Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-01-20
THE CONCORD COACH.
"REMINISCENCES OF OLD STAG.
ING DAYS IN MISSOURI.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE ALWAYS
cHIvALRoUsLy PRoTECTED-A
SKETCH OF KIT CARSON.

SKETCH OF KIT CARSON.
The individuals who were born too
hate to experience the joys OF stage
coaching in the early days OF Missouri.
| while they may felicitate themselves
upon the luxurious and speedy modes
Of transportation prevailing at the pres
ent time, can never in the slightest de-
gree appreciate the delights stored up
| In the memories of those who recall the
introduction of the Concord coach and
their many rides in the same. says the
st. Louis Globe Democrat
| The vehicle was a revelation, revo-
| luton and an evolution that seemed TO
leave nothing further TO be accoa9lish-
ed for the comfort of the overland trav-
eler. 1t was cradle on wheels. par
/ Tor in daytime and comfortable sleep
/ ing room at night With its full quota
Of twelve passengers II never seemed
] crowded. In the summer time. with
its curtains rolled up 1t was breezy
and sweet. In winter. with its curtains
down, light being admitted through
small glass pahes fixed in them. 1t was
almost impervious to colo, the vitiated
air being carried off through ventila-
| tors in the roof.
! In tnat day also buffalo robes We're
plentiful and about as cheap as blan-
| kets. These robes were finely tanned
with the hair ON them, and when the
hides had been taken ut the proper sea
son the hair was as soft as the fur of
some of the animals taken at this day
| for their fur alone. They were fiexi-
BILE and could be handled with as much
| facility as the ordinary bed comforter
OIL today.
The robes were geneyally tanned by
Indian squaws through process in
which the brains of the deer and ante
| ,ope were the principal ingredients.
while many of them were queerly and
/ beautifully 'ornamented with wild
scenes and incidents of life among the
red men in indelible colors. Probably
not robe of this kind can now be
| found in all this land, and were 1t pos
| sible the value Of the same as a me-
mento of old times would be incalcu
| liable.
| In cold weather the coaches were
generally furnished with one of these
/ robes for each seat, while the floor was
covered with sweet, clean hay or straw.
| And then, also, at the stations any one
! who desired TO do so could secure some
/ kind Of a foot warmer.
! Even in the coolest weather stage
coach travelling was pleasant. 1t was
only in the rainy season that its dis
/ agreeable aspects materialized. Then,
while the passengers paid an advance
price for passage, it was understood,
/ if not mentioned in the contract that
4 he would be expected to walk over spe-
cially bad stretches of the road and.
| l. necessary, carry rail 10 help pry
/ the coach out of ruts and mudhoIes,
while never hesitating to lend shout
! der or a willing hand 10 assist the
horses in dragging the coach up the
/ hill.
! Under emergencies of this kind. how
| ever, the women and children remained
in the coach. They must be pulled
/ through dryshod even if 1t took the
hind and front traces.
| While many of the men who travelled
in that early day in Missouri were
rough in speech, uncouth in manner
and devoid of the table etiquette that
| is now deemed essential to good breed
| ing, they were the fewest in number
who did not possess tender hearts and
ehiyalric souls. Women were as safe
/ In Concord coach, even without an
escort, at that day as If they were in
| their own homes, and in more than one
Instance the writer has witnessed the
carrying of the women in the arms of
stalwart men from the coach steps to
the dining room of the station that
l they might be free from the discomfort
of wet or muddy feet. Again, he has
known great burly fellow to lend his
shoulder as resting place for the head
Of sleeping woman or one perhaps
suffering from some temporary indis-
position.
Every woman was lady in the esti-
nation of the men, and every man be-
lieved that it deyolved upon him indi-
/ vidually to care for her.
| Occasionally, however, some brute In
the guise of a man would appear in the
stagecoach, but to the credit of the
Missourians of that day not one of
them was ever numbered in that class.
The brute usually was some half eGu-
Gated. sup~rcilious dude. who esteemed
himself made of better clay than any
of his fellow passengers. The writer
recalls only one specimen of this genus
homo and he was called down SO
promptly that possibly never thereaft-
er did he require similar lesson.
AT that day the Mcpherson hotel at
Boonville was one of the most whole
some and best kept hostelries in the
state. The coach stopped there for a
late breakfast. and during the meal
our dude was hard TO satisfy Nothing
pleased him, and consequently he re
I aDfpral thp yahfela in pa thor m Ill hn