Show STAGE COACH TALES by E C the runaway stage as modern railroads sometimes JUST are wrecked shaking up or even killing passengers so the stage coaches that were the chief mode of transportation between the atlantic coast and the middle west along the old national road a century ago had bad their mish mishaps sometimes fatal runaways were infrequent but several are recorded in three or four there was loss of life but more often the passengers suffered only minor injuries when the stages overturned david gordon who was driving for james Ree sides june bug line linc so named by Ree sides rival luclus lucius W stockton who said the line would would last only until the june bugs came was driving west from Clays claysville ville pa soon after he had started handling the reins when his horses ran off the coach carried a full load of passengers and young gordon seeing that the flying horses could not be checked by ordinary methods pulled the coach oft off the road an and turned it over against a high bank the passengers were badly frightened but none was hurt hurl they attributed tri buted their escape from death or injury to the skillfulness of the driver after righting the coach which was little damaged gordon proceeded to R boneys roneys point this incident or accident gave gordon a wide reputation as a cool and skillful driver and he rapidly advanced to the front rank of his calling when the june bug line was withdrawn from the road as stockton had bad predicted gordon took service with the good intent line and continued with it until all through lines of sta stage ge coaches were taken from the road gordon was a very strong man lie he was 6 feet tall and weighed pounds and there was not an ounce of fat on his bodt bod T ti as s said that he be could ugh bat was not quarrel som on one occasion he was compelled to engage in a knockdown in self defense that was at va three toughs fell upon him at that place declaring their intention of doing him up as the phrase then was they failed ignominiously gordon routed all three completely and decisively ci cl and they never again sought rn encounter with him and the example of their fate rendered others with pugnacious proclivities to be shy about encountering him david gordon was waa one of a class of quiet well mannered soft spoken stage drivers who did much to keep the reputation of all coach drivers of ills ids time on a high plane before the public according to A J endsley who was born and reared along the old national road the old time stage coach drivers as a class were better morally than the old who drove the huge freight wagons along tile the highway when the great road was opened these immediately took possession usurping all rights and kept to the middle of the highway with their long trains of brightly painted covered gondolas filled with the farm products of the west or the manufactured goods and staples of the east forcing other vehicles to turn around them the stage drivers resented this autocracy to cracy and decided to put a stop to it they armed themselves with long poles at the ends of which they placed spikes on a given day they started out and as they met the wagon trains refused to turn out driving into the wagon trains with their makeshift make shift lances and completely routing them the hardy wag eners knew alien they were beaten and the fast stages thereafter were given the right of way endsley says that some of the old stage drivers were given to blasphemy y and heavy drinking but that the worst of the stage drivers could be beaten in those respects by most of the ue ile named besides gordon and red bunting as well behaved stage drivers thomas grau gran alex ales thompson john mills charley nowell howell john high william Rob robinson lDson isaac frazee isaac denny james A carroll samuel halsted alsted II william white samuel jaco thomas moore william bishop and john bunting two of the old stage drivers william robinson end and rate pate side were among the most noted penmen in the country a 1831 1931 western aDer union |