DUANE
Duane's take
The way I heard it, the official marker tells it like this — and this one's worth every mile of the telling. Isaac J. and Sarah Isabella Rude were heading to California from Tennessee sometime in the 1850s when West Texas apparently said, not so fast. They settled in, and Isaac got to work.
Out in the Davis Mountains, he built and operated a station for the Butterfield Overland Stage — one of those stops where passengers grabbed a meal while the mules were unharnessed and swapped out for a fresh team. The whole operation running like a clock at the edge of nowhere. Butterfield — the pioneer passenger and mail service that ran from 1858 to 1861, carrying folks and correspondence all the way from St.
Louis to California — was apparently impressed enough with Rude that they had him pull up stakes and move to Fort Stockton to build another stand. Then in 1859, when a stop was added at the Leon water hole, five miles west of Fort Stockton, Rude built and ran the stand there too. A journalist who passed through said the food at Leon water hole was the best on the entire route.
The best. On the whole route. Sarah Rude, you might want to take a bow.
Now, Sarah Rude was born in 1834, and if you are imagining a proper frontier hostess who smiled and stayed out of the way, let me redirect you. She carried a pistol under her apron to protect her children. Just over five feet tall, she butchered and skinned beeves to feed her family when her husband was away.
And when Indians attacked the Davis Mountains stand, it was the men who loaded the guns — and handed them to Mrs. Rude. She was described as a calm, sure marksman.
Calm. They handed the guns to her because she was the calm one. After the stages stopped operating in 1861, Isaac, like others tied to the Overland Mail, joined the Confederate army.
He later became a prosperous businessman in McKinney. Born in 1829, he died in 1902. Sarah lived until 1916.
Two people who came west for California, stopped in the hardest country on the continent, and left it better fed and better defended than they found it.
What the marker says
On way to California from Tennessee in the 1850's Isaac J. and Sarah Isabella Rude settled in West Texas. In Davis Mountains, Rude built and operated a station for the Butterfield Overland Stage; here passengers had meals while mules were unharnessed and exchanged for a fresh team. Soon Butterfield--the pioneer passenger and mail service (1858-1861) from St. Louis to California--had Rude move here to Ft. Stockton and build another stand. In 1859, when a stop was added at Leon water hole, 5 miles west of Ft. Stockton, Rude built and ran the stand there. Food there was best on the route, said a journalist. Sarah Rude (1834-1916) carried a pistol under her apron, to protect her children. When Indians attacked the Davis Mountains stand, the men loaded guns and handed them to Mrs. Rude--a calm, sure marksman. Just over 5 ft. tall, she butchered and skinned beeves to feed her family, when her husband was away. After stages stopped operating in 1861, Isaac Rude, like others associated with the Overland Mail, joined the Confederate army. Later he became a prosperous businessman in McKinney. Born in 1829, he died in 1902.