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Butterfield’s Overland Mail Company & Stagecoach Trail Across Arkansas: 1858-1861
Butterfield’s Overland Mail Company & Stagecoach Trail Across Arkansas: 1858-1861
Presented by Bob Crossman, Author
Bob’s topic today is the Butterfield Overland Trail that passed through the Arkansas River Valley almost 350 times between 1858 and 1861. The Overland Mail Company stagecoaches carried passengers and mail west from Memphis and St. Louis to San Francisco through Arkansas. The Overland stagecoaches and stage wagons traveled day and night, completing the 3,293-mile journey is less than twenty-five days.
His presentation will pay special attention to each of the twenty Overland Mail Company stations spread across Arkansas. The stations were typically located about fifteen miles apart. The stagecoaches or stage wagons would stop for ten minutes at each station for the quick change of horses. Twice a day the stage would stop at a station for about forty minutes, allowing the passengers to have a moment of rest and purchase a quick meal while the driver obtained a fresh team of horses or mules.
Dr. Bob Crossman graduated from Russellville High School 50 years ago and has lived in Conway the past 35 years. His wife, Marcia Swain, is a native of Morrilton. They will celebrate their 50th anniversary this winter. Dr. Crossman received a B.A. from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and received graduate and post-graduate degrees from SMU in Dallas, Texas.
Bob is the author of three books published in the past three years on Butterfield’s Overland Mail Company. He now has eight books that are now in print and has sold over 35,000 copies of his books on Amazon and through dozens of other booksellers. He is a member of the Arkansas Historical Association, Faulkner County Historical Society, and the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.
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