Looking for info on Stagecoaches and stage drivers

[Bristow Kid]

I am researching a new persona as a stage driver.  ANy information on how they dressed and what weapos they usually carried would be very helpful.  Especially if dated pictures are avaliable.  Thanks in advance for any help y'all can give.

Bristow Kid

[St. George]

The Time-Life series on 'The Old West' shows several - as does the book - 'U.S. West - the Saga of Wells Fargo' - by Beebe and Clegg.

Your public library should be able to help.

N.C. Wyeth and Frederick Remington both portrayed them well in their artwork.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[RattlesnakeJack]

Seein' as how you're located in Iowa, I suppose you do occasionally get some cool weather, so I suppose you might sometimes need this sort of attire ....

This is one of a series of vignettes of individuals done by C.M. Russel ...

(I could send you a copy of this with better resolution, if you wish ....

[Bristow Kid]

Thanks for the help and information y'all

[Ozark Iron John]

Checkout this link to Wells Fargo, they've got some pretty good stories.

[Bristow Kid]

Thanks John for the info.  I been there it is pretty cool. 

[St. George]

'Proper' clothing is what clothing as was available at the local Dry Goods store.

They didn't wear an 'outfit' - nor did they have a 'distinctive mark' that would identify them and their profession.

They wore the same clothes that other working men did - hat, pants, shirt, suspenders, boots, vest, bandanna or tie, coat - and a linen duster or a heavy winter coat as needed.
(Buffalo being most common)

Add a heavy coating of dust kicked up by the mules - and you're set.

All you need to document are those items and whatever firearms you'd carry and examples are rife in the Time-Life series 'The Old West' - especially the volume titled 'The Expressmen'.

There's also a book titled - 'U.S. West - The Saga of Wells Fargo' - by Beebe and Clegg - published in 1949.

Your local Library may have a copy or could get it via an Inter-Library Loan.

The 'John Ford Reference Library' often features celluloid stagecoach drivers as 'eccentric' or 'colorful', when in fact they were hard-working men doing their job.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Bristow Kid]

Thanks St.George.

Its been an interesting trek through history researching this.  I have had such a variety of reports on how they dressed.  I have heard that their pay was depending on the source of information anywhere from 30 to 100 dollars a month.  So it kinda gives me a little lee  way as to budgeting.  Thanks again for all your help St.George and everyone else that has offered information and pictures.  Its much appreciated.

[St. George]

De nada...

Pick your proposed time frame - then get the most generic men's clothing that you see in dated photos.

If you're in doubt - buy the 'sturdiest', since it'd give the most for your dollar - then as now.

The drivers were well-paid for their skills, since the deliveries depended on their abilities to drive their teams as efficiently and quickly as possible, and that skill had value.

Unlike their counterpart - the Cowboy - they had relatively little predeliction for 'flash', since it was largely unseen due to the dust - so a 'basic' outfit of working man's clothing will be fine.

Again, Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[blue drifter]

howdy all
can somebudy tell me, was calamity jane charley parker

[St. George]

No.

Calamity Jane was Martha Jane Canary - born in 1848 in Princeton, Missouri.
She wore men's clothes, used vulgar language, chewed tobacco and was skilled with a gun.

Daring to be different than most girls, Martha learned to ride a horse with skill and shoot a rifle.

Charley Parkhurst was Charlotte Parkhurst - Born in 1812, Charlotte or Charley learned to drive a team of horses.
She smoked, chewed tobacco, and drank whiskey.
Her voice was raspy and the clothes of jeans and boots disguised her.
She drove a stage for the California Stage Lines - 'she' was the stage driver who was found to be a woman upon her death.

Charlie Parker was the  Kansas City Bluesman known as 'Bird'.
He played the saxophone.
Really well...

Scouts Out!

[blue drifter]

No.

Calamity Jane was Martha Jane Canary - born in 1848 in Princeton, Missouri.
She wore men's clothes, used vulgar language, chewed tobacco and was skilled with a gun.

Daring to be different than most girls, Martha learned to ride a horse with skill and shoot a rifle.

Charley Parkhurst was Charlotte Parkhurst - Born in 1812, Charlotte or Charley learned to drive a team of horses.
She smoked, chewed tobacco, and drank whiskey.
Her voice was raspy and the clothes of jeans and boots disguised her.
She drove a stage for the California Stage Lines - 'she' was the stage driver who was found to be a woman upon her death.

Charlie Parker was the  Kansas City Bluesman known as 'Bird'.
He played the saxophone.
Really well...

Scouts Out!

thanks st george

[Guns Garrett]

As a kid I had a book entitled "Stage Coach Days".  It was a large-format book, more like a thick magazine.  I don't know who published it, maybe locally in California.  It had great illustrations - all line drawings, no photos.  It dealt mostly with the various Stage lines in California, but showed all the different types of body styles (that's where the "Body by Fisher" nameplate found on today's GM cars came from).  It covered the stereotypical stage you see in the movies, mud wagon, hack, and freight wagons.  Freight wagons (many built by Studebaker), by the way, outnumbered the various stage lines' coaches by about 3 to 1.  Had great stories about the many people of the time, including Charlie Parkhurst, "Black Bart", and Joaquin Murietta.  I think I came close too reading all the ink off the pages, and I may even still have it - just can't remember wher.  It's nearly 40 years old now - if it's in storage, the mice have probably got to it.

[Bristow Kid]

Too bad you can't find it.  Sounds like an interesting book.