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For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation).
Stagecoach in Switzerland
Stagecoach in Switzerland

A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. A coach was originally a large usually closed four-wheeled Carriage with two or more horses harnessed as a team, controlled by a Coachman and/or one or Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another The business of running stagecoaches or the act of journeying in them was known as staging.

The stagecoach was supported on thoroughbraces, which were leather straps supporting the body of the carriage and serving as springs (the stagecoach itself was sometimes called a "thoroughbrace"). The front or after compartment of a Continental stagecoach was called a coupé or coupe. An inside passenger or seat was an inside, while an outside passenger or seat was an outside. On the outside were two back seats facing one another, which the British called baskets. In addition to the stage driver who guided the vehicle, a shotgun messenger, armed with a coach gun, often rode as a guard. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a shotgun messenger was a private "express messenger" and guard especially on a Stagecoach but also on a Train A coach gun is a Double-barrel shotgun, traditionally configured with 12 gauge barrels approximately 18" in length placed side by side (SxS

The stagecoach was also called a stage or stage carriage. Types included:

A stage wagon was sometimes used as a stagecoach, especially in thinly settled areas. In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a Horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries from 1784 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar

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, a highwayman demanding a coach to "stand and deliver", and a coach being chased by American Indians in a Western movie. Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. A toll road, (also known as a tollway, turnpike, pike, or toll highway, especially if it is constructed to Freeway standards This article is about coaching inns in general for individual inns see Stagecoach Inn (Disambiguation In Europe, from approximately the mid 17th The word highwayman is first attested from the year 1617 The term "highwayman" is mainly applied to robbers who travelled on horseback as opposed to those who robbed on foot Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. The familiar "yard of ale" was, by tradition, a beer drinking glass long enough to be handed to a stagecoach driver without his having to dismount.

The stagecoach was first developed in the Great Britain during the 1500s, and only died out in the early 1900s in the United States. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Coaching inns opened up throughout Europe to accommodate stagecoach passengers. Shakespeare's first plays were staged at coaching inns such as The George Inn, Southwark. William Shakespeare ( baptised The George, or George Inn, is a Public house established in the Mediæval period on Borough High Street in Southwark, London The Royal Mail stagecoach, a mail coach introduced in 1784, hastened the improvement of the road system in the British Isles through the turnpike trust system. In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a Horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries from 1784 Year 1784 ( MDCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by Act of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways In addition, the stagecoach was vital in the colonisation of North America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

The diligence, though not invariably with four horses, was the continental analogue for public conveyance, especially as formerly used in France, with other minor varieties such as the Stellwagen and Eilwagen. Stagecoaches could compete with canal boats, but they were rendered obsolete in Europe as the rail network expanded in the 19th century. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar

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Stagecoaches in the United States

Buffalo soldiers guard a Concord stagecoach. 1869
Buffalo soldiers guard a Concord stagecoach. Buffalo Soldiers is a Nickname originally applied to the members of the U 1869

Concord stagecoaches

The first Concord stagecoach was built in 1827. Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1827 ( MDCCCXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Abbot Downing Company employed leather strap braces under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down of a spring suspension. The company manufactured over forty different types of carriages and wagons at the wagon factory in Concord, New Hampshire. The city of Concord (ˈkɒnkərd often mispronounced as " Concorde " is the Capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States The Concord Stagecoaches were built so solidly that it became known that they didn't break down but just wore out. The Concord stagecoach sold throughout South America, Australia, and Africa. Over 700 Concord stagecoaches were built by the original Abbot Downing Company before it disbanded in 1847. Mark Twain stated in his 1861 book Roughing It that the Concord Stagecoach was like "a cradle on wheels". Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910 better known by the Pen name Mark Twain, was an American Humorist, satirist

The term "stage" originally referred to the distance between stations on a route, the coach traveling the entire route in "stages," but through constant misuse it came to apply to the coach. A stagecoach could be any four wheeled vehicle pulled by horses or mules - the primary requirement being that it was used as a public conveyance, running on an established route and schedule. Vehicles included buckboards and dead axle wagons, surplus Army ambulances, celerity [or mud] coaches, and the deluxe Concord. Selection of the vehicle was made by the owner of the stage line, and he would choose the most efficient vehicle based upon the load to be carried, the road conditions, and the weather; and used a two, four or six-horse team based upon those factors and the type of car.

The mail service

See also: George Chorpenning; Central Nevada Route; Pony Express; Wells Fargo; Butterfield Overland Mail

At a time when sectional tensions were tearing the United States apart, stagecoaches provided regular transportation and communication between St. Louis, Missouri, in the Midwest along the Mississippi River, and San Francisco, California, in the West. George W Chorpenning Jr (whose last name sometimes appears as "Chorpening" was a pioneer in the transportation of mail freight and passengers through the arid and undeveloped The Pony Express was a fast Mail service crossing the North American continent from St This article outlines the History of Wells Fargo & Company from its origins to its merger with Norwest and beyond The Butterfield Overland Mail, also known as the Oxbow Route, the Butterfield Overland Stage, or the Butterfield Stage, was a Stagecoach route The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Although the Pony Express is often credited with being the first fast mail line across the North American continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, stagecoach lines operated by George Chorpenning and the Butterfield Stage predated the Pony Express by nearly three years. The Pony Express was a fast Mail service crossing the North American continent from St George W Chorpenning Jr (whose last name sometimes appears as "Chorpening" was a pioneer in the transportation of mail freight and passengers through the arid and undeveloped The Butterfield Overland Mail, also known as the Oxbow Route, the Butterfield Overland Stage, or the Butterfield Stage, was a Stagecoach route

Butterfield Overland Stage began rolling on September 15, 1858, when the twice-weekly mail service began. Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common A Butterfield Overland Concord Stagecoach was started in San Francisco and another Overland Stage in Tipton, Missouri, they ran over the better roads. Tipton is a city in Moniteau County, Missouri, United States. As the going got rougher, the passengers and mail were transferred to "celerity wagons" designed for the roughest conditions. Each run encompassed 2,812 miles and had to be completed in 25 days or less in order to qualify for the $600,000 government grant for mail service.

In March of 1860, John Butterfield was forced out because of debt. Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting The beginning of the American Civil War forced the Stage Company to stop using the ox bow route and to use the central overland road instead. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The Eastern end of the central route, St. Louis to Denver, Colorado was taken over by Ben Holladay. The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States Ben Holladay is characterized as a devoted, diligent, enterprising man who became known as the Stagecoach King. At the western end, Denver to San Francisco, the Stage Company was taken over by Wells Fargo due to large debts that Butterfield owed. Wells Fargo & Co ( is a diversified Financial services company headquartered in San Francisco California, United States with operations around the Wells Fargo commandeered the monopoly over long-distance overland stage coach and mail service with a massive web of relay stations, forts, livestock, men, and stage coaches by 1866. Transcontinental stage-coaching came to an end with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.

Final American use: Short haul

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. Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada 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. After the main railroad lines were established, it was frequently not practical to go to a place of higher elevation by rail lines if the distance was short. A town 10 to 25 miles off the mail rail trunk, if it were 1000 or more feet higher, would be very difficult and expensive to serve by rail due to the grade incline. This final portion of the trip, during that 25-year period, was usually served by local stage lines, with a ride of less than a half day being typical. Once the mainline rail grid was in service, the railroad actually stimulated stage line operations well into the 20th century. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on These were eventually replaced by motorbuses, and so many local private bus lines were early-on called motor-stage lines. By 1918 stage coaches were only operating in a few mountain resorts or western National Parks as part of the "old west" romance for tourists. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Some bus lines still have the word "stages" in their names, though it's difficult to say whether such usages come from actual corporate descent from predecessor stagecoach operators, or is just a marketing strategy.

A real danger for stagecoach travellers was the risk of robbery by highwaymen or bandits, right up into the early 20th century. Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. This is about the television program Bandit as a general term refers to Outlaw. Cash payrolls and bank transfers were regularly carried by these scheduled stage lines, which operated without a telephone service to report robberies. Charles Bolles aka "Black Bart" is known to have robbed California stages from 1875 to 1883. Charles Earl Bolles (1829&ndashDisappeared 1888? alias Black Bart, was an American Old West Outlaw noted for his Poetic messages Year 1875 ( MDCCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1883 ( MDCCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

See also

External links

References

Dictionary

stagecoach

-noun

  1. Alternative spelling of stage-coach.
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