The Red Cloud chief., 1880-09-30
The Western Stage. Driver.

Ir IS worth a days journey to get
acquainted with the average Western
stage-driver, to listen to his stories and
observe his ways. HE is only a pas
senger," is a slang expression which l
sometimes hear used in the East to de-
scribe a person who thinks he manages
some important enterprise which is
really controlled by other and more i'm
portant men; but | never appreciated
how forcible it was until l took my seat
on the box by the side of a Western
stage-driver. The conductor of a rail-
way train is the man who comes along
through the car at intervals and punches
a peculiarly shaped hole in your ticket.
or tears off a coupon as you approach
the end of a division. He waves his
hand or swings his lantern for the train
TO start, but the fact that he is the man
into whose hands we commit our lives,
the autocrat of the train, " occurs
to me unless some accident happens
through his negligence.
The stage-driver is the conductor, en-
gineer, fireman and brakeman; he is
the captain of the ship, its complement
of officers and the crew, and when he
gathers up his lines, unwinds his whip
lash from its stock and "pulls out" he
is the "bOss'' until he reaches the end
of his route. His coach is MOI run by
telegraph; he does not wait at stations
for orders TO Ego ahead" he goes fast
or slow as he pleases. And the stage
driver generally knows his own import
ance and makes his passengers feel it.
If you get on the right side of him he
viii crowd the journey full of interest
and pleasure, but if he %conceives a dis
like or contempt for you, the sooner
you get a seat inside the coach the bet
ter it will be for you.
A majority of the Western stage
drivers are m~iddle-aged men (ess than
fifty), but they have lived a hundred
years if time was only measured by the
experience they have had. 1t is rare to
meet one nowadays who did not drive
on the old overland route, and many OF
them served their apprenticeshipsin the
States east of the Missouri River before
that route was established. To hear a
man whose hair has not begun to turn
gray tell of his adventures on the plains
and in the mountains before there was
a Pacific Railroad is to me almost like
listening to a soldier of the Revolution
describing the battle of Bunker Hill.
One period seems little more remote
than the other to one who never saw
this country until he could come here by
rail, and to our children they will be
equally remote periods of the romantic
past.
| think l would know a Western
stage-driver wherever l might see him
on the box. Though not uniformed,
there are certain peculiarities in the
way they wear their clothes that. though
difficult to describe, are unmistakable.
But there is more in the manner than
in the dress. They sit upon the box
as though they were part of it, they
hold the reins in a certain way, and
the butt end Of the long whip. when
not in use, lies loosely between the
thumb and forefinger of the right
hand, while the top rests across the
lines. If l saw a man who was driving
in this way take all the reins and the
whip in his left hand when he came to
a level piece of road or a slight ascent,
draw the end of his whip-lash tenderly
through his right hand, and then, by a
continuation of the same motion, raise
his hand very slowly as he let the snap
per drop, and taking his hat by the rim
behind push it forward over his eyes, 1
should be disappointed if, when l asked
him if he did not drive for Wells, Fargo
& Go. or Ben Holiday in olden times,
he did not reply: you bet" or Il
should remark"
These fellows are generally rough and
profane, but they are men of undoubted
nerve, brave as a lion and full of re-
sources when in danger or difficulty.
Toward ladies they are, almost without
exception, l believe, polite and gallant.
To their friends they are as true as
steel, and there is a sense of honor prev
alent among them that makes them
remarkably trustworthy. Il treat ev-
cry man white who treats ME white,
and don't you forget it." said Frank
the driver with whom I rode to Silver
Cliff the other day, in speaking of his
relations with his employers. .'They
always done what's right by me and 1
can't kick" he added. And this was
said in q way which showed that he
meant If CIR N y Tribnne'