T h e 5 u t t e r f i e l d O v e r l a n d R o u t e

T h e first U.S. o v e r l a n d ma i l c o n t r a c t t o singly connec t S a n F r a n c i s c o t o t h e Miss iss ippi R i v e r

Cit ies was m a d e wi th the O v e r l a n d Mai l C o m p a n y as con t rac tor . T h e " S o u t h e r n " r o u t e n a m e

qu i ck ly b e c a m e s y n o n y m o u s w i t h t he C o m p a n y p r e s i d e n t , J o h n But te r f i e ld . T h i s w a s a

b iweekly service ( la ter m o r e f requent ly be tween Los Angeles a n d S a n Franc i sco) in ope ra t i on

f rom S e p t e m b e r 16, 1858 t h r u la te M a r c h , 1861 w h e n , because of t h e Civil War , congress

d e t e r m i n e d to m o v e the o v e r l a n d m a i l r o u t e n o r t h to t he C e n t r a l O v e r l a n d Rou te .

O v e r l a n d " S T E A M B O A T " to Cal i forn ia D e c e m b e r 4 , 1 8 5 8

* ? * * * * £ a * / V

<24<J2^- «>^z-j?«- *•••$ - < b ^ .

&2*J&*~r£ 4fc#jZ

Originated on board an inland steamboat - Savanah - Memphis - Butterfield Stage

F r o m W a s h i n g t o n T e r r i t o r y

> r

This is one of two recorded covers from Washington Territory.

At 2730 miles, it was approximately 900 miles longer than the Central Overland Trail, but the

Butterfield route avoided the difficult winter task of crossing the Rocky Mountains .

As depicted throughout these pages, the route was to and from St. Louis and Memphis through Ft. Smith, Ft. Chadbourne, El Paso, Tucson, Ft. Yuma, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"Butterfield" letters had to be inscribed "Overland", "Southern" or the equivalent.

(Mtf***^

'<i*AL n ^ ^ j / ^ ^ & . & j . ^ ^

L ^ / p T S ^ & f

•—

Because Auburn, California and Carson City, Utah Territory are east of Sacramento, this letter would normally have gone on the Central Overland Route; however, due to large snowfalls, it wase directed south.

Freeman & Co. Atlantic States Express 'Way Cover'

1 2 4 ^(MONTGOMERY ST.)M "lfe.VSAN FRANCISCO./ ?.

<-&>-

^ > > t CC

y/l^C^C^Y

Back handstamp

A "way" cover taken by Freeman & Co. and placed into the mails at Marysville. "Alonzo talks of coming home. Spent one day with Col. John C. Freemont."

The " O V E R L A N D " marking was occasionally utilized.

It directed that a letter be sent via the "Butterfield Route" vs. "Via Panama".

6

° V K . « U R I I

The five cents stamp of 1859 is rarely seen on "Butterfield " mail.

OVER LA XD, via

LOS AXUSLES.

The private three line straightline marking of E.S. Howell.

One of two recorded of this style. From

E. S. HOWELL San Francisco.

The original

published schedule.

No. L] O V E R L A N D M A I L C O M P A N Y .

THROUGH TIME SCHEDULE BETWEEN SSSk^^SSk^SSrm. 1 & S A N F R A N C I S C O ,

uin. St U™ MO. k I P. K. B. Terminus, -Springfield, • i Fay*tt**ille, 1 Fort Smith, Ark i Sherman. TMJU 3 Fort licit nap. j Fort Chadbourn. -1; Pecos River,!*- <w—1< | El P«wo, | Soldier* Farewell •• Tuc.*on, Arizona | Gil» River.' | Fort Yuma, Cal i San Bernardino ' B Ft Tejon, m*tj»aaaAK) \ VU.Iii

GOIXG WEST. GOING EAST. HAT*.

Every Monday A Thursday. Monday A Thursday. " Wednesday A Siturdaj " Thursday A Sunday, " Friday A Monday,

" Sunday A Wednesday, " Monday A Thursday, • Tuesday * Friday, • Thursday 4 Sunoav, Saturday A TuesdaV, " Sunday A Wednesday, Tuesday A Friday, " Wednesday A Saturday * Friday A Monday. '• Saturday A Tuesday, Monday A Thursday, - Tuesday A Friday,

„«,. 8.00 AM 6.00 P.M 7.45 A.M 10.15 S.N 3,30 AM 12.30 AM 9.00 A.M 3.15 TM 3-45 A.N 11.00 AH 8.30 r « 1.30 P.M 9.00 P.M 3.0-1 KM 11.00 P.M 7.30 AM 11.30 AM

"ftsH Tim, mm* 160 14.1 100 65 205 146* 136 165 248} 150 184} 141 135 200 150 127

M.Ktan 10 37* 26j it| 45 321 30$ 364 55J S3j 41 31} 30 44 32) 28

*™?j UATV. n*Ti. 1 San Francisco. Cal.j Every Monday A Thursday,

1G 1 Firchaugh's Ferry," 3} B Visslia. 3} I Ft-Tejon, MMaw*M> 3! 1 San Bernardino. • 4 J Fort V ii ID *. 4 9 Gila River,* Anions 4 I Tucson, 4 ! Soldier's Farewell 4 I El Paso. Tex 4 9 Pecos Rivtr, •- c—.. 4 i Fort Chadbouni, " 4 | Fort lielluiap, -4 | Sherman, • 4 | Fort Smith. Ark 4 | Fayeltevitle, Mo 4 B Springfield. "

Tuesday A Friday, " Wednesday A Saturday Thursday A Sunday, " Friday & Monday. " Sunday A Wednesday, " Monday A Thumday, " Wednesday A Saturday " Thursday & Sunday. - Saturday A Tuesday,

[Sep. 16th, 1858.

C A L .

«•»• 8.00 11.00 5.0ft 9.00 5.30 1J0 7.30 3.00 8.00 5.30 Monday A Thursday 12.45 Wednesday A Saturday " Thursday A Sunday. " Friday A Monday,

" Sunday A Wednesday. Monday, A Thursday. " Tuesday A Friday,

1.15 7.30 4.00 1.00 6.15 8.45

A.K

AH r.M r y r-.M i» IX CM ^

3E a£S& ^ ••»««. 163 ! 27 82 [ IS 127 ' 28 150 200 135 141 184} 150 248» 1C5 136 J J •" -i 205 65 100

32* •14 SO 31* 41 33* 55J 30* 30J 32* 45 26J

rvx -tt. G 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 j 4 ] 4 3 3

Quintuple Rate

To an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

Doubleweight and Forwarded

O v e r l a n d , v i a L o s A n g e l e s .

0fe*t>'<f*7&-

San Francisco November - 1859 - Factoryville, NY Forwarded January 2,1860 - New Orleans, La

This exhibitor has not seen another of this style straightline marking.

"The line is equipped with Concord Spring W agons, capable of carrying four passengers with 40 pounds of baggage plus 500 - 600 pounds of mail" "The team usually consists of four horses or mules, but upon the more difficult stretches, more animals are used". . . . Recommended equipment for the passenger included: "One Sharp's rifle and a hundred cartridges, one Colt's Navy revolver and two pounds of balls, a knife and a sheath".

San Francisco Bulletin, various issues of 1858.

T*

The most fashionable envelopes illustrated horses and coaches racing to deliver passengers and the mail.

tWiihed4 \fy VTm K. 8peneer, OraM Valley, K«T»da Co., Cal. . * y

This is perhaps the only "Butterfield" cover graced by the "Downiesville Star" cancellation on its stamp.

iL*ju<j>u'\MJmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*smmm*m mm

D u r i n g the t ime p e r i o d of t he But ter f ie ld c o n t r a c t , t he pos ta l r a t e w a s t en cents for de l ivery " o v e r 3000

mi les" . O n e w o u l d t h i n k t h a t l e t t e r s s u c h th i s t o I n d i a n a w o u l d b e r a t e d t h r e e cen t s a s t he d i s t ance

f rom Cal i fo rn ia was subs tan t ia l ly less. Not so; t he 3000 miles w a s d e t e r m i n e d n o t " a s the c row flies",

b u t r a t h e r by the a c t u a l l eng th of t he pos ta l r o u t e , - in th i s case a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2970 miles . The re fo re ,

only ma i l to o r f rom St . Louis o r s h o r t e r a n d the i r env i rons wou ld be r a t e d t h r ee cents .

T h e Marysvi l le Six H o r s e S tage To I n d i a n a (beyond 3000 miles)

O V E H T J A W D

V I A L O S A N G E L E S . ^ ijflF*f1

n

Ba \

Published by RANDAL & Co., .Marysville. ^,^

S ^ U z * * * * ^

> ^ 0 ferl

" C A > y

Marysville - San Francisco - Butterfield coach - St. Louis - Knightstown, Indiana

'Due 7 S t . J o s e p h , Missour i - S a c r a m e n t o , Ca l i fo rn ia

St J o s e p h , Missour i is approx imate ly 250 miles no r thwes t of S t . Louis . Therefore ,

th i s l e t t e r h a d to t r ave l eas t to S t . Lou i s , t hence , on t he But te r f i e ld a n d b a c k

t h r o u g h the sou thwes t t he 2970 miles to S a n F ranc i sco ; add i t iona l ly a b o u t 100

mi les eas t to S a c r a m e n t o . The re fo re , t he to ta l mi lage wou ld be a b o u t 3300.

Foreign Mails

Butterfield Overland "Closed Mail" Great Britain to Vancouver

Special Rates

May 5 , 1 8 5 9

1

A 'c^bc & ^ ^ ^ '&7ttfifc&i&g£ji

London May 5 - Liverpool May 6 - Lv Liverpool May 7 per Cunard "Canada" Arr Boston May 20 - Railroad to St. Louis - Butterfield Route Arr San Francisco June 18 - by ship to Victoria, Vancouver's Island

Rate: 29 cents - \ I 2— = Great Britain did not have half penny stamps at this time; thus all mail of this rate to the North American West Coast was one half penny overpaid.

Shortly after the Butterfield Contract began in September, 1858, Great Britain was granted permission to utilize this route by Closed Mail via New York (no New York marking). The Contract ended in April, 1861.

The Unique "Per Prussian Closed Mai l" Cover December 3 0 , 1 8 5 9

PuMijlied by C. k. Kirkpattfck, Klo VilU.

r - i ^ ' O OS

(yayt 0 ^ JC^>

« V • .Maw - „ % * * % *

«!S? 7*7

'^7-t/

S * > c €^9-4. 4X4 $ L -

« ^ t T s 'S?

C ^ r V i '^/?

/S* fit-t^-* A

Lv San Francisco December 30 - via Los Angeles per Butterfield Overland Route Lv New York January 28, 1860 per Inman "Edinburgh" - Arr Liverpool February 10 Aachen February 12 - per Prussian Railroad - Buhl

Rate 30 cents: 5 cents to LIJS. 18 cents transatlantic and (LB. 7 rents to Prussia which reflated 1 rents to Belainm.

,-"

'••••- •• - '•..' I'

The newly built Pacific Railroad serviced the St. Louis terminus.

p a . C l F " C R A I L R Q . 1^ r* OF MISSOURI- ^^ Aj I f

/ N OT T R A N S F E R A B L E .

Until Decepnber 31, 1881, unless otherwiBeVordered.

jfi^~ ' President

t t o ^ x J (JJTAJ/^

Q.s) U'Ui^i)

Springfield

omia

Pacific Ocean

There were three possible routes for mail to be carried to Los Angeles in order to connect with the overland mail eastward from Los Angeles.

The main route was from San Francisco via Gilroy, Yisalia and Ft Tejon. The second was along the coast thru Salinas and Santa Barbera, and the third was by water from San Francisco.

Colorado River,

Ft Yuma

Legitimate Usage of the

"Via Visalia & Los Angeles" Slogan October 2 3 , 1 8 5 9 "rec'd Nov 16&'

\J^A}%2

P

/

* T 5 J 0) si s V £ &

The slogan "Via Visalia and Los Angeles" was probably intended as much for publicity for Visalia as anything else, but could be construed to differentiate this route from other ways of getting mail to Los Angeles.

Only one other other "Via Visalia" cover was used during the proper period.

The Three Cents "Over the Mountain" Rate

The Three Cents Rate via the Butterfield Route was generally appl ied to mail carried over a port ion of the route; in this case the full route was traversed; not val id wi thout the "Overland" or equivalent endorsement.

/ ^ ^ ^ ;

/3%4<e/

'^•r

<\ lv r s,;>/^^(

(%L flv&r i w ^ ts^t&tt

r - c \

Yreka - San Francisco - "Via Over Land Mail" - St. Louis

Yager's Ferry to cross the Colorado River. Present dau Arizona was

part of New Mexico "Territory

until February, \S6I).

'From Tucson through some pretty rough passes, the route leads directly through Pimas Indian Villlages, and after Maricopas Wells through a 40 mile desert"

Ft Buchanan

about 60 miles

m m

Santa Fe

Rio Grand River

Conjunc t ive Usages

C a r r i e r to the But ter f ie ld O v e r l a n d S tage

T h e But ter f ie ld O v e r l a n d S tage a n d the Te leg raph

V i a L o s A n g e l e s , O v e r l a n d .

Armstrong Academu,

Cnoclctaw Nation X

C H A S . J . O S B O R N ,

N A T I O N A L T E L E G R A P H O F F I C E ,

S T . L s O U I S ,

M I S S O U R I .

The best telegraphic facilities in the midwest were operated by The National Telegraph Company in St. Louis. There was a work­ing arrangement whereby a letter sender could have their message telegraphed from St. Louis by using this type of envelope; this authorized National to open the letter upon arrival, and then telegraph the contents, a three days savings to the east coast.

•MEKKVSK L _) (_ I ( j t-J I - i ;.-! t- J •— i ;- -.)

Socorro, New Mexico Territory

HAA C^I i^-t . c\ *~L.Otsl t^d.

(?l^<r'l^?^

From the spring of 1860 onwards, Butterfield operated a branch line north to Santa Fe. As Socorro was about midway, a normal routing would have been north via the Santa Fe Trail. However, a few covers are known to have been routed south "Via Texas".

hrough The Chocktaw Indian ISatidn "Meeting the Memphis mails at Ft. Smith we take a short cut through the Chocktaw Nation keserveuithe Indian Territory through the prairies of Texas to Ft Chadbourne, 487 miles from Ft Smith, At Chadbourne the wild part of the route may be said to have commenced... from Chadbourne to Franklin, 414 miles, not a house or a settlement - and little else but prairies and jagged mountains, indians and game."

Memphis

Eagle Town (ArL)

Cnocktaw Nation

Armstrong Academy, to Israel Folsom, in Washington on

Chocktaw business.

£yyj<yt^^

(ft JyO~ <A4^*^ J^&

$*• ^ * £

11 J

/ - 7 ^ / t Y £ l ^ 7

-v*

JrT*

^ > t ^

Eagle Town (also Eagletown) to Peter P. Pitchlynn, a chief of the Chocktaw Nation, then in Washington, D.C.

• --_-_

An overland passenger wrote: "The blast of the stage horn as it rolls through the valleys and over the prairies of the west, cheers and gladdens the heart of the pioneer. As it sounds through the valleys of Santa Clara and San Jose', it sends a thrill of delight to the Californian. He knows that it brings tidings from the hearts and homes he left behind him; it binds him stronger and firmer to his beloved country. So regular is its arrival that the inhabitants know almost the hour and the minute when the welcome sound of the post horn will reach them. The Overland is the most popular insti­tution in the Far West." San Francisco Bulletin June 13,1859.

OVERLAND MAIL STAGE,

VIA LOS ANGELES.

^ L ^ < ^ ^ ^ / ^ ±

Clamor for the Building of a Transcontinental Railroad.

OVERLAND MAIL, VIA LOS ANGELES.

c ^ L */<^^ ^ r V , 9 ^ W

*f^z^€P

All the while of the Overland Stage, Californians as well as those who foresaw the onset of the Civil War demanded the construction of a Transcontinental Railroad. Despite numerous attempts, congress did not approve a bill until after the Civil War.

Mmwkmto M M M M M M M ^ t e f a

Texas

To El Paso on the Butterfield Route, thence southeast to San Antonio on the old Jackass Route.

To San Antonio

Overpaid 7 cents.

\

%

^ w

ifa*

****£ , d l /I i2tL-*)0~-,

r4 £4- •

/Z+-±J! i ^ V /+**•$*+•

^muuumlmuuuuuuuuuum . P j U y c e y

I

"Via San Antonio and El P a s o " From Jackson, California to Nueces.

Double rate

955 miles on the Butterfield Route

-/. a^

-"-~w

~L<€-~^)

This letter was posted at the Breckinridge post office August 25,1859. It was taken to Ft. Chadbourne where it met the Wednesday coach on the 27th thrnnah St. lonis. Noted "rwcftiveri Sentemher 10 "

From Small Towns

The Comptonvil le Red Oval

One of two recorded letters with this strike.

P o s t m a s t e r s ' Free Frank from F o r s t e r s Bar

Shakopee, M i n n e s o t a Territory

"via S t Louis & El Paso"

~ y , j / & * &

Q ^ }f2£y~4&-

& . * .

. ^O4PU*&£ O . y t

The last known usage of this CDS, February 16,1859, which was first noted in March, 1856.

< ^ ^ W d^n^tc

KJ,

Cf^c4fl^SL,

M M M M M M i M i i i M

With the anticipation of the Civil War, the army began to redeploy its troops from the southwest; therefore, in the spring of 1861, Butterfield horses and equipment were transferred north for use on the Central Overland Route.

Hand Painted February 2 8 , 1 8 6 1

OVERLAND—via—LOS ANGELES

JI^A jf/**~ /*'£/•

/ O

K '

The E n d of an Era

The Act of Congress of March 2,1861 provided for the removal of the (Southern) Overland Mail Route. On April 5, San Francisco Postmaster Charles Weller stated that by the dispatch "received this morning from Washington", he was only sending southern overland mails as far south as Los Angeles. The Alta of Saturday, April 6 reported: " Overland mail did not leave Friday as scheduled; discontinued, per correspondence between Postmaster Weller, April 5 and the USPO March 12." This dispatch had to arrive in San Francisco by Southern Overland Mail as no steamer arrived during the first five days of April. Therefore, the last eastbound mail left on Monday, April 1.

The Penultimate Westbound Delivery March 6 , 1 8 6 1

M E B I t t l W I 3 B P « « . 1V1AXPFACTTJRERS OF

8 $ j j t p a a n f o C | 0 n g $

OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. AT

Westfleld, Charlestown, & So. Boston, Mass.

Store, 201 Pearl Street, JV. f. This letter is pencilled "rec Apr 3d / 61" on the back.

- • - - - - • -

-

_ -mmmmmmmimsmmm