Eagle Valley NV76
Centrally located between the first Nevada settlement at Genoa and the precious metal deposits of the Comstock Lode, Eagle Valley, site of present Carson City, was a vital link in land communications. One of the key California emigrant routes, the Carson Branch of the California Emigrant Trail, crossing the Sierra Nevada at Kit Carson Pass, came through Eagle Valley roughly along Silver Sage Drive, a block east of this point. The first Overland telegraph, colloquially known as "Bee's Grapevine," from F.A. Bee, its builder, was completed from Placerville to Carson City in 1859. In this area, it followed what is now U.S. Highway 395. The Pony Express (1860-1861) and the Butterfield-Wells Fargo Overland stages (1862-1868) followed the same route. The Virginia & Truckee Railway in its extension to Carson Valley and Minden in 1906 used the route of Bigelow Drive six blocks east.

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Carson City NV44
Nevada's State Capitol, and one of the state's oldest towns, was first established in 1851 as Eagle Station, a trading post and small ranch on the Carson Branch of the California Emigrant Trail kept by Frank and W.L. Hall and George Jollenshee. The station and surrounding valley took their names from an eagle skin stretched on the trading post wall. From 1855 to 1857, Mormon colonizers under Elder Orson Hyde settled in Eagle, Carson and Washoe Valleys. In 1857, they were called back to Salt Lake City by Brigham Young. Carson City itself was founded and laid out in 1858 by Abraham Curry, who bought the Eagle Station and ranch when he found lots at Genoa too expensive. Curry named his town after the Carson River and left a plaza in its center for his predicted location of the state capital. In the 1860's, Carson City was a station on the Pony Express and the Overland Mail under both Butterfield and Wells, Fargo and Co. In 1861, true to Curry's prediction, and aided considerably by his own shrewd maneuvers, Carson City became the Capital of Nevada Territory. When Nevada became a state in 1864, Carson City was the state's capital, and in 1870 the present capitol building was completed in the plaza Curry had reserved for it.

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Butterfield Mail and Stage Line TX583

One of major horse-drawn transportation projects of history. Was authorized by Act of Congress on March 3, 1857. Contract for semi-weekly service overland to San Francisco, California, was awarded to company headed by John Butterfield; another stockholder in the $2,000,000 venture was express pioneer William G. Fargo. The line employed some 2,000 people and used hundreds of stagecoaches and thousands of animals. In addition to receipts from freight and passengers, it had a $600,000 annual subsidy for carrying U.S. Mail. Company operated from September 1858 to February 1861 with a 25-day schedule for the 2,795 mile trip (8 to 9 days were allowed for crossing Texas). Route began in Tipton, Mo., and Memphis, Tn., uniting at Fort Smith, Ak., entering Texas near Sherman, thence westward through the Comanche-held frontier, leaving the state at El Paso. Stage stations were located about every 20 miles and the best known in this vicinity were Fort Belknap, Fort Phantom Hill, Mountain Pass and Fort Chadbourne. Between Fort Belknap and Tucson, Az., mules were used to pull the coaches as they were less appealing to Indians. Each coach accommodated four to ten passengers at an average fare of $200 each; mail and freight charges were ten cents per one-half ounce.

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Butterfield Overland Mail TX584
The trail of the Butterfield Overland Mail passed this point 1858

[Marker is a slab of Leuders stone, five feet high, three and a half feet wide, twelve inches thick, inscribed on one side only.]

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Butterfield Overland Mail Route Through Grayson County TX7301

In the mid-19th century, mail traffic between the eastern United States and the western states and territories was accomplished via Panama and Cape Horn. In 1857, Congress authorized the postmaster to contract a new overland mail service. The successful bidder for the southern route was John Butterfield, who agreed to convey mail twice weekly in 25 days per run. The "Oxbow Trail" originated at St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, then merged at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The stage coaches traveled through Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) and across northern Texas to Tucson, Arizona, and on to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, traveling 2,795 miles from St. Louis.

The trail entered Grayson County by crossing the Red River at Colbert's Ferry and proceeding into Sherman. It crossed the county toward Gainesville in Cooke County en route to Franklin (later El Paso). The citizens of Sherman are credited with especially courting the mail route to use Colbert's Ferry instead of entering Texas near Preston (8 mi. upriver). Sherman became a distribution point in 1858, bringing mail service to Texas settlements.

Waterman L. Ormsby of "The New York Herald" was the first through passenger on the Butterfield Trail in September 1858. He described Sherman as "a pleasant little village of about six hundred inhabitants," and chronicled the remainder of his trip across Grayson County, writing "our course lay across a fine rolling prairie, covered with fine grass, ...the beautiful moonlight lit up the vast prairies making its sameness appear like the boundless sea and its hills like the rolling waves." The southern route was terminated in March 1861. The course of the trail is still visible in a number of locations in Grayson County.

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Butterfield Overland Stage Line TX585

One of the longest stage routes ever established, the Southern Overland Mail Line (Butterfield Route) which provided semi-weekly service St. Louis to San Francisco, 1858-1861. Followed substantially the route of this highway through Ward County.

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Butterfield Overland Stage Line TX590

Gainesville was a station on the Southern Overland Mail Line (Butterfield Route), which provided semi-weekly mail and stage service between St. Louis and San Francisco, 1858-1861. The line was 2795 miles long -- one of the longest stage transportation routes ever established.

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Butterfield Overland Stage Line Crossing TX586

This is the crossing used by the Southern Overland Mail Line connecting St. Louis and San Francisco with semi-weekly stage and mail service 1858-1861; The length of the route, 2795 miles, and the superior service maintained made this a pioneer enterprise of first magnitude.

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The Butterfield Overland Stages TX587

The Butterfield Overland Stages connecting St. Louis and San Francisco with weekly service, 1858-1861. Traversed this county, with a station at Fort Belknap.

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Butterfield Stage Line TX588

Here ran the Southern Overland Mail Line connecting St. Louis and San Francisco with semi-weekly stage and mail service, 1858-1861. The length of the route, 2,795 miles, and the superior service maintained made this a pioneer enterprise of first magnitude.

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