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Spit with the wind
By W. Lane Rogers/For the Arizona Range News
Arizona Mail and Stage Company, commonly known as Walker & Kinnear, was a major advertiser in the Arizona Daily Star. This post-railroad ad appeared in November 1880, two months after the Southern Pacific completed a ribbon of steel from Tucson to the New Mexico border.
Established as Ohnesorgen & Walker Stage Line, it boasted "fast time"-twelve hours between Tucson and Tombstone-"splendid meals" and "no detention on account of high water" at the San Pedro River.
San Pedro Crossing, located a mile northwest of the newly platted Benson town site, was owned by Ohnesorgen and sported a bridge across the river. Splendid meals were, however, idle boasts. The food, quipped a traveler, "would curdle a goat's stomach."
Stage coach travel was not for the faint of heart, but marked by dust or mud, heat or cold, wretched food, and bone-jarring fatigue. Passengers carried firearms, blankets, canteens, emergency food, and often rode day and night. When necessity dictated a lighter load, passengers walked.
The Daily Arizona Citizen reported an incident in which an axel burr failed and a competitors coach lost a wheel. "After running three miles on three wheels, they attempted to pass a freight team and in so doing upset the coach and made a bad mess of it."
Driving close behind, an Ohnesorgen & Walker stage rescued passengers from a long walk.
Later, the Citizen marveled when the company ran a stage from Tombstone to Tucson in nine hours and forty-five minutes. The time was "breathtaking."
In an effort to make stage travel palatable, companies offered salient advice. "In the event of runaway horses, remain calm. Leaping from the coach is a bad idea.
"Abstinence from liquor is requested, but if you must drink, be neighborly and share the bottle."
Perhaps the most telling was this: "If ladies are present, gentlemen are urged to forego smoking cigars and pipes as the odor is repugnant to the gentle sex. Chewing tobacco is permitted, but spit with the wind, not against it."
The Star urged passengers to "expect annoyance, discomfort and some hardships. If you are disappointed, thank heaven."
During the spring of 1880, Ohnesorgen sold out to Walker and established himself at Benson where he opened a saloon and livery stable. Walker merged with Kinnear, a former competitor.
As railroad passenger traffic increased, Walker & Kinnear provided essential service to the mining centers of Tombstone and Bisbee, and other Arizona towns inaccessible by rail.
Established as Ohnesorgen & Walker Stage Line, it boasted "fast time"-twelve hours between Tucson and Tombstone-"splendid meals" and "no detention on account of high water" at the San Pedro River.
San Pedro Crossing, located a mile northwest of the newly platted Benson town site, was owned by Ohnesorgen and sported a bridge across the river. Splendid meals were, however, idle boasts. The food, quipped a traveler, "would curdle a goat's stomach."
Stage coach travel was not for the faint of heart, but marked by dust or mud, heat or cold, wretched food, and bone-jarring fatigue. Passengers carried firearms, blankets, canteens, emergency food, and often rode day and night. When necessity dictated a lighter load, passengers walked.
The Daily Arizona Citizen reported an incident in which an axel burr failed and a competitors coach lost a wheel. "After running three miles on three wheels, they attempted to pass a freight team and in so doing upset the coach and made a bad mess of it."
Driving close behind, an Ohnesorgen & Walker stage rescued passengers from a long walk.
Later, the Citizen marveled when the company ran a stage from Tombstone to Tucson in nine hours and forty-five minutes. The time was "breathtaking."
In an effort to make stage travel palatable, companies offered salient advice. "In the event of runaway horses, remain calm. Leaping from the coach is a bad idea.
"Abstinence from liquor is requested, but if you must drink, be neighborly and share the bottle."
Perhaps the most telling was this: "If ladies are present, gentlemen are urged to forego smoking cigars and pipes as the odor is repugnant to the gentle sex. Chewing tobacco is permitted, but spit with the wind, not against it."
The Star urged passengers to "expect annoyance, discomfort and some hardships. If you are disappointed, thank heaven."
During the spring of 1880, Ohnesorgen sold out to Walker and established himself at Benson where he opened a saloon and livery stable. Walker merged with Kinnear, a former competitor.
As railroad passenger traffic increased, Walker & Kinnear provided essential service to the mining centers of Tombstone and Bisbee, and other Arizona towns inaccessible by rail.
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