The Coolidge examiner., 1931-12-11
STAGE COACH
TALES
BY E. C. TAYLO
Henry Clay Rides to a Fall

gress more than those of any other
man in American public life the
building Of the great National road
was due, rode to a fall on the road
he had fathered.
Clay often travelled over the great
highway, as he made frequent trips
from the nations capital to his
home in Kentucky each year, and
was known and liked by every stage
coach driver along the route.
One day the brilliant political
leader was travelling back home to
Kentucky. The streets of Union
town, Pa, in those days were not
the paved thorOughfares of today.
They were muddy morasses in wet
weather, and rocky roads in dry.
The coach in which Clay was rid
ing struck large boulder of lime
stone as it was leaving Uniontown,
and overturned, throwing Clay into
the street. He was picked up un-
hurt and after viewing the smashup,
remarked:
This is mixing the Clay of Ken
lucky with the limestone of Penn
sylvania."
Sam Sibley, the driver, received
broken nose, and the party re-
turned to the McClelland house,
which it had just left, unit! a new
coach and driver were procured.
The pike Boys" as the lordly
drivers on the National road were
called, were all friends of Clay, al
though they did not all agree with
him politically. One driver was ac-
cused of deliberately riding down
pro-Clay procession during the
ClayPOlk Presidential contest.
The pike Boys" were the artis-
tOcracy of the day. Lads all over
the nation looked upon them as the
boys of today look up to Lindbergh
and other heroes of the air. 1t was
every boys ambition to be the driv-
er of mail and fast passenger
coaches. There probably were more
street corner arguments along the
great highway in those days over
the style of various heroes driving
and their prowess as lords of the
road than there were over politics.
The drivers were as noted for
their quick wit and large acquaint-
ance with men of affairs as for their
dextrous handling of two hands full
of reins.
Their social and business posi-
tion was the envy Of all boyhood,
and it was the ambition of the ma
tion'S youths to emulate them. They
were worshiped as heroes.
Among the best known drivers of
the day, nearly all of whom Clay
knew by their nicknames, were
John Bunting, Jim Reynolds, Billy
ArmOr. Red" Bunting, nearly sew
en- feet tall, was the best known in
the East. David Gordon and James
Bun were the outstanding heroes of
the western section of the stage
lines.
These drivers were proud of their
horses, and took the best of care of
them. The passage of President
was triumphal procession along
the National road. The best drivers
and the best horses were assigned
to them.
The coaches were elaborate af-
fairs, many of them costing several
thousand dollars. They were gaily
painted, highly polished. and lined
with silk upholstery. They had
arm rests, and comfortable seats.
The earliest coaches on the Ma
tional road were the Troy coaches.
They were built at Cumberland,
Md, and carried 16 passengers.
These were followed by the more
elaborate Concord coaches, that
were used universally by the stage
lines all over the United States.
Relays of horses were waiting for
the coaches every ten or twelve
miles, and these were changed
while the coaches were still rock
ing after an abrupt halt. Speed
was the watchwOrd, and not min
ute was lost on a trip. The drivers
prided themselves on maintaining
their schedule in all kinds of
weather.
Those who lived along the Ma
tional road when they were children
still eagerly recall the thrilling
sight of a train of coaches, some
times as many as IA in single
line, rushing into relay station,
with the drivers blowing their
horns, quickly changing horses, and
speeding off again. 1t was romance
to them.
(G. 1881. Western Newspaper Union.)