When considering the American West icons no doubt the stagecoach comes to mind. The tall wheels, a glamorous carriage painted red and gold, a cowboy at the reigns, a cowboy riding shotgun, and making good time between towns being pulled by rippling buckskins. The coaches carried the social elites, mail, and riches – making them targets of hold-ups by the highwaymen and also necessitating the lawman riding shot gun. These were the Royal Carriages of the dusty west.
But this is Hollywood’s image of the stagecoach. John Ford’s 1939 Stagecoach helped create this Western myth. Watch it and see, what is realistic, and what is fantastic. Also look for the art in his narrative. I can’t watch Ford movie without asking, “Where is the horizon?” If you are not familiar with this reference, check out Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical, The Fabelmans. The scene where he meets his icon is a crash course in framing, fantastic! Now every time I take a photo my internal dialogue is asking me, Where is the horizon?
This research came out of two recent adventures. Doug Artman and I made a central Nevada sojourn west to east and back again. We looped over and around 5 mountain ranges and ran through and across the basins in between. Mid-trip we were heading for Moore’s Station. I knew this was a stagecoach station, but didn’t think about it more than that. Which routes did it serve? What services did it offer? There are many stations on the Nevada map. Just to the north is Pritchard’s Station, but we were headed south to Hot Creek Ranch, all on the Eureka-Tybo stage route. The other “adventure” was my research into Nevada railroads. There was a schedule for stagecoach travel away from the railroad stations on the Carson - Colorado Railroad. These bits inspired this essay.
My first realization of stagecoaches in Nevada was seeing the faint lines on USGS maps indicating the Overland Stage Route across the state. It is in the shadow of the Pony Express even though they are “kissing cousins” as historic routes across the west. The route was developed first by Howard Eagan in 1855, then Captain James Simpson (1859) refined the route. The history of staging in the West and through Nevada is highly convoluted business between 1850 and early 1900’s with its peak just prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad 1869 (this historic event cannot be overstated in shaping the West) and then the popularity of the automobile in the early 1900’s. Stagecoach routes followed the boom/bust cycle of the mining towns, opening and closing of post offices, and the whim of the weather. In Nevada there were three early booms, the Comstock/Virginia City, Austin, then Tonopah, and minor adjacent booms that left no mountain range unexplored. The web of routes grew and shrunk as populations in these areas did the same.
What I did not realize was so many of the roads I had been following and so many place markers on the maps were part of stagecoach routes. The closest and most commonly traveled is Henness Pass or Dog Valley Rd. Now I recognize names with Gate, Toll, Station and Grade as parts of stage routes. Now the trick is can I identify particular stage routes and follow them end to end? I am reminded that precise routes changed seasonally, but the stations keep you on track.
One particular route is the Palisades to Pioche route. I first came across this route when looking into the Eureka-Palisades Railroad. Thanks to the Raine’s Market (901 North Main St, Eureka, Nevada) website I can start putting this route together; Palisade- Eureka- Fish Springs- Duckwater- Currant Creek- White River- Pioche. While it only takes minutes to trace a route through Nevada backroads with these stops in between it will take a lot more research to accurately trace W.L. Pritchard’s historic route. But without a doubt this 260 mile route would be a sagebrush gem!
In reading Paher’s Nevada, Ghost Towns and Mining Camps I found near infinite inspiration within his colloquial prose. The book is organized by county and reviews 500+ places on the map. If his descriptions include towns with a post office then there must have been a stage with a contract to serve it. Plus supplies and passengers and ore/bullion were transported by stage. One such route that spoke to me was Carson City-Aurora Stage. Although most of this route is now paved until the turn-off for the Walker River the historic sites are well established and make for a great mixed surface tour. To continue the quest, cross referencing with John F Due’s list of mail carrying contracts, there were many stages leaving Aurora in all directions.
Stagecoaches were a integral part of the West’s history. Like so many aspects of the business of developing the West the stagecoach was operating on thin margins despite the high fees charged. As a result most stage lines only lasted a few years but they left behind a great legacy and their mark in the desert. Combining old railroad grades with stagecoach routes ticks all the boxes for interesting places, access to water, historic importance, and reasonable grades. If you can connect a few ghost towns by a line in the desert you might be following a stage line. Thank you for supporting my story telling.
Next month I will be looking at Robert Laxalt’s Nevada, taking inspiration from one of the state’s most celebrated authors.
Select References:
John Ford’s Stagecoach - currently available on Netflix
Austin Film Society, “Where’s the Horizon?!!!”
Stagecoach; Defining the Western.
Stations for Stage and Freight - Raine’s Market - very informative website
A Route for the Overland Stage - Petersen
Overland Mail to California in the 1850’s - USPS
Road Transport in Nevada: Wagon Freights and Stagecoaches, 1860-1895 John F. Due Nevada Historical Society Quarterly Winter 1999
Nevada Auto Tour Route Guide to the Pony Express - National Parks Service
Nevada, Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, Stanley W. Paher 1970
Stagecoaches of the American West - Legends of America
Robbery at Rawhide - Nevada Magazine Summer 2022
Month in review:
November was a quieter month after a big October. I did get out for an overnight with Mark Yukushev to repeat the Hot Springs/Micro Playa Route on the Black Rock Desert. It was a very different experience, a party of 2 vs 12 and we saw one truck camper on the micro-playa rather than the “hordes” of eclipse tourists. There was another bikepacking pair doing the Black Rock Point/ Soldier Meadows Hot Springs Loop. We saw their vehicle at 12 Mile and saw their tire tracks in the sand. I have a standing Friday fly fishing trip, we fished Desert Creek for the first time this year and got on the Little Truckee River. I read Sally Zanjani’s Devils Will Reign, How Nevada Began. Zanjani has 8 other titles listed, at least 4 will make my must-read list. I am making my way through Robert Laxalt’s Nevada, A History, and Stanley Paher’s Nevada, Ghost Towns & Mining Camps.
It was a busy month for posting on Bikepacking Northern Nevada! Paradise Valley Bikefishing, Leviathan Mine Rd, Massacre Ranch, and the Seven Troughs-Lava Beds all dropped. You can expect as much in December.
Upcoming Rides and Events:
Winter is here. I am looking forward to a 5 day trip in mid-December, likely to follow the Eureka-Tybo stage route. I will be traveling (by car) between Christmas and New Years to Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. No doubt I will be looking at bike touring options. In January I will return to White Pine Co. for Ely’s Fire and Ice Festival and winter bikepacking options. I am looking forward to winter kayaking trips on northern Nevada lakes from Pyramid to Walker.