The Butterfield or California Trail - San Angelo, TX, USA
N 31° 33.048 W 100° 30.494
14R E 356841 N 3491633
Marker is on U.S. 87 at a roadside picnic area accessible only from the southbound lanes of US 87. The plaque is large gray stone recessed into a cobblestone monument. It does not contain DAR insignia.
Waymark Code: WM184MD
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/29/2023
Views: 1
"The Butterfield (or Southern) Overland Mail, which operated from September 15, 1858, until March 1, 1861, was a semiweekly mail and passenger stage service from St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, across northern Texas to San Francisco, California. The routes from the two eastern termini united at Fort Smith, Arkansas. From St. Louis to San Francisco the distance was 2,795 miles, probably the longest route of any system using horse-drawn conveyances in the history of the United States. An act of Congress, effective on March 3, 1857, authorized a mail contract calling for the conveying of letter mail twice weekly, in both directions, in four-horse coaches or spring wagons suitable for carrying passengers; it was further specified that each trip should be completed within twenty-five days. Awarded to John Butterfield and associates, the contract provided for a compensation of $600,000 per year, in addition to receipts for passengers and express."
(vist link)
"The route through Texas followed first the northern route to the Pecos River and downstream to Horse Head Crossing. The route in West Texas was changed in 1859, in order to secure a better water supply on the route and to provide mail service to a more settled area, the stages between Franklin, Redmond, Washington and the Pecos River followed the San Antonio-El Paso Road to Camp Stockton and then turned east to Horsehead Crossing. From Horsehead Crossing the route crossed Texas to the Red River and into Indian Territory. In 1860 the route was changed to another route from Jacksboro to Sherman via Decatur due to the building of a new toll bridge at Bridgeport, that avoided delays crossing the West Fork of the Trinity River when it was flooded. From Colberts Ferry the route went on to Fort Smith, then up across Arkansas and southwest Missouri to Tipton with the final leg by train to St. Louis. The Texas mail route was so long that the route there, like that in California, was divided into two divisions each under a superintendent."
(vist link)