Tuesday, May 11, 2021

From St. Joseph to Grant City: The Wild Stage Coach Ride of 1871

In the October 14th, 1931 issue of the Times-Tribune, Robert Birbeck of Denver submitted this story about a wild stagecoach ride that took place in 1871. He attributed it to a stage driver living in Stanberry:

“It was a cold winter 60 years ago. I took two families (from Kentucky) from St. Joe to Grant City on the stage. It took two days to make the trip and two to come back. We stayed overnight at the C.K. Wood place on Empire Prairie and the next night on the east side of the square in Grant City. There was then a hotel and livery barn there at that time.”

“That was a cold ride; I nearly froze to death driving two span of mules. I had to run them downhill, it was so icy. If I didn’t lay the black snake to them and run them all the way down the hills when I got to Mount Pleasant, the darned thing would turn over. One of the men rode on the outside to look out for a man who was to meet these people from Kentucky, and who were going to Grant City to live. It was so cold on the outside, he couldn’t stand it, so he got inside. Somewhere along the way, we passed the man who went on to St. Joe.”

“That trip, I think, cost these people $12 to make the two day trip. I would like to know just who these people were.”


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