Butterfield Overland Stage - Cassville,Mo
N 36° 40.743 W 093° 52.105
15S E 422407 N 4059620
Cassville, Butterfield Overland Stage Stop
Waymark Code: WM12KW
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2006
Views: 66
The Butterfield Stage was an important part of the early history of Springfield. The creator of the stage line was John Butterfield. Born in Bern, New York in 1801, Butterfield advanced from a stage coach driver to the head of his company in New York state. He was one of the founders of the American Express Company and the Wells Fargo Company. He got the bid for the overland mail contract via the passage of the Overland California Mail bill of 1857, supported by Springfield's own John S. Phelps, later a Union general and governor of Missouri. The contract was for Butterfield to establish semi-weekly mail and passenger service from the Mississippi River to San Francisco for six years, the trip to be made in 25 days.
The St. Louis to San Francisco route began by train to Tipton, Missouri (1858), then Syracuse (1859-1861), south of Boonville. It then followed the Old Wire (telegraph) Road via Bolivar to Springfield, leaving the town along Fassnight Creek, on to Cassville, Ft. Smith, San Antonio, El Paso, Yuma, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. At Springfield the 3,000 lb. Concord Coach was replaced by a "Celerity Wagon," an open-sided vehicle better suited to the heat of the southwest. Mules replaced horses for part of the journey, giving the line the name "Jackass Mail." The use of mule was caused by the Comanches in Texas, they would rob the horses, not mules.
Marker Erected By: State Historical Society of Missouri
Date Marker Erected: 1952
County of Marker: Barry County
Marker Text:
BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL
IN MISSOURI - 1858 ~ 1861
Cassville, the last town on the route of the Butterfield Mail in Missouri, was not a relay station but the coaches stopped for mail and passengers.