station.
- Dragoon Springs Station - Located in Arizona, 23 miles from San Pedro Station, no water except at station.
- Ewell Station, a later station located 25 miles east of Dragoon Springs and 15 miles west of Apache Pass.[7]
- Apache Pass Station - Located in Arizona, 49 miles from Dragoon Springs, no water except at station.
- Stein's Peak Station - Located in Doubtful Canyon, New Mexico, 35 miles from Apache Pass, no water except at station.
- Soldiers Farewell Station - Located in New Mexico, 42 miles from Stein's Peak Station, no water except at station.
- Ojo de Vaca Station - Located in New Mexico, 14 miles from Soldiers Farewell Station.
- Miembre's River Station - Located in New Mexico, 16 miles from Ojo de Vaca. Later Mowry City, New Mexico.
- Cooke's Spring Station - Located in New Mexico, 18 miles from the Miembre's River Station, just west of the site of the later Fort Cummings.
- Goodsight Station, later station, located in New Mexico, 14 miles east of the Cooke's Spring Station.
- Rough and Ready Station, later station, located in New Mexico, 22 miles east of Goodsight Station.
- Picacho Station - Located in the village of Picacho, 15 miles east of the Rough and Ready Station and 52 miles from Cooke's Springs. This station had the last natural water available on the route until Cooke's Springs, although the later intervening stations had hauled water and constructed earthen tanks to catch rain water.
- Mesilla - Located 6 miles, east of Picacho Station. Mesilla was almost exactly mid-way between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and was the most important Overland Stage Station between the two points. At this time Messila was on the west bank of the Rio Grande and was the point where the route crossed the river.
- Fort Fillmore Station - Located on the east bank of the Rio Grande, 14 miles from Pecacho Station, nearby Fort Fillmore.
- Cottonwoods Station - Located, 25 miles south of Fort Filmore along the east bank of the Rio Grande, just over the border in what is now Vinton, Texas.
- Franklin Station - Located in the town of Franklin, (now El Paso, Texas), 22 miles from Cottonwoods Station. Headquarters of the 4th Division.
See also
References
- ↑ List of Stations from New York Times, October 14 1858, Itinerary of the Route
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES. CHAPTER LXII. OPERATIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. JANUARY 1, 1861–JUNE 30, 1865. PART I., CORRESPONDENCE., p.1056, itinerary of the marches from Fort Yuma to Pima Villages, made by Lieutenant-Colonel West
- ↑ Flap Jack Stage Station, Arizona, c. 1900, from Sharlot Hall Museum Transportation Image Collection; Sharlot Hall Museum Transportation Collection
- ↑ Stanwix Stage Station, Maricopa County, Arizona, c. 1873, from Sharlot Hall Museum Transportation Image Collection; Sharlot Hall Museum Transportation Collection
- ↑ Ruins of Oatman Flat Stage Station, Oatman, AZ, c. 1910, from Sharlot Hall Museum Transportation Image Collection; Sharlot Hall Museum Transportation Collection
- 1 2 3 4 THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES. CHAPTER LXII. OPERATIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. JANUARY 1, 1861–JUNE 30, 1865. PART I., CORRESPONDENCE., pp.1017-1018, Distances from Los Angeles, Cal., eastward to Mesilla, NM Territory
- ↑ The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. L, United States. War Dept, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1897, p.121, this station shortened the route between Dragoon Springs and Apache pass by 9 miles.
- ↑ The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. L, United States. War Dept, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1897, p.122
- ↑ 32°20′26″N 108°39′29″W / 32.34056°N 108.65806°W / 32.34056; -108.65806
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