Not So Luxurious Transportation of the 1850s (And a Giveaway)–by Jill Dewhurst

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Not-So-Luxury Transportation of the 1850s

Would you want to experience travel from San Francisco to Springfield, Missouri, on a stagecoach in 1860?  After my research for Clara’s Courage, I might forgo the adventure.  Modern cinematography of that time period tends to give us a romanticized image of stagecoach travel.

For travelers departing San Francisco for the Oklahoma Territory during the winter months, the Butterfield Stage Line was the only one of the three primary stage routes that dipped southward enough to avoid blizzards and Rocky Mountain crossings.  Because it prioritized mail over passengers, the accommodations were far from luxurious.  Unlike the Overland Stage Company that traversed the country further north, the Butterfield Line did not have coach houses along the route, for the stage kept going day and night.  Instead, the only stops were at way stations every two hours or so to change horses.  That fifteen-minute window gave passengers just enough time to stretch their legs, visit the outhouse, or purchase a light meal.

The twenty-eight-day trip was partitioned into nine divisions.  The First Division from San Francisco to Los Angeles most often used the Concord coach, the design we envision when we think of a stagecoach.  (The Overland Stage Line and Wells Fargo Company used the Concord.)  Los Angeles was a primary hub, and the town even had one choice for overnight accommodations.  The Bella Union Hotel in 1858 was a single-story building that housed the courthouse, a tavern, a mercantile, and the printing press for the Los Angeles Star.  Along the north side of the building ran a series of six-by-nine-foot spaces nicknamed “dog kennels.”  These rooms had a short door, walls, dirt floors, and a canvas roof.  No bed.  No washstand.  Just walls and a muddy floor.  Trip Advisor rating: zero stars.

From Los Angeles, the Butterfield vehicle switched from the Concord coach to the Celerity wagon.  The latter was commissioned by John Butterfield to be lighter and faster than the Concord.  The result resembled a flat-bottomed buckboard wagon with rectangular vertical framing, a canvas roof and windows, and a boot (trunk) for the luggage.  Think of it as a cross between a coach and a Conestoga wagon.  Some of these had an extra bench in the middle and could carry up to twelve passengers if their legs dove-tailed for the journey.  The only concession for comfort was that the back of the seats could be laid flat for sleeping.  Next to strangers.  Bouncing along rutted roads.  Lying on unpadded wood.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?

photo credit:  National Park Service

The Butterfield trail skirted the border of Mexico and the Gadsden Purchase (now southern Arizona and New Mexico) before heading across Texas to Fort Smith, Arkansas.  The route traversed desert, Comanche land (one of the more war-like tribes of the day), and low mountains.  Dotted along the way were a few military forts, the Butterfield’s primary resource for a blacksmith, physician, and protection against attacks.  Once the stage reached Fort Smith, Arkansas (the next major hub), travelers heading to Oklahoma Territory (also called “Indian Territory”) would secure their own transportation and head west to Fort Gibson and pick up the Shawnee Trail (known as the “Texas Road”) heading north.  This final stretch was a welcome respite for travelers, for the road was well-maintained and sported several coach houses (single night boardinghouses) along the route through the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.

The primary setting of Clara’s Courage and the Rugged Cross Ranch series is the fictional town of Prairie Hills in northeast Oklahoma, but circumstances beyond Josiah Collins’ and Clara McClintock’s control send them on the journey described above.  How do they get to San Francisco in the first place?  That’s a story worth telling.

Meet Josiah and Clara in Clara’s Courage, a faith-filled story complete with an awkward meet-cute, a marriage of convenience, and a sweet western romance.  Check out the description below, and preorder Clara’s Courage to have it automatically delivered to your Kindle on release day ~ September 22, 2026.  Preorder pricing will only last for a limited time.

~~Giveaway~~

Have you ever visited a museum with a stagecoach?  Was it a Concord coach or a Celerity wagon?  Do you have a favorite novel, movie, or television show that features stagecoaches?  My favorite would be the Hallmark series When Calls the Heart inspired by Janette Oke’s novel.

Anyone who comments below will be entered into the drawing for an autographed copy of Clara’s Courage.  Be sure to chime in!  I’d love to meet you!

~*~*~*~

Clara’s Courage

A PRICELESS RING, A PERILOUS JOURNEY, AND A PROMISE THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING

She vanished without a trace. He never stopped believing she was alive.
Three years after an awkward first meeting, Clara McClintock’s unexpected visit to the Rugged Cross Ranch forges a friendship with Josiah Collins that whispers the promise of something more. Receiving permission from her father to become her suitor, Josiah courts Clara via letters until she disappears with no clues leading to her whereabouts. One by one, the people in Josiah’s life succumb to the belief that Clara has perished, but Josiah never surrenders hope.
Far from home, Clara finds herself trapped with no hope of freedom or a future with the man she was beginning to love, yet she determines to hold onto her faith–a faith tested when a promise made to a dying young woman places her in the crosshairs of a dangerous man.
When an unexpected reunion brings Josiah and Clara together, their journey across the frontier is fraught with danger as a relentless pursuer closes in. With every mile testing their growing love and their faith, Clara must find the courage to trust God’s providence when the path before them seems impossible.
Sometimes the longest road home is the one that leads straight to the heart.

Clara’s Courage on Amazon

~*~*~*~

A Selah Award Bronze Medalist, Christian Author Award Winner, Will Rogers Medallion Award Gold Medal Winner, and bestselling author of historical Christian fiction, Jill Dewhurst writes novels that seamlessly weave a page-turning story with the truth of God’s unconditional love. With her varied experience as an RN, a musician, and a homeschool mom, Jill creatively weaves a part of herself into each story.  When not writing, she enjoys playing her flute and thanking God for the hubby who lassoed her heart for keeps. Publishing her Rugged Cross Ranch series has been a dream come true.

 

76 thoughts on “Not So Luxurious Transportation of the 1850s (And a Giveaway)–by Jill Dewhurst”

    • How fun! Yes, I’m definitely a Heartie, too. Even my husband is a closet Heartie, though he’d never admit it. We’ve both been Team Nathan and are excited for the upcoming season. ?

  2. No, I’ve never ridden in or been near a real stagecoach.

    I enjoyed the When Calls the Heart novels by Janet Oke. Didn’t Laura Ingalls Wilder mention stage travel in some of her books? Most Western movies of TV shows I’ve seen definitely didn’t emphasize the drawbacks of traveling by stage (beyond the fact that they might be held up!).

    Thanks for running the giveaway!

    • Janette Oke’s Canadian West series was one of my favorites growing up. The “When Calls the Heart” Hallmark series definitely strays from the books, but since Mrs. Oke is a storyline advisor for the show, it stays true to her storytelling style.

    • “When Calls the Heart” is also one of my favorite shows. Have you seen “When Hope Calls”? It airs on Great American Family, but it is a spinoff of “When Calls the Heart” and helps to fill in the gaps when I’m waiting for a new season. ?

  5. Good morning and welcome! I remember seeing them at Six Guns in Florida many years ago. I did see some old carriages at Mackinaw Island that they keep for show. I’m sure there are more museums about stage coaches in the west. I am a fan of Janette Oke’s also.

    Thanks for stopping by! And your article on Stage coaches. You are right! It doesn’t sound very romantic or comfortable! Heh.

    • Mackinaw Island is on my bucket-list of places to visit. I’ll have to remember to look for the carriages when I’m there. ? Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly and Canadian West series were the first books I purchased with my own money as a Junior High girl. I’d checked them out of the library so many times, I decided to add them to my own library. ??

  6. One year at our Fall Festival the historical society had a Conestoga wagon display set up. Several people were dressed to period and were cooking and doing live demonstrations….it was very interesting. I’m definitely a Heartie!

    • That experience would have brought wagon train living to life! I’ve only ever seen a Conestoga wagon without the canvas top near a park in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. I was surprised how small the wagon bed was! Those travelers must have been genius packers to stow all of their belongings and foodstuffs and still had room to sleep inside when the weather was bad.

      I’m a fellow Heartie, too! ??

  7. Not to my memory, although as a child my parents took me to Ford’s village in Michigan. They don’t sound comfortable like my sub with heared seats!!!

  9. No I have never seen a real life stage coach but I do love the When calls the heart book series and the hallmark show. My favorite Janette Oak series is Love Comes Softly. Shanna Hatfield’s The Christmas Token has a opening scene with a stage coach, which I thought was pretty funny scene with the main character, Ginny being stuck inside with rude men but she held her own as well as her very sharp hat pin 🙂

    • The first books I purchased as a girl were Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly and Canadian West series. Have you seen “When Hope Calls”? It’s a spinoff of Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart” that airs on Great American Family channel.

      I’ve not read “The Christmas Token,” but I’ll add it to my TBR. ???

  10. There is a western museum in Roswell, NM, that has a stagecoach. It has been years since I have been there and I don’t know what kind it was. The thing that surprised me the most was how small it was. I always thought of stagecoaches being fairly large.

    • Several companies designed and produced stagecoaches in the 1800s, but the Concord coach was definitely the most popular for cross-country travel. I had always envisioned a stagecoach interior as larger, too. Being used to our roomy vehicles these days, I think all of us would feel cramped and rather confined in a stagecoach with passengers at full capacity.

  11. Several companies designed and produced stagecoaches in the 1800s, but the Concord coach was definitely the most popular for cross-country travel. I had always envisioned a stagecoach interior as larger, too. Being used to our roomy vehicles these days, I think all of us would feel cramped and rather confined in a stagecoach with passengers at full capacity.

  12. Yes. I have seen and ridden on a Concord coach in Wisconsin Dells on our honeymoon. It was part of what they had to do at Fort Dells, which is no longer there. I’ve also seen them in museums. I don’t remember seeing the Celerity wagon though.

    • How fun! ? I lived in Wisconsin until just before my fifth birthday. I was too young to remember much more than playing in the snow, but I’ll have to ask my dad if we ever visited the Wisconsin Dells. The Concord coach is so iconic for Western travel. I’d never even heard of a Celerity wagon before my research for Clara’s Courage. It was only used for the southern route of the Butterfield Stage Line.

  13. Yes, I have seen several Concord coaches in museums and even ridden in one during a Western Days celebration.

    • A Western Days celebration sounds exciting! ? I’ve attended the Alafia Rendezvous, a recreation of Florida pioneer life, but none of the stagecoach lines traveled this far south. I’ve also visited Indian City, USA in Oklahoma, but I don’t recall seeing a stagecoach there.

  14. I have visited several museums that had stagecoaches in them. One of my favorites s in Ruidoso, New Mexico where the Museum of the Horse is located.
    They had all kinds of wagons and stagecoaches there. It is an awesome place where every facet of the HORSE is covered.

  15. I live about 12 miles from Fort Smith, Arkansas. I encourage anyone interested in Western history to visit. We have Judge Parker’s courtroom and the jail and replica gallows; the Museum of History with an authentic soda fountain; a great statue of Bass Reeves, who was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger; and the US Marshals Museum, which is SO neat and very interactive. They don’t have a stagecoach but there is a Conestoga Wagon and a jail transport wagon, plus a cannon. I have seen a stagecoach at AQ Chicken House, a restaurant in Springdale, Arkansas. They closed several years ago and reopened this year under new owners. I don’t think they still have the stagecoach but they have a really cool rooster statue!

    • Fort Smith, Judge Isaac Parker, and the US Marshals are all mentioned in Clara’s Courage! My husband and I will be visiting Branson, MO in October and hope to visit Fort Smith on our way back to the airport in Tulsa.

  17. Welcome. This is a wonderful post. I have always found stage coaches interesting. Not glamorous, just interesting. Never wanted to ride in one. I have seen many movies with stage coaches and yes I agree, the movies make them seem (more or less) like luxury forms of transportation. Like on “Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman” , many of John Wayne westerns and others. I have seen the Concord coach and boy does it look totally uncomfortable. I guess I am spoiled. LOL

    • Thank you, Lori. Until my research for Clara’s Courage, I did not realize just how many different coach designs were built during that time period. When I think back to episodes of Dr. Quinn, When Calls the Heart, When Hope Calls, and others, I don’t recall seeing anything other than a Concord coach. That design was iconic for Western travel, even in Canada.

  18. I have seen a Concord stagecoach in a museum.I always like to see the old John Wayne movie called Stagecoach. One of the early Westerns where they would shoot the gun then a few minutes later you heard the sound. Lol

    • Because the Concord coach was so prevalent throughout our country’s westward expansion, they are the most predominantly featured design in western museums today. Your description of Stagecoach makes me want to watch it just to see the delayed sound effects. 🙂

  19. I live in lincoln Nebraska and one of museum’s here has a stage coach just don’t know what type it is.

    • Thank you! Because Clara’s Courage takes my characters beyond the town of Prairie Hills, Oklahoma, I’ve had to do more research for this novel than the others in the series. Learning about the various stagecoach designs was fascinating. I had never realized there were more stagecoaches than the iconic Concord coach.

  21. I’ve touristed in a Concord stagecoach in Tombstone, and suspect I’ve also ridden in the Celerity there–although I’d never heard that name before. Yes, hard seats! and less than spacious–how did the voluminous skirts fit in? (Wll, for starters, hoops would have been removed, and I’m speculating layers of petticoats would be reduced, especially in summer in the southwest.) Rode in a carriage in San Antonio that Cinderella would have been at home in, and have enjoyed rides in a number of other horse-drawn conveyances in my travels (NYC has options in Central Park!) Wonderful to enjoy a peek into the past, but comfort levels in most are not up to modern vehicle standard… Thank you for sharing those insights into early travel!

    • Thank you for commenting! Yes, now I understand what made a lady’s “traveling dress” different than the rest of her wardrobe. They were typically more A-line with only a single petticoat and the traditional undergarments. You’re right! The slimmer design would have been essential for traveling in such a confined space.

      My husband and I have ridden in a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park, NYC, but we need to add a stagecoach experience to our list of must-dos. 🙂

  25. I’ve seen a stagecoach somewhere in a museum, but can’t remember if it was out west or Pigeon Forge. My favorite television shows with stagecoaches are Laramie and Gunsmoke. I love westerns!

    • I grew up on re-runs of Bonanza and Rawhide. 🙂 My husband and I are headed to Sevierville (near Pigeon Forge) in October. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a museum with a stagecoach, just in case.

  26. I have never visited any museum with stagecoaches But I too love watching When Calls The Heart Also it is one of my favorite to watch Have a Blessed Weekend!

  27. I have never visited a museum that had a stagecoach. When I was a child I often got car sick. Thankfully I outgrew it. I can only imagine how sick I would have been had I have to travel in a stagecoach with all the bouncing and bumping.

    • Hi, Patti. I’m right there with you for battling motion sickness. Thankfully, ginger to the rescue! In Clara’s Courage, Clara struggles with motion sickness a time or two. She’s a kindred spirit, for sure.

  28. Everything I have read about stagecoach travel has sounded very hot, dusty and uncomfordable. lol I have seen them in museums and they do not look comfortable but I guess it would beat riding a horse across the country, maybe. At least in a stage you would have some protection from rain and snow. A friend of ours who is no longer with us built a stage, much smaller than a real one, but it was beautiful to look at. Clara’s Courage sounds very exciting, can’t wait to read it and I would love to win an autographed copy. Thanks for the chance.

    • Thank you for commenting! The primary benefit would be the speed of travel, as crazy as that sounds to us today. A horse could only travel about 25 miles per day and only for a handful of days in a row, but a stagecoach could cover 100-120 miles each day since the horses were changed every couple of hours.

      How creative for your friend to build his own stagecoach! That must have been a lovely decoration!

    • Yay! I enjoy reading historical Christian romance as much as I enjoy writing it. If you need more books in your To-Be-Read collection, check out my Rugged Cross Ranch series. (Clara’s Courage is Book 5 in this series.)

  31. I don’t recall going to a museum with a stagecoach. I also like When Calls The Heart and also Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

  32. We have been lucky enough to have seen stagecoaches in several museums. We have also seen them “in service” giving rides in several locations, Tombstone, AZ for one. We visited one shop that builds carriages today and they were just finishing up a stagecoach when we were there. All the stage coaches we have seen have been the Concord coach style.
    I have ridden in wagons and a 2 wheel style “carriage” used in Asia. Like the stage, they were not built for comfort.

    • How interesting that you were able to see a stagecoach build in progress! The Concord coach was definitely the most popular model in the 1800s. If I ever have the opportunity, I’d enjoy a short ride in a stagecoach just to experience it and develop a deeper respect for those who rode them for long distances.

    • Thank you for your comment! Dr. Quinn is a great suggestion. I haven’t seen any episodes in years, but I may need to find them on a streaming service and watch some again.

  35. I visited a few western attractions that maybe had some stage coaches in them, it’s been a long time ago. I love reading books about mail order brides traveling on stage coaches to meet their husbands. It’s always fun to read about the traveling companions and what they do.

    • If you haven’t read them, Lacy Williams and Misty Beller have great series about mail-order brides, and Jody Hedlund has an interesting series about bride ships. I highly recommend all of them.

  36. I also rode the stagecoach at Knott’s Berry Farm in the 1960’s I think it was an Overland enclosed one very uncomfortable and once was definitely enough!

    • According to their website, Knott’s Berry Farm still offers rides on the Butterfield Stagecoach (Concord model)! Now you have an appreciation for every character you read enduring a stagecoach journey! 🙂

  37. Fort Necessity in SW Pennsylvania!… I love visiting places that bring history alive. Plus, I love Hallmark’s “When calls the Heart” & in the past I’ve read all of Janette Oke’s books that I could get my hands on!

    • Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly and Canadian West series were the first complete series of books I read as a young teen. She’s the one who imspired me to write in the same genre! 🙂

  38. Fort Necessity in SW Pennsylvania!… I love visiting places that bring history alive. Plus, I love Hallmark’s “When calls the Heart” & in the past I’ve read all of Janette Oke’s books that I could get my hands on!

  39. The Apple Dumpling Gang
    Loved this movie!
    I’ve seen stagecoaches in person but can’t recall exactly where.
    Never ridden on one that I recall.

    • Thank you for commenting! I recall seeing snippets from “The Apple Dumpling Gang,” but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the entire movie. I’ll have to watch it sometime.

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