By Michelle Wyckoff

Stagecoach.  Invented by John Darwin in England in the 1600s.  Described by Google as  “A large, closed horse drawn vehicle formerly used to carry passengers and often mail along a regular route between two places.  Described by me as “The star of the Overland Trail” TV series and a wonderful old John Wayne movie.

I’ve been watching the “The Overland Trail” lately, about the Overland Stage route.  I’m noticing more and more similarities between travel on a stage and travel in a car.  Every now and then they have a problem with a wheel, which would, in my estimation, equal a flat tire, cranky passengers, and ‘running out of fuel’, ie, having to stop every now and then to feed and water the horses.  But I’m curious to know what happened back then if, say, a passenger of the female persuasion might have to go to the bathroom.  What if there were no bushes within a hundred miles?  I shudder to think!

The stage coach ran on horsepower.  Sometimes four, sometimes six horses.  No air conditioning, but the rides sometimes included music, depending on one of the passengers having a banjo or harmonica.  Still, it was a good invention…..

My Chevy Traverse would have made a fabulous  “stagecoach” back then.  It would have carried seven passengers instead of six, had air conditioning and music, of course, but the biggest difference would have been 160 horses rather than four or six.  As for the Indians, what Indians???

May you be living the good life, Bill Woelk!