Stagecoaches In Utah

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This page was last updated on August 29, 2026.

Overview

From Milton R. Hunter, "Utah, The Story of Her People, 1540-1947," 1946, page 176-177.

Since many people recognized that freight teams were too slow for transporting of passengers, express, and mail, a stagecoach line was established from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, in 1861. It followed the Oregon Trail to Fort Bridger, and then on westward through Utah. In fact, Salt Lake City was the very center of the route. From this center radiated freight and stage lines to all parts of the West. Besides the main line, one ran to Denver, another to Virginia City, Montana, and less pretentious coaches went to the towns of southern Utah and the mining camps of Nevada and Idaho.

Traveling by ox team, it usually took passengers from sixty to seventy days to come from Independence to Salt Lake City. But with this new method of travel, time was cut down at first to thirty days and later on to only eighteen.

Good stations were built along the entire route, located ten to twelve miles apart. At those stations, hay and grain were kept for the horses and mules that were standing in comfortable stables awaiting their turn to be hitched to the stagecoach.

People of the West knew this stage line that ran from St. Joseph to Sacramento as Ben Holladay’s Stage Line, because he was the proprietor from 1861 until he sold out to the Wells, Fargo Company in 1866. The latter company operated until superseded by the railroad in 1869.

Holladay was paid $1,000,000 a year by the government for carrying mail. Added to that income were the passenger fares collected. Ordinarily it cost $150 to $180 to travel from St. Joseph to Salt Lake City, but during the Civil War period the rates increased to $350.

Did Ben Holladay become rich from these vast sums of money collected? When one considers his expenses, one readily answers no! Famous Ben had to keep the line equipped with 100 Concord coaches, 2,700 horses and mules, and $55,000 worth of harnesses. Hay and oats cost him $1,000,000 a year. Sometimes he had to pay at the rate of $125 a ton for hay. On many occasions Indians killed his drivers and burned his stations. Added to all these expenses was the cost of keeping in his employ 250 skillful and courageous men.

Edward Tunis wrote in his book "Wheels," published in 1955, page 69:

In the 1860s and 1870s, there was a limited choice of places you could reach by railroad but, with enough fortitude, you could get almost anywhere by stagecoach. Nearly all of them were built by Abbott and Downing of Concord, New Hampshire, and hence were called Concord coaches. The first ones were made before 1830. In the East, light Concords rode the turnpikes. The heavier model followed the covered wagons westward in America. They were originally introduced to reach the mining areas of California and Nevada. These big Western Concords carried nine passengers inside on three seats provided with safety straps for rough going; and though roads of a sort were built, the going was rough. There were seats for six passengers on the coach roof and many more might cling where they could find space. The two seats alongside the driver usually had to be occupied by guards. The Concord coach was springless. The job of easing the ride was left to the two thoroughbraces on which the body was suspended. These ran fore-and-aft and were made up of eight or more thicknesses of ox-hide. The iron stanchions which supported them were completely rigid.

The Western stages were almost always pulled by six horses. Each pair was hitched to a set of doubletrees. Stage transportation thrived in the West from the early days of the Gold Rush until the coming of the railroad; it dwindled gradually to serving remote areas and finally disappeared completely in 1910.

At one time travelers could take a coach at the end of the rails, at St. Louis, and travel day and night, changing drivers and horses, to San Francisco in 23 days.

To reach destinations beyond the merely remote, passengers transferred from coach to mud wagon, which was also a coach of sorts. It too was suspended on thoroughbraces. It was lighter than the Concord and cheaper, being built with simple flat sides. Like the coaches it had a covered boot at the back, but its body wasn’t enclosed, except by roll-down canvas curtains. Often it was drawn by mules, as sometimes the Concords were also. There’s not much about the mud wagon to suggest that it was any easier to pull through a slough than a coach; it probably acquired its name from the general condition of the roads on which it was used.

Stages East from Salt Lake City

During the early pioneer era between 1847 and 1850, travelers making the journey from the Weber River to Utah's capital were forced to rely on the original Pioneer Trail through East Canyon and over Little Mountain pass and down Emigration Canyon. This arduous track featured steep, difficult grades and constant stream crossings.

This changed in July 1850 when Parley Pratt opened his "Golden Pass" road, which became the earliest formal road between the Upper Weber Valley at Echo and the Salt Lake Valley. Pratt's Golden Pass became the Territorial Road in February 1852 when the Territorial Legislature passed "An Act For Improvement of Big Kanyon Creek Road," setting aside an unspecified sum of public funds for basic repairs. Traffic continued to increase and the piecemeal funding proved inadequate for long-term upkeep. Recognizing the need for a more sustainable road for public use, lawmakers took further action in January 1855, by approving "An Act To Incorporate The Big Kanyon Road Company." This legislation granted the road status as official toll road under a territorial charter. But the collection of tolls proved to be ineffective, difficult and intermittent at best, with only one person responsible for the entire route, apparently on a part-time basis. Most travelers and freight wagons simply ignored to toll.

("Big Kanyon" was the original name for today's Parleys Canyon.)

The territorial road between Echo and Salt Lake City was the main avenue for almost all freight wagons carrying goods bound for Salt Lake City from the east, as well as the Overland stagecoaches and the steady stream of immigrants. The road passed down Echo Canyon, then followed the Weber River south to Three Mile (Rockport), passing Coalville and the Grass Creek and Chalk Creek coal mines. As the coal mines were developed after 1860, wagons loaded with coal joined the already steady stream of stages, and immigrant and freight wagons headed for Salt Lake.

Parleys Canyon became an important link in the Overland Mail route of the United States Post Office. The three different phases of the Overland Route development. First was the "Jackass Mail" of the 1850s, with its name derived from the fact that it was loaded on mules and moved in mule trains. Second was the Pony Express, and third was the Overland stagecoaches of the 1860s. Each used the entire Golden Pass road from the Upper Weber Valley to Salt Lake City. Prior to the establishment of the Pony Express the mail from the East - "the States" - was handled by a contract originally awarded to Samuel H. Woodsen in 1850. The contract passed through several hands during the 1850s eventually ending up with the three organizers of the Pony Express: Alexander Majors; William H. Russell; and William B. Waddell. In 1859, these three also purchased the Salt Lake City to San Francisco mail contract from George Chorenning, who had been operating it since 1851.

Stagecoach service through Parleys Canyon was begun in August 1858 by the Leavenworth & Pikes Peak Express Co. when their first 10 coaches arrived at Atchison, Kansas, by Missouri River steamboat. The 10 coaches were immediately put into service on the company's route between Atchison and Salt Lake City, in cooperation with the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company which operated another stage line between Salt Lake City and Sacramento, California.

When the Pony Express began operation in April 1860 - the first rider from the West arrived in Salt Lake City on April 7 and the first rider from the East arrived on the 9th - their chosen route was to use Parley Pratt's Golden Pass from Echo to Three Mile, across the divide into Parleys Park and passing down Parley's Canyon into the Salt Lake Valley.

(The actual route of the Pony Express between Echo and Mountain Dale (Dell) Station at the head of the lower Parleys Canyon is not documented. Previous researchers assume that the route was from Echo to Henefer, into East Canyon and over Big Mountain summit, then to Mountain Dale, then down lower Parleys Canyon to Salt Lake Valley. But why use this old pioneer route from the late 1840s, when in fact, Parley Pratt's Golden Pass was in place and being used by the stagecoaches, using a toll road that was recognized by the Territorial legislature as a viable road from the east.)

The Pony Express was replaced in 1861 by the completion of the transcontinental telegraph in 1861. The final "telegraph" by Pony Express was received at Salt Lake City on September 11, 1861, pushing the Pony Express into its place in history after only 19 months of operation. Brigham Young took advantage of being able to send the first telegram from Salt Lake City to the East on October 18, 1861, by addressing it to President Abraham Lincoln and assuring him that the people of Utah Territory were loyal to the United States.

The Pony Express was not the sole means of receiving mail in this period. There was regular daily stagecoach service that also carried the U. S. Mail, with the stages also carrying passengers and light freight.

Stagecoaches taking travelers bound for Salt Lake City from the East entered Utah Territory from Wyoming at the head of Echo Canyon. The eastern route proceeded westward along Echo Canyon to the Echo settlement before turning south toward Wanship. From there, it continued to Three Mile (later known as Rockport) and crossed the divide into Parley's Park, eventually traversing the park to reach Kimball's Station at the head of lower Parley's Canyon. From Kimball's station the route was through Parley's Canyon into the Salt Lake Valley. Parley P. Pratt developed this path between 1849 and 1850, opening the new road in July 1850, and it served as the primary thoroughfare for nearly all westbound travelers until the transcontinental railroad arrived in 1869.

The two companies consolidated in July 1861 to form the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. The stations listed between the Upper Weber and Salt Lake City those that were listed for the Pony Express.

It was during this time, circa 1858, that the town of Mountain Dell was established at the site of what is now Mountain Dell Reservoir. The town was originally referred to as Hanks' Station because it grew up around the stage station that was run by Ephraim K. Hanks.

The station was later run by a man by the name of Hardy, who may have been the same man who became the Bishop of the Mountain Dell Ward of the LDS Church. Mountain Dell was referred to as Hardy's Station or Bishop Hardy's as early as August 1864. (Journal History, August 18, 1864)

In March 1862 the Overland mail contract of the United States Post Office was transferred to the Overland Stage Co., organized by Ben Holladay.

Evidence of the change is that the stage station was moved from Hardy's, to William Kimball's ranch at the north end of Parleys Park in 1862. In June 1864 William Kimball was named as the Postmaster of the newly established Parleys Park Post Office which was set-up at the stage station to serve the residents of communities as far away as Heber City and Park City. (Journal History, June 22, 1864)

In June 1864 William Kimball was named as the Postmaster of the newly established Parleys Park Post Office which was set-up to serve the residents of communities as far away as Heber City and Park City. (Journal History, June 22, 1864)

It was not until 1862 that Pratt's "Golden Pass" route was sufficiently upgraded to accommodate the increasing general traffic, a project likely aided by financial investments from the Overland Stage Company at the urging of the federal government to accommodate its stagecoaches, which carried the U. S. Mail.

To maintain and continuously upgrade the route, the Territorial Legislature passed successive legislation in 1865, 1866, and 1868 to allocate funding and authorize toll collection.

These long-distance Overland Stage operations from the east into Salt Lake City came to an end once the transcontinental rail line reached Ogden in 1869 and the Utah Central Railroad reached Salt Lake City in 1870.

Following the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in May 1869, the federal government swiftly transferred its contracts for transcontinental mail and long-distance military passenger transport from stagecoach companies, such as Wells Fargo's Overland Stage Division, to the rail lines.

In January 1870, the 37-mile Utah Central Railroad connected Ogden directly south to Salt Lake City, effectively eliminating the final long-distance gap for travelers entering the city from either direction.

But the stagecoaches did not vanish overnight. Instead, the coaches and their supporting stage stations were sold to local operators to serve areas still lacking rail connections, including remote mining camps, rural farming communities south of Salt Lake City, and towns along the route into southern Utah and Nevada. Rather than undertaking multi-day overland journeys from the east, these stage lines adapted to become short-haul "feeders" designed to transport passengers and goods directly to the nearest railway station.

Stages West From Salt Lake City

From April 1871 Clinton's Lake Point hotel was one of the major stops for the coaches of the Wines & Kimball Ophir stage line, which provided stagecoach service between Salt Lake City and Stockton, Ophir, Tintic "and points south." (Salt Lake Herald Republican, April 14, 1871)

The Wines & Kimball began their stage and express service on April 21, 1871, and their advertisements ran in the daily newspapers through March 1873. On March 26, 1873 newspapers carried the notice that Len Wines as now the sole operator of the Ophir stages, under the name of the Salt Lake, Ophir and Tintic Express and Stage Line. Wines & Kimball appear to have purchased the stage line from John Eaves, who had operated it as the East Canyon Stage Line until as late as February 1871. Len Wines was also involved in the Enterprise Stage company. The Wines & Kimball partnership was also in the livestock business, with Len Wines traveling throughout the West buying and selling large numbers of animals. The partnership was dissolved on March 23, 1874, and by late September 1874, the stage route between Salt Lake City and Ophir was in the hands of the Western Stage Line. This was likely in response to the Utah Western railroad's construction progressing toward the lake's south shore. By December 19874 the railroad was advertising its connection with the coaches of the Western Stage Line for service to Ophir and Stockton. H. P Kimball was superintendent of the Utah Western until it was taken by Union Pacific in 1881.

From June 1871 the City of Corinne steamer connected with the coaches of the Wines & Kimball Ophir stage line. (Corinne Daily Reporter, April 17, 1871; June 24, 1871)

July 20, 1871
Clinton's Landing is shown as a stop on the Wines & Kimball stage line between Salt Lake City and Ophir and Stockton. The coaches depart daily from the Wells Fargo & Company office in Salt Lake City at 7 a.m., and return to the same location at 4 p.m. (Salt Lake Herald Republican, July 20, 1871)

U. S. Mail

The history of transporting U.S. Mail between the Missouri River, Salt Lake City, and California during the 1850s and 1860s evolved rapidly due to shifting geopolitics, winter weather obstacles, business rivalries, and technological breakthroughs.

The U.S. Post Office initially attempted mail delivery across the central route via early, under-funded mail contracts. Beginning in 1850, the first were the Woodson contracts to the east (Salt Lake City to Independence) and the Chorpenning contracts to the west (Salt Lake City to Sacramento). The route used by Woodson between Independence and Salt Lake City was along the traditional Oregon-Mormon Trail path following the Platte River, North Platte, and South Pass into Salt Lake City. The route used by Chorpenning west from Salt Lake City was north of the Great Salt Lake and across northern Nevada following the Humboldt River, then over the Sierra Nevada mountain passes into California. Heavy winter snows over South Pass in Wyoming, and the Sierra Nevada repeatedly stranded the wagons and mule trains carrying the mail, leading to months of lost mail and public outcry.

Due to winter blockages along the northern path, the Post Office changed to a southern route, creating a major change in how U. S. Mail moved west. The new route used the Butterfield Overland Mail of the 1858–1861 period, when John Butterfield won a massive $600,000 annual contract to transport transcontinental mail via the southern "Oxbow Route." This new southern route departed St. Louis, curving south through Fort Smith, and across Texas and Arizona, passing through Tucson and Yuma, to Los Angeles before heading north to San Francisco and Sacramento. It bypassed Salt Lake City entirely to guarantee year-round, snow-free delivery within 25 days. Salt Lake City was forced to rely on secondary, local mail routes such as Chorpenning's reduced northern service or the mail trail running south to Los Angeles via Las Vegas and the Old Spanish Trail.

While Butterfield ran the southern route, explorers and stage operators were proving the benefits of a direct central passage. In 1855-1859, the surveys of Egan & Simpson (Howard Egan and Army Captain James H. Simpson) identified a direct route straight across the Great Basin. This "Central Overland Route" went south of the Great Salt Lake through central Nevada directly to Carson City, cutting 280 miles off of Chorpenning's old Humboldt River trail.

Sources

(In addition to contemporary newspapers, the following were useful sources.)

Frank A. Root and William Elsey Connelly, The Overland Stage to California, 1901

Roscoe P. Conkling and Margaret B. Conkling, The Butterfield Overland Mail 1857-1869, Volume 2, 1947

Richard E. Fike and John W. Headley, The Pony Express Stations of Utah in Historical Perspective, Bureau of Land Management, 1979

Works Progress Administration, Writers Program, Utah, a guide to the state, 1941

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