Major management changes came in 1860. Wells Fargo & Co., which had loaned John Butterfield capital for starting the route, took over operations and forced Butterfield out. At the same time, the Pony Express began running mail across the Great Plains on a more direct, though riskier, route mostly following the old Overland and Mormon … More Demise of the Southern Route
The operation of stagecoaches between Memphis and Fort Smith proved troublesome from the beginning. Initially, the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. intended to move mail and passengers from Memphis to Fort Smith by steamboat, but the low water levels of the Arkansas River through the summer of 1858 forced Butterfield to contract with an existing stage … More Memphis to Fort Smith Operations
The Butterfield Overland Mail Co. carried its first U.S. mail westward beginning September 16, 1858, with the company president, John W. Butterfield Sr., taking custody of two mailbags at St. Louis and boarding a Pacific Railroad train for Tipton, Missouri. Accompanying Butterfield was Waterman L. Ormsby, a writer for the New York Herald and the … More The First Running of the Stage
With contract in hand, John W. Butterfield Sr. began establishing stations, acquiring stock, purchasing coaches, and building roads and bridges where needed. The logistics were daunting. More than 160 stations needed to be outfitted, many of them requiring construction from scratch. Stage drivers, conductors, station masters and superintendents of each division had to be hired. … More Establishing the Route
Butterfield Overland Mail Route 