DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little West Texas wind behind it. The Butterfield Overland Mail — now there's a name that ought to ring out across the desert like a whip crack. This was a mail and passenger stagecoach service that did something bold: it linked the Western and Eastern states, stitching together a country that was, as you'll see, starting to pull apart at the seams.
John Butterfield, president of the Overland Mail Company, won a federal government contract in 1857 to carry mail twice weekly in both directions between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California. Twice a week, both ways, across some of the hardest country on the continent.
The service fired up in September of 1858, and for nearly three years those coaches rolled. Then March 1861 came around, and the events leading to the Civil War ended its operations. Just like that, the wheels stopped turning.
But let's back up, because the story of what happened in between is worth the ride. The route had stops along the way, and one of the notable ones was a large, well-equipped stop in Franklin — the place we now call El Paso. Out here in West Texas, the route had two personalities.
The first was later known as the Upper Road, and it followed a path from Hueco Tanks into Franklin. That road got the job done, but it had its troubles. So route changes led to the development of what they called the Lower Road, which cut south and followed the Rio Grande through San Elizario and Ysleta.
Now the Lower Road had two things going for it that the Upper Road could not always promise: a more reliable source of water, and better protection from Native American attacks. In this part of the world, those were not small considerations. Both paths — the Upper Road and the Lower Road — converged at the Concordia settlement, where Concordia Cemetery is now located.
From there, the Butterfield Trail continued on to Franklin, followed the river north to Cottonwoods — now known as Anthony, Texas — and then veered west. Those coaches rolling through did more than deliver letters. The route boosted commerce in El Paso and helped increase the town's population.
It also strengthened the city's link to the United States as a whole. And when stage service along the Butterfield Overland Mail terminated in 1861, the trail didn't go quiet overnight. A Confederate mail service used it until 1862.
After that, the path became the base for other routes — roads and highways that came along later. Here's the part that stays with you: today, traces of the Upper Road are still visible. You can find them on Fort Bliss and El Paso International Airport property — out there under the sun, if you know where to look.
The trail's legacy, the marker tells us, continues to live through the commerce and people it brought to El Paso, and through the bonding of this town to the rest of the United States. A stagecoach line that ran for less than three years, and this city is still living inside the shape it left behind.
What the marker says
The Butterfield Overland Mail was a mail and passenger stagecoach service that linked the Western and Eastern states. John Butterfield, president of the Overland Mail Company, won a federal government contact in 1857 to take and deliver mail twice weekly in both directions between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California. The service ran from September 1858 until March 1861, when events leading to the Civil War ended its operations. The route had a number of stops, including a large, well-equipped one in Franklin (present El Paso). The route through West Texas, later known as the Upper Road, followed a path from Hueco Tanks into Franklin. Route changes led to the development of the Lower Road, which cut south and followed the Rio Grande through San Elizario and Ysleta. The Lower Road provided a more reliable source of water and better protection from Native American attacks than the Upper Road. Both paths converged at the Concordia settlement, where Concordia Cemetery is now located. The Butterfield Trail continued to Franklin and followed the river north to Cottonwoods (now Anthony, TX), then veered west. The route boosted commerce in El Paso and helped increase the town’s population. It also strengthened the city’s link to the U.S. Stage service along the Butterfield Overland Mail terminated in 1861, although a Confederate mail service used the trail until 1862. The path later became the base for other routes, including roads and highways. Today, traces of the Upper Road remain visible on Fort Bliss and El Paso International Airport property. The trail’s legacy continues to live through the commerce and people which it brought to El Paso, and its bonding of the town to the rest of the United States. (2008)