Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-10
.NE OF THE

WS1t VA ~ Wv ~
is scarcely remembered today,
was Ben Holiday, Overland
stage king, who in a few
years made millions and died
practically a pauper. No sin
gle individual played a great
er part in the development
and settlement of the Trans
Mississippi region than Holla-
day and there were few more
spectacular characters among
the nations trail blazers. He
was a typical westerner, hav-
ing been born in Kentucky in
1924 and reared on the from
tier. AS early as 1889 he
opened a tavern and bar in
Weston, Platte county, Mis-
souri,, but soon went into
other lines of business and
accumulated money very rap
idly. In 1849 he took a wagon
train and $4,000 worth of
goods overland to California,
realizing a fortune from the
sale Of these to the popula-
ton of the gold camps. He
then established himself at
Salt Lake, and as a trader in
the Rocky mountains increas-
ed his wealth for several
years. Besides his gigantic
venture in the overland stage
line he had other large in
terests, including such enter
prises as a fleet of first-class
passenger steamers plying the
Pacific between San Francis
co and Portland, Oregon.
Like the Pony Express, the
Overland stage lines trans
porting mail and passengers
from the Missouri river to
California between 1850 and
1866 proved disastrous from
a financial standpoint in spite
VI IAC biS SOlhpSLootioA pau Ny LhC
government for carrying mail. When
the government let the first contract
for mail transfer from Independence,
Mo-, to Salt Lake in 1850, to Samuel
Woodson of Independence, the coun-
try from the western boundary of
Missouri to Utah was a wilderness, I
more than a thousand miles in length. {
Thousands of gold seekers had pass {
ed over it in the spring of 1S49 and
that year, leaving a trail of bleached
bones and animals. The presence of
many hostile Indian tribes resulted :
in constant loss of property, so hat {
investment in a transportation en- 7
terprise of such a character required /
courage. The United States govern {
ment gave assurance that losses i
from Indian deprediations would be 6
made good, but few claims were
ever allowed. i
once-a-montb service for four years. y
but finally failed in 1854. His successor S
operated the line for two years before {
going into bankruptcy. Others met {
with similar misfortune until the d
monthly and weekly services were
supplanted in 1851 by a daily service T
through to Placerville, Cal, and the G
following year the line was taken over I
by Holiday, the name of the company t
being the Central Overland California |
and Pixies Peak Express. '
Holidays Career d
Holiday, while up to that time en- @
gagged principally in merchandising, had b
worked as a driver on stage lines in a
Missouri while still in his teens and q
had absorbed considerable information il
concerning staging of his frequent trips v
over the route to Salt Lake. The b
Ouorland driuorG oil hod q fv1nnlI- h
for him and he proved a re- n
markable executive. There were vari- e
Gus stage lines in the west besides the L
c. o. c. & p. P. Express, and the more T
important of these were soon taken 3
over by Holiday. One of those WAS q
the Pioneer Express, the pride of Cali Z
which sprang into existence in =
the palmy days Of Virginia City and the :
noted Comstock silver mines. It's =
was the finest that money =
buy-the finest new Concord h
and harness, the best type of n
six-horse teams, and drivers who were
highly paid and as good reinsmen as
the west ever saw. The road built ,
for the stage line across the Sierra q
range was one of the best s
highways ever made. 1t was smooth II
as asphalt paveme nt, graded as wide as 9
a modern city street and was ~sprinkled a
and rolled daily, tanks being located at :,
convenient points for this purpose. a.
Another new line established by Hol- A
was a daily stage from Salt Lake s.
% Bannock, Virginia City and Helena, bi
Mont, which grew out of the gold dis r,
in that state in the early eos. tc
Later after the discovery of gold in the e.
Owyhee, Idaho City and Boise, Ida, p:
,ew and important mail routes were
and Holiday obtained a con- W
for carrying mails from Salt fe
Lake to Dallas City. Ore, by way of G
Walla. az
On the eastern or Missouri river end m
IF the overland route, the lateral lines, s;
,r feeders. were the two important W
from Omaha and Nebraska OF
City, intersecting at Fort Kearney, ey
they formed a junction with the ia
main line from Atchison. At Denver 81
he tributaries Of the Overland were hi
ines from that city TO Central City and tn
california Gulch, near the present city WI
# Leadville. In the various routes il
by Holiday personally and ia
contract there were 5000 miles to
f daily stage lines, the management of pI
which was an enormous undertaking. of
t required upward Of 500 coaches and co
xpress wagons, as many freight W.
onna and K 900 horsaS nrl. 81 =.