A Stagecoach Mired in the Mud

[Shotgun Steve]

A stagecoach mired in the mud, on mail route east of Fort Stockton,Texas March 12, 1885. Escort duty was a critical assignment for frontier troops. Photo courtesy Fort Concho NHL.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Looks a little small for a stagecoach.

[Delmonico]

Looks a little small for a stagecoach.

They came in different sizes.  The smaller ones had canvas tops like that.  I don't have time to copy and post, a lot of them but go to this link and do a search for stagecoach:  This is the Denver Public Library Collection.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/codhtml/hawphome.html

Change the number in the search field to 1000 from 100 if you want to see more than a hundred pictures of stagecoaches.  Funny those kind never seem to show up in the movies but there sure were a lot of them in use.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Looks like what was called a 'Mud Wagon'. A smaller coach built for short runs on smaller runs. They had canvas sides to keep the mud off the passengers.

[Delmonico]

Still a type of stagecoach, just not of the type you see in movies.