Critic Reviews for Stagecoach Run. They came to be known as road coaches and were used by their enterprising (or nostalgic) owners to provide scheduled passenger services where rail had not yet reached and also on certain routes at certain times of the year for the pleasure of an (often amateur) coachman and his daring passengers. These owners were (often very expert) amateur gentlemen-coachmen, occasionally gentlewomen. The yard of ale drinking glass is associated by legend with stagecoach drivers, though it was mainly used for drinking feats and special toasts.[2][3]. Besant, with his partner John Vidler, enjoyed a monopoly on the supply of stagecoaches to the Royal Mail and a virtual monopoly on their upkeep and servicing for the following few decades. However the formation of a stage company in 1706 established a regular coach route between York and London and soon there were regular coach services on many other routes. For other uses, see. Nevertheless, the stagecoach was a vital method of transportation in the American West, and far more comfortable than riding on horseback. Other owners would take more enthusiastic suitably-dressed passengers and indulge in competitive driving. [8] A string of coaching inns operated as stopping points for travellers on the route between London and Liverpool. A young couple from Boston bought the property in 1985 and rebuilt the house. [9], Even more dramatic improvements were made by John Palmer at the British Post Office. [11], Impressed by the trial run, Pitt authorised the creation of new routes. The first crude depiction of a coach was in an English manuscript from the 13th century. The horses were changed three times on the 80-mile (130 km) trip, normally completed in 17 hours. They finally created their own detective agency, but the salaries of these officers were so high they matched the amount previously lost in robberies. His patent lasted 14 years delaying development because Elliott allowed no others to license and use his patent. The body of the carriage rests upon large thongs of leather, fastened to heavy blocks of wood, instead of springs, and the whole is drawn by seven horses.[18]. His travel from Bath to London took a single day to the mail's three days. Stagecoach travel could be dangerous, too. Kinnear's mail and express line: That day's stage ride will always live in my memory – but not for its beauty spots. In France, between 1765 and 1780, the turgotines, big mail coaches named for their originator, Louis XVI's economist minister Turgot, and improved roads, where a coach could travel at full gallop across levels, combined with more staging posts at shorter intervals, cut the time required to travel across the country sometimes by half. During the gold rush years in the Rocky Mountains the Wells Fargo line had such a difficult time protecting its passengers and cargo that it created a standard form letter for reporting robberies. New coaches often known as Park Drags began to be built to order. Stagecoach Inns and Stations. It operated under the supervision of one or another of the Abbot or Downing family members from 1827 to 1899. The Abbot Downing Company was a huge factory in Concord, New Hampshire that took up six acres and produced forty other types of coaches and wagons. To answer the question, did the stagecoach run though Alderson? Ben Holladay may have made a wise financial decision when he sold the Overland stage line as railroads soon became the primary method of transporting both humans and cargo, but trains were still confined to their tracks and it was actually the introduction of the automobile that finally brought an end to the use of stagecoaches in the early 1900s. A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. https://truewestmagazine.com/how-long-did-the-old-west-wagon-train-era-last The amateur bandit Pearl Hart and her boyfriend hold up an Arizona stagecoach on May 30, 1899. According to The Story of the Great American West, Concord coaches came in various heavily varnished, bright colors and various sizes, as well.They were 8 1/2 feet long (now imagine the space inside of the coach), weighed 2500 pounds, which could be deadly if they tipped over on a road, and cost around $1300 depending on the amount of detail. Last Name Email Password By signing up, you agree to receiving newsletters from Rotten Tomatoes. ... Last Stagecoach services now departing around Gloucester. After the expiry of his patent most British horse carriages were equipped with elliptic springs; wooden springs in the case of light one-horse vehicles to avoid taxation, and steel springs in larger vehicles. Spent horses were replaced with fresh horses at stage stations, posts, or relays. Stagecoach driver Henry Monk better known as Hank was famous after rushing to get Horace Greeley to his lecture on time. Events featured living history days, tours, lectures, stories, songs and stage equipment displays. Under the old system the journey had taken up to 38 hours. In the 1800s American West roads were rocky, rutted, and sometimes impassible by stagecoach without a good push from behind. Nettie Spencer died in 1947. If it had not been for the long stretches when the horses had to walk, enabling most of us to get out and "foot it" as a relaxation, it seems as if we could never have survived the trip. Wells Fargo nailed safes to the floorboards of the coaches, hired armed guards to protect shipments and taught silver shippers how to melt their precious metals into bars too large to be carried by men on the run, and still their stagecoaches were robbed. [9] Another writer, however, argued that: Besides the excellent arrangement of conveying men and letters on horseback, there is of late such an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women, to travel from London to the principal towns in the country, that the like hath not been known in the world, and that is by stage-coaches, wherein any one may be transported to any place, sheltered from foul weather and foul ways; free from endamaging of one's health and one's body by the hard jogging or over-violent motion; and this not only at a low price (about a shilling for every five miles), but with such velocity and speed in one hour, as that the posts in some foreign countries make in a day. The Stagecoach Rides Again. By 1829 Boston was the hub of 77 stagecoach lines; by 1832 there were 106. Michael J. Graves Belen, New Mexico. The novelty of this method of transport excited much controversy at the time. [7], In 1754, a Manchester-based company began a new service called the "Flying Coach". In the end, it was the motor bus, not the train, that caused the final disuse of these horse-drawn vehicles, and many "automobile stage companies" were established in the early 1900s. While stagecoaches vanished as rail penetrated the countryside the 1860s did see the start of a coaching revival spurred on by the popularity of Four-in-hand driving as a sporting pursuit (the Four-In-Hand Driving Club was founded in 1856 and the Coaching Club in 1871). Where the rail network did not reach, the diligence was not fully superseded until the arrival of the autobus. His stagecoach drivers wore velvet-trimmed uniforms and Irish wool overcoats, and Holladay paid them well. Elliott mounted each wheel with two durable elliptic steel leaf springs on each side and the body of the carriage was fixed directly to the springs attached to the axles. By 1924 – 70 years after it began – Cobb & Co. had barrelled right through the hearts and minds of Australians and into the history books. The speed of coaches in this period rose from around 6 miles per hour (including stops for provisioning) to 8 miles per hour[15] and greatly increased the level of mobility in the country, both for people and for mail. Bandits were a constant threat and undoubtedly viewed stagecoach passengers like cats watching birds in a cage. A getaway driver comes out of retirement to pull off one last run - one that could send him to an early grave instead. Directed by Richard Fleischer, John Huston. 63 to Fort Springs in the 1940s. The last stagecoach robbery in the West was held 5 December 1916 near Jarbidge, Nevada The diligence (dilly for short), a solidly built coach with four or more horses, was the French analogue for public conveyance, especially in France, with minor varieties in Germany such as the Stellwagen and Eilwagen. When you turn loose to go under the coach, you've got to bring your arms over your chest and stomach. Each route had an average of four coaches operating on it at one time - two for both directions and a further two spares in case of a breakdown en route. This was followed by a steady proliferation of other routes around the island. The stagecoach would depart every Monday and Thursday and took roughly ten days to make the journey during the summer months. Travel time was reduced on this later run from three days to two in 1766 with an improved coach called the Flying Machine. From the roof depends a large net work which is generally crouded with hats, swords, and band boxes, the whole is convenient, and when all parties are seated and arranged, the accommodations are by no means unpleasant. The riders were frequent targets for robbers, and the system was inefficient. For more information about the Stagecoach Inn click here. Wiki User During stagecoach holdups, did outlaws catch the coach on a dead run, while shooting the armed guard, driver and passengers? Since 1986, he has offered rides in a replica of a Concord coach, on local trails that were part of the original stagecoach routes in the 1840s and 1850s. Coaches with iron or steel springs were uncomfortable and had short useful lives. [10], Palmer made much use of the "flying" stagecoach services between cities in the course of his business, and noted that it seemed far more efficient than the system of mail delivery then in operation. These coaches only operated on certain days and they also carried the mail. Filter by topic . On long trips, passengers generally slept sitting up or not at all since it was considered bad etiquette to rest ones head on another passenger. Passengers were appalled by the dirt and squalor that greeted them at the station. © Kathy Weiser / Legends of … He met resistance from officials who believed that the existing system could not be improved, but eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Pitt, allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London. [10] By 1797 there were forty-two routes. A more uncouth clumsy machine can scarcely be imagined. Critic Reviews for Stagecoach Run. A canvas-topped wagon had a lower center of gravity, and it could not be loaded on the roof with heavy freight or passengers as an enclosed coach so often was. [note 1] A professional coachman might accompany them to avert disaster. John Carr, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/The-Stagecoach/, http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-wild-west-coaches-opened-up-rhodesia.html, Sherman & Smiths Railroad, Steam boat & Stage route map of New England, New-York, and Canada, The Overland Trail:Stage Coach Vocabulary- Last Updated 19 April 1998, Stagecoach Westward - Frontier Travel, Expansion, United States, Stagecoach History: Stage Lines to California, Wild West Tales: Stories by R. Michael Wilson; Stagecoach, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stagecoach&oldid=998609960, Articles needing additional references from March 2016, All articles needing additional references, Articles with trivia sections from February 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 January 2021, at 05:37. Holladay had a contract with the United States Post Office that paid $365,000 a year and the Overland transported humans, packages and mail over a 3000 mile area. How Bachelor Nation Turns Stagecoach Into an Unofficial Reunion For country music's biggest festival, reality stars from ABC's reality show can't help … Stories that prominently involve a stagecoach include: This article is about the horse-drawn carriage used by long-distance passenger transport operators. [7] By the mid 17th century, a basic stagecoach infrastructure had been put in place. The banking part of the business continued on totally independent of the express business and is still alive today as the Wells Fargo Union Trust Company. A service to Edinburgh was added the next year, and Palmer was rewarded by being made Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office. The postal delivery service in Britain had existed in the same form for about 150 years—from its introduction in 1635, mounted carriers had ridden between "posts" where the postmaster would remove the letters for the local area before handing the remaining letters and any additions to the next rider. Why the United States Entered World War I, 123rd Machine Gun Battalion in the Meuse-Argonne, Northern Military Advantages in the Civil War, The Year Before America Entered the Great War. Around twenty years later in 1880 John Pleasant Gray recorded after travelling from Tucson to Tombstone on J.D. Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The English visitor noted the small, sturdy Norman horses "running away with our cumbrous machine, at the rate of six or seven miles an hour". [16], The development of railways in the 1830s spelled the end for stagecoaches and mail coaches. In New South Wales the last coach probably ran on the Hebel-Goodooga-Brewarrina routes in 1913 while the last coach ran in Victoria from Casterton to Mount Gambier in 1916. Violence in Stagecoach Run April 21, 2012 by aturchi90 For being, as I felt (as a person who cannot remember the last time I saw a Western), an unusually lighthearted Western, Stagecoach Run (1936) did not fail to deliver in the violence area. See Answer. In 2008, festivals and programs were held as part of our Stagecoach Days: 150th Anniversary, recognizing and celebrating the history of the stagecoach. Reforms of the turnpike trusts, new methods of road building and the improved construction of coaches led to a sustained rise in the comfort and speed of the average journey - from an average journey length of 2 days for the Cambridge-London route in 1750 to a length of under 7 hours in 1820. The last American chapter in the use of the stage coaches took place between 1890 and the late 1920s, when the road to Young, AZ was paved and the stagecoach was replaced with a Ford. A similar service was begun from Liverpool three years later, using coaches with steel spring suspension. [6] The first recorded stagecoach route in Britain started in 1610 and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. Concords had a seat in front, in back, and one in the middle seating nine when full and leaving little leg room, but passengers were also allowed to ride on top. A simplified and lightened vehicle known as a stage wagon, mud-coach, or mud-wagon, was used in the United States under difficult conditions. Australia's last horse-drawn stagecoach service was run by Cobb & Co from Yuleba to Surat in Queensland on 14 August 1924. Some owners would parade their vehicles and magnificently dressed passengers in fashionable locations. However, this was not the end of the stagecoach, as it continued to be utilized in areas without railroad service for several more decades. [9] The London-York route was advertised in 1698: Whoever is desirous of going between London and York or York and London, Let them Repair to the Black Swan in Holboorn, or the Black Swan in Coney Street, York, where they will be conveyed in a Stage Coach (If God permits), which starts every Thursday at Five in the morning. [12], The period from 1800 to 1830 saw great improvements in the design of coaches, notably by John Besant in 1792 and 1795. One of the most famous stagecoach owners and operators was Ben Holladay who traveled in a personalized stagecoach with gold scrollwork and matching dapple-gray horses. Top Answer. 5 6 7. Three times a day, passengers could get a hurried meal. Prior to its arrival, a network of stagecoach routes existed.[22]. [21], The railway network in South Africa was extended from Mafeking through Bechuanaland and reached Bulawayo in 1897. Rest stations, which were called swing stations, were only used to change out horses and rarely offered food. By the early 1840s most London-based coaches had been withdrawn from service.[10]. I found no direct evidence that places a stagecoach in Alderson. [14], Steady improvements in road construction were also made at this time, most importantly the widespread implementation of Macadam roads up and down the country. By the end of the 17th century stagecoach routes ran up and down the three main roads in England. There were more than 15,000 employees in the Overland Company and 110 Concord Stagecoaches. They only appeared in summer.[17]. In his 1861 book Roughing It, Mark Twain described the Concord stage's ride as like "a cradle on wheels". [10], Steel springs had been used in suspensions for vehicles since 1695. The stagecoach was a closed four-wheeled vehicle drawn by horses or hard-going mules. Early coach travel was slow; in 1673, it took eight days to travel by coach from London to Exeter! In his book, “Stagecoach Days in Santa Barbara County, Walker A. Tompkins wrote, “Whips were considered a part of the driver, who kept the lashes well-oiled and as pliable as “a snake in the sun.” Most stagecoach whips had buckskin lashes, usually from 11 to 12 feet in … McCarthy and Stalin – Political Brothers? Wells Fargo’s Great Overland Mail. But history states the Blue Sulphur Springs resort had daily stagecoach runs to Lewisburg and Charleston. Holladay sold his stagecoach company to Wells Fargo in 1866 to invest in the railroads. You may later unsubscribe. It was used as a public conveyance on an established route usually to a regular schedule. View Stagecoach Days 2008 Event Information. Yakima Canutt explained how the stunt was accomplished where, as an Apache warrior attacking the stagecoach, he is "shot", falls off his horse, and then gets dragged underneath the stagecoach: "You have to run the horses fast, so they'll run straight. They built their first Concord stagecoach in 1827 employing long leather straps under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion.[20]. The first stagecoach route started in 1610 and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. That’s Hollywood stuff. The Concord Stagecoach was built like a basket on leather straps that swung from side to side, weighed more than a ton, and cost somewhere between $1500 and $1800. In addition to the stage driver or coachman who guided the vehicle, a shotgun messenger armed with a coach gun might travel as a guard beside him. Asked by Wiki User. It occurred to him that this stagecoach service could be developed into a national mail delivery service, so in 1782 he suggested to the Post Office in London that they take up the idea. The last American chapter in the use of the stage coaches took place between 1890 and the late 1920s, when the road to Young, AZ was paved and the stagecoach was replaced with a Ford. [1], Familiar images of the stagecoach are that of a Royal Mail coach passing through a turnpike gate, a Dickensian passenger coach covered in snow pulling up at a coaching inn, and a highwayman demanding a coach to "stand and deliver".