A stagecoach (also: stage coach , stage , road coach , diligence ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are drawn by six horses.
152-664: Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company ) was a stagecoach service in the United States operating from 1858 to 1861. It carried passengers and U.S. Mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee , and St. Louis, Missouri , to San Francisco, California . The routes from each eastern terminus met at Fort Smith, Arkansas , and then continued through Indian Territory ( Oklahoma ), Texas , New Mexico , Arizona , Mexico , and California ending in San Francisco. On March 3, 1857, Congress authorized
304-406: A coaching inn , a highwayman demanding a coach to "stand and deliver" and a Wells Fargo stagecoach arriving at or leaving an American frontier town. The yard of ale drinking glass is associated by legend with stagecoach drivers, though it was mainly used for drinking feats and special toasts . The stagecoach was a closed four-wheeled vehicle drawn by horses or hard-going mules . It
456-460: A Butterfield stage and wrote the following: "After leaving this station [Arizona's San Pedro River Stage Station], the conductor asked 'how many of us were armed', and requested that those who had arms should have them ready for use, as we now were in the Apache country. Guns and pistols were produced, and we rode all night with them in our hands." This draft animal-drawn passenger and mail stage had
608-654: A coach could travel at full gallop across levels, combined with more staging posts at shorter intervals, cut the time required to travel across the country sometimes by half. A Cobb & Co (Australia) proprietor arrived in New Zealand on 4 October 1861, thus beginning Cobb & Co (New Zealand) stagecoach operation. Beginning in the 18th century, crude wagons began to be used to carry passengers between cities and towns, first within New England by 1744, then between New York and Philadelphia by 1756. Travel time
760-417: A day and a half, including a night stop at Bab al-Wad (Shaar HaGai), the trip in the opposite, downhill direction took 12 hours. The stagecoaches belonged to private owners, and the wagoners were mostly hired, although sometimes the wagoner was also the owner of the wagon. The license to operate the stagecoaches was granted by the government to private individuals in the cities and to the colony committees in
912-631: A decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground. At least 120 people were killed. Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance. It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history . In 1886,
1064-412: A favorite with some, for, though only opened one month before I passed over it, it was already pretty well marked with wagon tracks . …It must of course improve with every day of its use." Another Texas section: "The new road from Grape Creek to the head of Concho River, Texas, on Mr. Glover's division, is also in good order for travel and saves another thirty miles [the total length for this new section
1216-533: A half after leaving Manchester." A similar service was begun from Liverpool three years later, using coaches with steel spring suspension. This coach took an unprecedented three days to reach London with an average speed of eight miles per hour (13 km/h) . Even more dramatic improvements were made by John Palmer at the British Post Office . The postal delivery service in Britain had existed in
1368-687: A land route to deliver mail from the East to the West coast, but to aid emigrant travel to settle the West. Butterfield accomplished this purpose by providing an improved trail and water sources at regularly spaced stage stations. When researchers hike the Southern Overland Corridor, the most visible ruts are those of the route that the Overland Mail Company established, which others followed. Even though its services ceased on
1520-530: A large increase in the number of emigrants on the trail. The San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line was operating on 900 miles of the improved trail and benefited by the regularly spaced water holes at Butterfield's stations. In October 1859, Superintendent Isaiah C. Woods complimented Butterfield for these improvements and the benefit to the San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line: "The San Diego Overland Route – Interesting News – From I.C. Woods, who has just crossed
1672-580: A manner which would be a model in any country. The immigrants are coming slowly along, feeling in no hurry to enter California much before the rains have brought on the new grass. The stations of the Overland Mail companies and the wells dug by these enterprising men, are proving of incalculable benefit to those crossing with their own teams. The immigration on the Southern route, this year, will figure up from ten thousand to fifteen thousand souls, with
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#17327722911091824-594: A monopoly on the supply of stagecoaches to the Royal Mail and a virtual monopoly on their upkeep and servicing for the following few decades. Steel springs had been used in suspensions for vehicles since 1695. Coachbuilder Obadiah Elliott obtained a patent covering the use of elliptic springs - which were not his invention. His patent lasted 14 years delaying development because Elliott allowed no others to license and use his patent. Elliott mounted each wheel with two durable elliptic steel leaf springs on each side and
1976-530: A network of stagecoach routes existed. Stagecoaches, often known by the French name "Diligence" - a smaller model with room for six passengers and a bigger one for ten, drawn by two horses (in the city, on the plain or on a good road) or three (on intercity and elevated roads) - were the main means of public transportation in Ottoman Palestine between the middle of the 19th century and the beginning of
2128-635: A popular solution. They built their first Concord stagecoach in 1827 employing long leather straps under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion. Describing a journey he took in 1861, in his 1872 book, Roughing It , Mark Twain wrote that the Concord stage was like "an imposing cradle on wheels". Around twenty years later, in 1880, John Plesent Gray recorded after travelling from Tucson to Tombstone on J.D. Kinnear's mail and express line: That day's stage ride will always live in my memory – but not for its beauty spots. Jammed like sardines on
2280-418: A relaxation, it seems as if we could never have survived the trip. The horses were changed three times on the 80-mile (130 km) trip, normally completed in 17 hours. The stagecoach lines in the U.S. were operated by private companies. Their most profitable contracts were with U.S. Mail and were hotly contested. Pony Express , which began operations in 1860, is often called first fast mail service from
2432-531: A result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $ 19 billion. The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas, with $ 15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts. In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed. With its population density and its extensive exposure to global travelers,
2584-502: A sharp rebuttal from a Washington, D.C., newspaper. Mail Contract No. 12,578 for $ 600,000 per annum for a semi-weekly service was assigned to John Butterfield of Utica, New York , who was president for the contract that was named the Overland Mail Company. This was the longest mail contract awarded in the United States . It was a stockholding company and the main stockholders, besides John Butterfield, were also fellow directors of
2736-485: A speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of the New York Daily News as "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD." The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed and granted oversight authority over the city's finances. While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into
2888-481: A stagecoach and a mail stagecoach is that a large compartment was provided below the driver's seat to carry mail and the rear boot for mail was larger. Butterfield's stagecoaches were used on 30% of the Southern Overland Trail at the eastern and western ends. Celerity means 'swiftness of speed'. The term "celerity wagon" is sometimes used instead of "stage wagon." It was about 60% of the weight of
3040-450: A stagecoach and was designed for the rough frontier conditions where the trail was not as well developed, in sand, and for traversing steep inclines. They were open on the sides with no doors or windows. Often a canvas top was supported by light uprights. They had canvas or leather curtains fastened to the top that could be rolled down as a barrier to the dust. The stage wagon was used by Butterfield's Overland Mail Company exclusively on 70% of
3192-432: A strong sub-frame covered by decorated wooden paneling with ornate doors and comfortably padded seats. They often had window openings, but the western models designed for the rougher conditions had no glass panels. The roof was strong enough to support a metal railing where luggage could be carried. Seats were often provided on the roof. A canvas-covered boot at the back was used for luggage and mailbags. The difference between
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#17327722911093344-498: A very large amount of cattle and sheep. The old complaints of the immigrants are at present unheard of, owing to the better knowledge of the country now so readily obtained .” As noted above, the route from San Francisco to Fort Smith was the same for both routes. Travel time from Fort Smith to Memphis was about the same as to St. Louis. Management of the route from Fort Smith to Memphis was included in Division 8 . However, because of
3496-452: Is 122 miles]. The New Pass between Los Angeles, and Fort Tejon, California, has been much improved under the superintendence of M.L. Kinyon [Kenyon], as have also been other portions of the route. The route of the company will, of course, be a favorite emigrant route, and will, therefore, be in better order than before, in fact, each month will add new facilities to the overland mail." Goddard Bailey's report shows that there were 139 stations at
3648-405: Is one of the world's most populous megacities . The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States . As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in
3800-614: The American South . During construction in Foley Square in the 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free. The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger , who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby , helped to establish freedom of
3952-866: The Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes . Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall , a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants . In 1831, New York University was founded. Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant , Washington Irving , Herman Melville , Rufus Wilmot Griswold , John Keese , Nathaniel Parker Willis , and Edgar Allan Poe . Members of
4104-668: The Bill of Rights there. The Supreme Court held its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790. In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassed Philadelphia as the nation's largest city. At the end of 1790, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia . During the 19th century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million. Under New York State's gradual emancipation act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties. Together with slaves freed by their masters after
4256-726: The Caribbean . The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin , and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776. Shortly after the British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York destroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, including Trinity Church . In January 1785,
4408-905: The Hudson River , which he named Río de San Antonio ('Saint Anthony's River'). In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company . He sailed up what the Dutch called North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange . Hudson claimed
4560-721: The Lower Hudson Valley . The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano . He claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême ). A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V , arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of
4712-725: The Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, but the Overland Mail Company began a twice-weekly mail service from Missouri to San Francisco in September 1858. Transcontinental stage-coaching ended with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The railway network in South Africa was extended from Mafeking through Bechuanaland and reached Bulawayo in 1897. Prior to its arrival,
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4864-742: The New York City Fire Department and 71 law enforcement officers. The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center , the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and other new buildings and infrastructure, including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , the city's third-largest hub. The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the seventh-tallest building in
5016-883: The St. Francis River . From there the route headed overland by stagecoach. When the Arkansas River was high enough, the mail could instead travel from Memphis by steamboat down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas River, navigate up that river to Little Rock, and on from there by stagecoach. When the Arkansas was too low for steamboat traffic, the Butterfield could take the White River to Clarendon, Arkansas , or Des Arc, Arkansas , before switching to
5168-511: The Statue of Liberty , a gift from France , was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they came to the U.S. via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace. In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate city),
5320-709: The Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village . They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights . Wayne R. Dynes , author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality , wrote that drag queens were
5472-557: The U.S. postmaster general , at that time Aaron V. Brown , to contract for delivery of the U.S. mail from St. Louis to San Francisco. Prior to this, U.S. Mail bound for the Far West had been delivered by the San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line since June 1857. The route was designated a national historic trail in 2023. John Butterfield was a descendant of Benjamin Butterfield, who brought his family from England to
5624-612: The steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River , killing 1,021 people. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards. New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890. New York City
5776-538: The 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center , as well as by European immigration, respectively. The city adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected
5928-518: The 20th century. The first stagecoaches were brought to Palestine by the German religious group known as the " Templers " who operated a public transportation service between their colonies in the country as early as 1867. Stagecoach development in Palestine was greatly facilitated by the 1869 visit of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I . For this distinguished guest, the road between Jaffa and Jerusalem
6080-468: The Butterfield Trail. In 1858, with expedition leader Marquis L. Kenyon, John Butterfield Jr. helped to select the route and sites for the stage stations. Kenyon was also a stockholder/director of the Overland Mail Company and the only stockholder, other than John Butterfield, to have significant staging experience. Marquis moved from Mannsville, Jefferson County, to Rome, New York, in 1838. Rome
6232-705: The Continental Army at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 eliminated the last American stronghold in Manhattan, causing George Washington and his forces to retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey , pursued by British forces. After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America. The city
Butterfield Overland Mail - Misplaced Pages Continue
6384-575: The County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens. The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. In 1904,
6536-640: The Duke of York (the future King James II and VII). The duke gave part of the colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley . On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it "New Orange" after William III , the Prince of Orange . The Dutch soon returned
6688-717: The Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General . In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth, the Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies ). In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as
6840-443: The English Mail Coach. Although normally well-sprung and enclosed, seating eight or more passengers, some types had a semi-open seat, for three or more passengers, shared with the driver. This latter was known as the banquette. Although most vehicles were coachman driven, others were in the care of postillions . The number of horses varied according to difficulties of the route. Three, or a unicorn team were not unfamiliar, especially on
6992-405: The Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. His father, Daniel Butterfield, lived at Berne , in the Helderberg , near Albany, N.Y., where John was born. He attended schools near his boyhood home, but his education was meager. John's early involvement with stage lines started about 1820. "John Butterfield was borne at Berne, in the Helderberg, near Albany, November 18, 1801. In early life we find him in
7144-414: The Mississippi River westward. Nine bids were made by some of the most experienced stage men. None of the express companies, such as American Express , Adams Express , or Wells Fargo & Co. Express , bid on the contract because, as of yet, they had no experience running stage lines. A suggestion by The New York Times that the express companies could do a better job than the Overland Mail Company drew
7296-405: The New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world , with a gross metropolitan product of over US$ 2.16 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country , it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world . Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system , New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion . The city is home to
7448-404: The North, and South to the Pennsylvania line, and through Chemung and Susquehanna valleys." By 1857, when John was awarded the Overland Mail Company contract, he had had 37 years of experience working for and running stage lines. This was one of the reasons that Postmaster General A.V. Brown awarded him the contract. Through the 1840s and 1850s there was a desire for better communication between
7600-442: The Pacific coast, which left this city on the 3rd of January last, reached Fort Smith, Arkansas, on their return home, on the 17th inst., accompanied by four of the party which left San Francisco on the 16th of January, on purpose to examine that portion of the route from the Pacific to the Rio Grande. They left El Paso on the 22d of March, thus accomplishing the distance from the Rio Grande to Fort Smith—nine hundred and thirty miles—in
7752-578: The Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. The New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children. It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state . Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black). Also in
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#17327722911097904-418: The Southern Overland Corridor in March 1861 because of the impending Civil War, it was so efficient that it remained little changed until its demise with the completion of the railroad in 1880. For this reason, to this day, the Southern Overland Trail is most commonly called "The Butterfield Trail." The building of the trail was in two sections: the 462-mile (744 km) San Francisco to Los Angeles section and
8056-446: The Southern Overland Trail on the 1,920-mile (3,090 km) section between Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Los Angeles, California. Although the famous passenger wagon manufacturers Abbot-Downing Co. and J.S. & E.A. Abbot Co., of Concord, New Hampshire, never used the name "mud wagon" in their catalogs, there were others who referred to the stage wagon as a "mud wagon." Stagecoach Commonly used before steam-powered rail transport
8208-515: The U.S. Post Office, which went into effect on September 16, 1858, identified the route and divided it into eastern and western divisions. Franklin, Texas , later to be named El Paso , was the dividing point and these two were subdivided into minor divisions, five in the East and four in the West. These minor divisions were numbered west to east from San Francisco, each under the direction of a superintendent. John Butterfield Sr. turned to two of his most trusted and experienced employees to put in place
8360-403: The arrival of the two parties at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and tells us that the choice for the trail did not satisfy Kenyon and his party and they returned from El Paso, Texas, by a different route, which became the trail. "A portion of the exploring party sent out by the Overland Mail Company, for the purpose of examining the routes for the carriage of the mails from the Valley of the Mississippi to
8512-558: The arts and fashion , and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations , international diplomacy . With an estimated population in 2023 of 8,258,035 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km ), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles , the nation's second-most populous city. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City
8664-426: The assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital. New York was the last capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation and the first capital under the Constitution of the United States . As the U.S. capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President, George Washington , and the first Congress , at Federal Hall on Wall Street . Congress drafted
8816-514: The authorities. This could be overloading of passengers in excess of the licence or minor matters such as luggage too high on the roof. They did this in return for a portion of any fines imposed, sometimes as much as half. The tax paid on passenger seats was a major expense for coach operators. Harris gives an example of the tax payable on the London to Newcastle coach route (278 miles). Annual tax amounted to £2,529 for 15 passengers per coach (4 inside and 11 outside). Annual tolls were £2,537. The hire of
8968-471: The basket, and generally presents a pile, half as high again as the coach, which is secured by ropes and chains, tightened by a large iron windlass, which also constitutes another appendage of this moving mass. The body of the carriage rests upon large thongs of leather, fastened to heavy blocks of wood, instead of springs, and the whole is drawn by seven horses. The English visitor noted the small, sturdy Norman horses "running away with our cumbrous machine, at
9120-400: The beginning of Butterfield's service, but by the time the line ceased operations the line had been improved by the addition of thirty-six more for a total of 175. The new stations were assigned 320 acres each and many took advantage by growing crops which aided the line. Although there were springs and rain-fed waterholes along the trail, many did not have a sufficient water capacity to supply
9272-493: The beginning of the 1990s. By the mid-1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification , and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. New York City's population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the 2000 United States census ; further records were set in 2010 , and 2020 U.S. censuses. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley , emerged in
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#17327722911099424-445: The body of the carriage was fixed directly to the springs attached to the axles . After the expiry of his patent most British horse carriages were equipped with elliptic springs; wooden springs in the case of light one-horse vehicles to avoid taxation, and steel springs in larger vehicles. Steady improvements in road construction were also made at this time, most importantly the widespread implementation of Macadam roads up and down
9576-534: The business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park , which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city. The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city's population. Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860. Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing
9728-510: The city from New Jersey. The East River—a tidal strait —flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River , another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River , which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County , is the only entirely freshwater river in the city. The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along
9880-439: The city rapidly replaced Wuhan , China as the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, straining the city's healthcare infrastructure. Through March 2023, New York City recorded more than 80,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications. New York City is situated in the northeastern United States , in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston . Its location at
10032-447: The city's economy. The advent of Y2K was celebrated with fanfare in Times Square . New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks . Two of the four airliners hijacked that day were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from
10184-615: The city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on. Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863 , whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class. The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for
10336-489: The company: William B. Dinsmore of New York City ; William G. Fargo of Buffalo, New York ; James V.P. Gardner of Utica, New York; Marquis L. Kenyon of Rome, New York; Alexander Holland of New York City; and Hamilton Spencer of Bloomington, Illinois. There were four others known as sureties (security against loss). Almost all of the stockholders were connected to other businesses in Upstate New York and most lived near Butterfield's home in Utica, New York. Alexander Holland
10488-431: The construction of some of the first spring-suspended coaches in the 1660s and spoked wheels with iron rim brakes were introduced, improving the characteristics of the coach. In 1754, a Manchester -based company began a new service called the "Flying Coach". It was advertised with the following announcement - "However incredible it may appear, this coach will actually (barring accidents) arrive in London in four days and
10640-445: The continent on the San Diego and San Antonio Line, says the San Diego Herald , we gather some items which may be of interest: Woods pays a high compliment to the staging of the Butterfield Overland Company, along the Gila and over the Desert, particularly to Superintendent Buckley and Warren Hall, the Road Agent of this division [for Butterfield's Overland Mail Company. They have, he says, really worked wonders in organizing their road in
10792-440: The country. The speed of coaches in this period rose from around 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) (including stops for provisioning) to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) and greatly increased the level of mobility in the country, both for people and for mail . Each route had an average of four coaches operating on it at one time - two for both directions and a further two spares in case of a breakdown en route. Joseph Ballard described
10944-991: The countryside the 1860s did see the start of a coaching revival spurred on by the popularity of Four-in-hand driving as a sporting pursuit (the Four-In-Hand Driving Club was founded in 1856 and the Coaching Club in 1871). New stagecoaches often known as Park Drags began to be built to order. Some owners would parade their vehicles and magnificently dressed passengers in fashionable locations. Other owners would take more enthusiastic suitably-dressed passengers and indulge in competitive driving. Very similar in design to stagecoaches their vehicles were lighter and sportier. These owners were (often very expert) amateur gentlemen-coachmen, occasionally gentlewomen. A professional coachman might accompany them to avert disaster. Professionals called these vehicles 'butterflies'. They only appeared in summer. Cobb & Co
11096-550: The course of his business, and noted that it seemed far more efficient than the system of mail delivery then in operation. His travel from Bath to London took a single day to the mail's three days. It occurred to him that this stagecoach service could be developed into a national mail delivery service, so in 1782 he suggested to the Post Office in London that they take up the idea. He met resistance from officials who believed that
11248-423: The creation of new routes. Within the month the service had been extended from London to Norwich , Nottingham , Liverpool and Manchester , and by the end of 1785 services to the following major towns and cities of England and Wales had also been linked: Leeds , Dover , Portsmouth , Poole , Exeter , Gloucester , Worcester , Holyhead and Carlisle . A service to Edinburgh was added the next year, and Palmer
11400-417: The development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County , with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York's global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world. In 1969,
11552-501: The early 1840s most London-based coaches had been withdrawn from service. Some stagecoaches remained in use for commercial or recreational purposes. They came to be known as road coaches and were used by their enterprising (or nostalgic) owners to provide scheduled passenger services where rail had not yet reached and also on certain routes at certain times of the year for the pleasure of an (often amateur) coachman and his daring passengers. While stagecoaches vanished as rail penetrated
11704-418: The early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as a part of the colony of New York . It became a center of slavery , with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730. Most were domestic slaves ; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with
11856-557: The early 19th century. ... Driven from an elevated box seat, its footboard supported by brackets. At first unsprung or dead axle, but later hung on braces, elbow and finally Telegraph springs, as with the Mail Coach . ... Most stage coaches were named and painted in special liveries . The American mud wagon was an earlier, smaller, and cruder vehicle, being mostly open-sided with minimal protection from weather, causing passengers to risk being mud-splashed. A canvas-topped stage wagon
12008-686: The early Zionist colonies. The license holders paid a special tax for this right and could employ subcontractors and hired wagons. The stagecoaches linked Jerusalem with Jaffa, Hebron and Nablus, the Zionist colonies with Jaffa, Haifa with Acre and Nazareth. They were also used for urban and suburban transportation in the Haifa region. The colony of Rehovot is known to have promulgated detailed regulations for stagecoach operation, soon after its foundation in 1890, which were greatly extended in 1911. Fares were fixed, ranging between 1.10 Grush for traveling to
12160-527: The east and west coasts of the United States. There were several proposals for railroads connecting the two coasts. A more immediate realization was an overland mail route across the west. Congress authorized the Postmaster General to contract for mail service from Missouri to California to facilitate settlement in the west. The Post Office Department advertised for bids for an overland mail service on April 20, 1857. Bidders were to propose routes from
12312-407: The employment of Thorpe & Sprague, of that city, as a driver, and through the solicitation of Mr. Theodore S. Faxton came to Utica [NY], where he for a time was employed in picking up passengers from the taverns and boats for Parker's stages. After a time he started a livery [1827] with but small accommodations… His connection to Parker & Co. continued so long as they were still in business, and
12464-638: The end of the 17th century stagecoach routes ran up and down the three main roads in England. The London-York route was advertised in 1698: Whoever is desirous of going between London and York or York and London, Let them Repair to the Black Swan in Holboorn, or the Black Swan in Coney Street , York, where they will be conveyed in a Stage Coach (If God permits), which starts every Thursday at Five in
12616-522: The existing system could not be improved, but eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer , William Pitt , allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London. Under the old system the journey had taken up to 38 hours. The stagecoach, funded by Palmer, left Bristol at 4 pm on 2 August 1784 and arrived in London just 16 hours later. Impressed by the trial run, Pitt authorised
12768-466: The first half of the 20th century. The first crude depiction of a coach was in an English manuscript from the 13th century. The first recorded stagecoach route in Britain started in 1610 and ran from Edinburgh to Leith . This was followed by a steady proliferation of other routes around the island. By the mid 17th century, a basic stagecoach infrastructure had been put in place. A string of coaching inns operated as stopping points for travellers on
12920-567: The flatter roads of the north west. In Germany, Austria and some parts of Switzerland the Diligence was known as the Post Coach or Malle Post. —D. J. M. Smith in A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles The diligence from Le Havre to Paris was described by a fastidious English visitor of 1803 with a thoroughness that distinguished it from its English contemporary, the stage coach . A more uncouth clumsy machine can scarcely be imagined. In
13072-524: The following: "Between Vallecito and Algodones there are eight of these stations, varying from nine to sixteen miles apart. Wells have been sunk at each station, and abundance of good water is obtained, except at the Monument and Garden stations. These waters are brackish and bitter—a flavor not delicate to the taste. Drinking-water is carried from the other stations. These stations are of incalculable worth to emigrants, who are no longer forced to depend upon
13224-619: The former territory of New Netherland , including the city of New Amsterdam , when the Kingdom of England seized it from Dutch control. In the pre-Columbian era , the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquians , including the Lenape . Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking , included the present-day areas of Staten Island , Manhattan , the Bronx , the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens ), and
13376-425: The four coach vehicles needed was £1,274. The 250 horses needed for this service also needed to be paid for. Operators could reduce their tax burden by one seventh by operating a six-day-a-week service instead of a seven-day service. The development of railways in the 1830s spelled the end for stagecoaches and mail coaches . The first rail delivery between Liverpool and Manchester took place on 11 November 1830. By
13528-575: The front is a cabriolet fixed to the body of the coach, for the accommodation of three passengers, who are protected from the rain above, by the projecting roof of the coach, and in front by two heavy curtains of leather, well oiled, and smelling somewhat offensively, fastened to the roof. The inside, which is capacious, and lofty, and will hold six people in great comfort is lined with leather padded, and surrounded with little pockets, in which travellers deposit their bread, snuff, night caps, and pocket handkerchiefs, which generally enjoy each others company, in
13680-462: The hard seats of an old time leather spring coach – a Concord – leaving Pantano , creeping much of the way, letting the horses walk, through miles of alkali dust that the wheels rolled up in thick clouds of which we received the full benefit ... It is always a mystery to the passenger how many can be wedged into and on top of a stagecoach. If it had not been for the long stretches when the horses had to walk, enabling most of us to get out and "foot it" as
13832-473: The ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers. The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay . Between New York City and Troy, New York , the river is an estuary . The Hudson River separates
13984-464: The idea of a "shotgun" rider next to the driver was not employed by Butterfield. When correspondent Ormsby asked one of the stage drivers, "Have you any arms?", the stage driver answered, "No, I don't have any; there's no danger." However, most people on the Butterfield stages were armed, especially in Comanche and Apache territory. In October 1859 correspondent Farwell was a passenger heading east on
14136-473: The introduction of railroads, he continued to carry on the business of mail contractor and stage proprietor on the small lateral lines; but his business energies were too expansive to be thus curtailed, and he soon found ampler vent for them than the _______ of his former vast carrying business afforded. Hence, when the overland mail route to California was projected, Mr. Kinyon [Kenyon] found a field of business enterprise more commensurate with his capacities. He it
14288-677: The island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674. Several intertribal wars among the Native Americans and epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670. By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200. New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone. In
14440-671: The last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000. Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned a reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church , and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship. In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls , without bloodshed. The terms of
14592-414: The late 16th or early 17th centuries, although a nationwide system was not organised until 1658. Considerable improvements came during the 18th century with the turnpike system and better engineering of public roads. ... Forced from its main trunk routes by railway competition from the late 1830's, although some lingered in remoter areas until the 1850's. In North America a few Concord Coaches survived until
14744-609: The line and emigrants. These were dug out to hold a larger capacity. Cisterns were constructed at some of the stations and water wagons were used to transport water from distant sources to fill the cisterns. At the Hueco Tanks in Texas, correspondent Ormsby tells of the tanks being enlarged by Butterfield to hold a year's supply of water. In June 1860 Butterfield passenger Wallace reported to the Daily Alta California
14896-545: The local population as a representative of the Dutch colonists. A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States , with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island . In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam , later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island. The colony of New Amsterdam extended from
15048-588: The many improvements on the Texas side of the Red River starting about eight miles below Preston. A lengthy new section of road in Texas is described: "Another disadvantage under which we labored, this trip, was that our road, for the most of the way, was nearly new, though Mr. Bates claims that from Sherman to [Fort] Belknap at least forty miles are saved by it. It leads through the counties of Grayson, Cooke, Jacks [Jack], Montague, Wise, and Young, all of which contribute towards its expenses, and certainly it must be
15200-433: The morning. The novelty of this method of transport excited much controversy at the time. One pamphleteer denounced the stagecoach as a "great evil [...] mischievous to trade and destructive to the public health". Another writer, however, argued that: Besides the excellent arrangement of conveying men and letters on horseback, there is of late such an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women, to travel from London to
15352-500: The most famous is Vallecito , which is preserved as a historic site. Kenyon's hardest task building the trail was east of Los Angeles, where his trail was mostly in the open desert. Waterman L. Ormsby, the correspondent for the New York Herald , a passenger on the first stagecoach going west in September 1858, wrote in his reports of Marquis L. Kenyon's part in building the trail and the advantage for emigrants. He writes about
15504-419: The most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London . The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity . The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance. Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and
15656-556: The mouth of the Hudson River , which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean , has helped the city grow in significance as a trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. During the Wisconsin glaciation , 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet . The erosive forward movement of
15808-539: The nearby village of Wadi Hanin and 5.00 Grush for traveling from Rehovot to Jaffa. The stagecoach was required to work six times a week (except for the Shabbat ) and to carry free of charge the mails and medicines of the Rehovot pharmacy. New York City New York , often called New York City or NYC , is the most populous city in the United States , located at the southern tip of New York State on one of
15960-496: The only " transgender folks around" during the June 1969 Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality. In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates. Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; President Gerald Ford gave
16112-590: The opinion of Brown, greater ability, qualification and experience than anybody else to carry out a mail service, John Butterfield & Co. was selected and preferred. The route, known as the Oxbow Route because of its long curving route through the Southwest , was 600 miles (970 km) longer than the Central Overland Trail, but had the advantage of being snow free. The contract with
16264-458: The party proceeding East. The route traveled on the return trip was different from the one passed over in going out, ... " John Jr.'s obituary summarized his accomplishment: "John Butterfield [Jr.], the man who helped link the East to the West in establishing his famous Overland Mail Route more than half a century ago, died recently at his house in Utica, aged 82 years. His father, John Butterfield,
16416-501: The posts in some foreign countries make in a day. The speed of travel remained constant until the mid-18th century. Reforms of the turnpike trusts , new methods of road building and the improved construction of coaches led to a sustained rise in the comfort and speed of the average journey - from an average journey length of 2 days for the Cambridge -London route in 1750 to a length of under 7 hours in 1820. Robert Hooke helped in
16568-462: The precious supply of water which the wells, afforded, and which were liable to be covered up by the sand-waves that move over the desert." Other improvements to the trail by Butterfield were the building of bridges: "Fourteen miles from Boggy Depot [Indian Territory now Oklahoma] we came to Blue River station, where a heavy bridge is building for the company." There were two bridges in Arizona. One
16720-728: The press in North America . In 1754, Columbia University was founded. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there. The Battle of Long Island , the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War , was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn. A British rout of
16872-442: The principal towns in the country, that the like hath not been known in the world, and that is by stage-coaches, wherein any one may be transported to any place, sheltered from foul weather and foul ways; free from endamaging of one's health and one's body by the hard jogging or over-violent motion; and this not only at a low price (about a shilling for every five miles [8 km]) but with such velocity and speed in one hour, as that
17024-537: The rate of six or seven miles an hour". At this speed stagecoaches could compete with canal boats , but they were rendered obsolete in Europe wherever the rail network expanded in the 19th century. Where the rail network did not reach, the diligence was not fully superseded until the arrival of the autobus . In France, between 1765 and 1780, the turgotines , big mail coaches named for their originator, Louis XVI's economist minister Turgot , and improved roads, where
17176-539: The region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland (' New Netherland '). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City was Juan Rodriguez , a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with
17328-422: The rest of the 2,238-mile (3,602 km) distance to Tipton, Missouri. The San Francisco to Los Angeles section was previously one of the most developed. Some changes were made from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Settlements and wagon roads used by local stage lines were strung out between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Some existing structures, such as ranch houses and hotels were contracted as stage stations. One of
17480-523: The result. It is a glorious triumph for civilization and the Union. Settlements will soon follow the course of the road, and the East and West will be bound together by a chain of living Americans, which can never be broken." As stated by President Buchanan in the congratulation telegram to John Butterfield, increased emigration would be a result of the improved trail. Just after Butterfield's service started in September 1858, there were many newspaper accounts of
17632-407: The route between London and Liverpool . The stagecoach would depart every Monday and Thursday and took roughly ten days to make the journey during the summer months. Stagecoaches also became widely adopted for travel in and around London by mid-century and generally travelled at a few miles per hour. Shakespeare 's first plays were performed at coaching inns such as The George Inn, Southwark . By
17784-406: The same delicate depository. From the roof depends a large net work which is generally crouded with hats, swords, and band boxes, the whole is convenient, and when all parties are seated and arranged, the accommodations are by no means unpleasant. Upon the roof, on the outside, is the imperial, which is generally filled with six or seven persons more, and a heap of luggage, which latter also occupies
17936-403: The same form for about 150 years—from its introduction in 1635, mounted carriers had ridden between "posts" where the postmaster would remove the letters for the local area before handing the remaining letters and any additions to the next rider. The riders were frequent targets for robbers, and the system was inefficient. Palmer made much use of the "flying" stagecoach services between cities in
18088-490: The scheduled coach left London at 19:30, travelled through the night (without lights) and arrived in Liverpool at 16:50 the next day, a distance of about 220 miles (350 km), doubling the overall average speed to about 10 miles per hour (16 km/h), including stops to change horses. [Stage coaches operated] between stages or stopping places, both in the ancient world and modern Europe/America. Revived in England during
18240-444: The sense of recovering] a few days, the above gentlemen left for this city—making the trip to this place in twenty-two days from El Paso, and thirty-one days from San Francisco to El Paso, or fifty-six days, through with wagons. …The party from California, in crossing Arizona, took a middle route between Beale's and the Southern route – (but little traveled heretofore,) pronounced by them, as an excellent road." Another report describes
18392-539: The short space of twenty-five days, which we believe is the quickest time on record in crossing the Plains. The party was composed of only eight men, as follows: Major George W. Wood, Jesse Tolcott, Charles P. Cole and J.A. Lilly, of the St. Louis party, and Lieut. Frank de Ryther, James Swartz and John Butterfield Jr. of the San Francisco party. They brought with them one wagon and thirteen animals, which they left at Fort Smith for
18544-611: The southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street , where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids. In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit , as charged by the Dutch West India Company , purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie , a small Lenape band, for "the value of 60 guilders " (about $ 900 in 2018). A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan
18696-490: The stage-coach line of which he was an employee; and once having placed his foot on the first steps of the ladder, he soon rose, by his business tact and assiduity, to be the principal proprietor of the stage-coach lines converging to this point. At the time that railroads supplanted stages on the leading routes, Mr. Kinyon [Kenyon] was one of the most extensive owners of stage-coach property in Central New York. After
18848-581: The stagecoach service between Manchester and Liverpool in 1815 as having price competition between coaches, with timely service and clean accommodations at inns. Stagecoaches in Victorian Britain were heavily taxed on the number of passenger seats. If more passengers were carried than the licence allowed there were penalties to pay. The lawyer Stanley Harris (1816–1897) writes in his books Old Coaching Days and The Coaching Age that he knew of informers ready to report any breach of regulations to
19000-500: The stagecoaches. Sometimes the entire route across eastern Arkansas would be by stage. No one on a Butterfield stage was ever killed by outlaws, but some died in accidents caused by the mostly unbroken mules or mustangs running wild. Butterfield's stages were not allowed to carry shipments of valuables. In Butterfield's instructions to his employees was "No money, jewelry, bank notes, or valuables of any nature, will be allowed to be carried under any circumstances whatever." For this reason,
19152-507: The surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in the colony and allowed for religious freedom. In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War , the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname , which they had gained from the English, and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after
19304-523: The trail and immediately sent his hand-picked team, headed by Marquis L. Kenyon, to San Francisco to begin the task. The steamer Star of New York left New York on November 20, 1857, with passengers "M.L. Kinyon [Kenyon], J. Butterfield [Jr.], F. De Ruyter and S.K. Nellis, who go out to open the Pacific Mail Route across the plains and arrange the western terminus of said route." The party left San Francisco on January 16, 1858, to begin laying out
19456-418: The trail and selecting the sites for stage stations. They traveled by mule covering about 40 miles (64 km) per day. Another party left St. Louis about the same time. Both were to meet at El Paso, Texas, and then return to St. Louis. The party from St. Louis was G.W. Wood, Jesse Talcott, and Charles P. Cole. A Fort Smith, Arkansas, newspaper reported: "The parties met at El Paso and after recruiting [used in
19608-527: The untamed nature of the Mississippi River and its Arkansas tributaries in those years, the southern route necessarily utilized various alternative routes and methods of travel. At that time, there was no Mississippi River bridge at Memphis, and the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad ran from Hopefield near present-day West Memphis, Arkansas , only to a point 12 miles east of Madison, Arkansas , on
19760-597: The world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year of U.S. independence . The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide. New York City
19912-584: The world's largest natural harbors . The city comprises five boroughs , each coextensive with a respective county . The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area , the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area . New York is a global center of finance and commerce , culture , technology , entertainment and media , academics and scientific output ,
20064-493: The world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq . New York City is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023 , New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has by a wide margin the highest U.S. city residential rents; and Fifth Avenue is the most expensive shopping street in
20216-525: The world. New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York , before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. New York City
20368-402: The world. New York City is home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires , individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$ 30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world. In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England ). James's elder brother, King Charles II , appointed the Duke as proprietor of
20520-566: Was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Sandy's impacts included flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system and flooding of all East River subway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel . The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since the Great Blizzard of 1888 . At least 43 people died in New York City as
20672-430: Was Butterfield's son-in-law and treasurer of the Overland Mail Company. Dinsmore was vice-president of the company. The office for the company was in New York City. Why John Butterfield was chosen was stated by Postmaster General Aaron Brown: ... a route which no contractor had bid for, but one which in the judgement of A.V. Brown, of Memphis, had more advantages than any other, and, as John Butterfield & Co. had, in
20824-535: Was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by the Crown , with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent. When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands of freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia , England, and
20976-539: Was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition . The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height. New York City became
21128-593: Was a superintendent of the Overland Mail Route from San Francisco to St. Louis and thence to eastern cities. The younger Butterfield first traversed the famous route, marked the stations, superintended the work of organization and drove the first stage over the route. The history of the Butterfield Trail and the Emigrant Trail are intertwined. It was the purpose of awarding the contract to the Overland Mail Company, on September 16, 1857, not only for
21280-830: Was across the San Simon River near San Simon Stage Station, and the other across the San Pedro River just north of the San Pedro River Stage Station. The trail that John Butterfield had established was so efficient that it was little changed until its demise in 1880 with the completion of the railroad, and the impact the Butterfield Trail had for settling the West cannot be understated, as written by President James Buchanan congratulating John Butterfield for his achievement: "Washington, Oct. 9, 1858 John Butterfield, Esq .: Sir – Your dispatch has been received. I cordially congratulate you upon
21432-413: Was available, a stagecoach made long scheduled trips using stage stations or posts where the stagecoach's horses would be replaced by fresh horses. The business of running stagecoaches or the act of journeying in them was known as staging. Some familiar images of the stagecoach are that of a Royal Mail coach passing through a turnpike gate, a Dickensian passenger coach covered in snow pulling up at
21584-650: Was established in Melbourne in 1853 and grew to service Australia's mainland eastern states and South Australia. The diligence , a solidly built stagecoach with four or more horses, was the French vehicle for public conveyance with minor varieties in Germany such as the Stellwagen and Eilwagen . Diligence. Late 18th century name for a French public coach working on long distance routes. So-named from its reputation for promptitude and good time-keeping, as with
21736-444: Was greatly improved, making possible the passage of carriages. Stagecoaches were a great improvement over the earlier means of transport used in the country, such as riding horses, donkeys or camels, or light carts drawn by donkeys. When the stagecoach ran into a difficult ascent or mud, the passengers were required to get off and help push the carriage. The trip between Jaffa and Jerusalem by stagecoach lasted about 14 hours spread over
21888-415: Was purchased for $ 24 worth of glass beads. Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly. To attract settlers, the Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen ( patroons , or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success. Since 1621,
22040-715: Was reduced on this later run from three days to two in 1766 with an improved coach called the Flying Machine . The first mail coaches appeared in the later 18th century carrying passengers and the mails, replacing the earlier post riders on the main roads. Coachmen carried letters, packages, and money, often transacting business or delivering messages for their customers. By 1829 Boston was the hub of 77 stagecoach lines; by 1832 there were 106. Coaches with iron or steel springs were uncomfortable and had short useful lives. Two men in Concord , New Hampshire , developed what became
22192-455: Was regularly used as a public conveyance on an established route usually to a regular schedule. Spent horses were replaced with fresh horses at stage stations , posts, or relays. In addition to the stage driver or coachman who guided the vehicle, a shotgun messenger armed with a coach gun might travel as a guard beside him. Thus, the origin of the phrase " riding shotgun ". Always a headed vehicle, fitted with roof seats or gammon boards, from
22344-516: Was rewarded by being made Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office. By 1797 there were forty-two routes. The period from 1800 to 1830 saw great improvements in the design of coaches, most notably by John Besant in 1792 and 1795. His coach had a greatly improved turning capacity and braking system , and a novel feature that prevented the wheels from falling off while the coach was in motion. Besant, with his partner John Vidler, enjoyed
22496-584: Was succeeded by lines of his own, wherein he was a leading manager in the State until staging was superseded by railroads." After his employment with other stage lines, John decided to use this experience for running his own stage lines in Upstate New York. "Mr. Butterfield devoted his attention largely to lines running North and South. At the height of stage coaching he had forty lines running from Utica as headquarters to Ogdensburg and Sacketts Harbor on
22648-417: Was the U.S. capital from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs : Manhattan , Brooklyn , Queens , the Bronx , and Staten Island . Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District, Manhattan , New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022 ,
22800-523: Was twelve miles from John Butterfield's home in Utica. He immediately became involved with staging. His obituary gives a good summation of his staging activities in Upstate New York and what led him to be involved with the Overland Mail Company: "His prior occupation was a humble one—that of driver of a stage-coach between Utica and Oswego. It was but two or three years before he had saved enough money from his wages to purchase an interest in
22952-399: Was used for freight and passengers, and it had a lower center of gravity, making it harder to overturn. Until the late 18th century, stagecoaches traveled at an average speed of about 5 miles per hour (8 km/h), with the average daily mileage traversed approximately 60 to 70 miles (97 to 113 km). With road improvements and the development of steel springs, speeds increased. By 1836
23104-483: Was who went over the whole route originally, and surveyed it from the eastern terminus to its western in California." Returning, he procured the necessary equipment for the route, and went over it again, organizing the route as he proceeded, and remained for nearly a year in California, in charge of the western terminus of the road." After winning the contract on September 16, 1857, Butterfield had one year to organize
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