Established
in 1937
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Stage coach route a dusty, bone-jarring trip
By ROGER BRANDT
For IVNClouds of dust, cramped conditions, and enough rocking motion to make a sailor sea sick were the things that passengers probably remembered the most about a stagecoach ride from Illinois Valley to Crescent City, Calif.
Regardless of their reputation for uncomfortable rides, stagecoaches played an important role in the transportation history of Illinois Valley for more than 50 years.
Stage lines throughout the nation were usually set up to have a station with stables located approximately 10to 15 miles along the travel route. In Illinois Valley, the stations most often mentioned in history books were located at Fort Hay, Kerbyville, and Waldo, all of which offered lodging and food for passengers.
Besides these facilities, the stage companies also had stations where additional horses could be added for pulling each wagon up a long grade. One such stop was located near O’Brien, where the trail climbed out of the valley and followed ridge tops toward Crescent City.
Once on the ridge tops, accommodations for travelers were scarce until the stage arrived in Crescent City. It was a long, dusty ride. The most pleasant memory in this section of road may have been the trout dinners provided by an old man who had dug a little pond near the road which he kept stocked with fish caught from nearby streams.
The bone-jarring ride over rough roads was smoothed out by a type of shock system called a thoroughbrace. These were
4-inch-wide leather straps piled one upon another to a thickness of 6 inches and suspended between the axles in a way that formed a cradle-like sling for the coach.The rocking motion was better than having no shocks at all, but we can only imagine how challenging it must have been for riders who were prone to seasickness.
The stagecoaches that made the trip from Illinois Valley to Crescent City were capable of carrying six to eight passengers. Baggage was tied atop the coach or piled on a shelf-like rack at the back of the coach. Curtains were available to roll down during a storm and to help keep out the dust although it was probably not effective at either.
Stagecoach companies made a fair income from passengers, but much of the profit for the lines came from transporting mail and freight. This might include payrolls or gold shipments that had to be carried over routes in remote areas where robberies could have occurred at any time.
Around the turn of the century, automobiles began to appear on local roads, and by 1915 the motorized auto-stage pushed the era of horse-drawn stagecoach transportation into history.
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