| Show STAGE COACH TALES aby E C TAYL 0 R the runaway stage JUST as modern railroads some times 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 alone the old did national Kat lonal road a century ago had mishaps sometimes fatal runaways were infrequent but several are recorded in three or tour four there was loss of life but more often the passengers suffered only minor injuries when ilien the stages overturned david gordon who was driving for janes james I 1 Rees Ree ldes sides june bug line so named by Ree sides rival luclus lucius W stockton who said the line would last only until the june bugs came was driving west from Clays claysville ville pa soon after lie he had started handling the reins when tits 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 and I 1 tinned I 1 it t over against a b high agh bank the hie passengers were badly frightened but none was hurt they attributed tri trl buted their escape from death or injury to the skillfulness of the driver dilver after righting the coach which was little damaged gordon proceeded to point tills this incident or accident dec ident gave gordon a wide reputation as a cool and driver and lie he rapidly advanced to the front rank of tits his calling when the june ring bug line was withdrawn from the road as stockton hid had predicted gordon took service with the good intent line and continued with it until all through lines of stage coaches were w ere taken from the roul road gordon was a deiy very strong man lie ile was 0 feet tall and weighed pounds and there was not an ounce 0 of f fat on tits his body it was said that lie he could light fight but was not quarrelsome some on one occasion lie 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 ns as the phrase then was r they T iley failed ignominiously gordon routed all three completely and decisively c ci and they never again son sought glit tn nn encounter with him and the example of their fate rendered others with pugnacious proclivities to be shy bout about 11 encountering him david gordon was one of a class of quiet well mannered soft spoken s stage inge drivers who did much to keep the reputation of all coach dr ivers of its his time on a high plane before the public according to A J endsley who was born and reared leared along the old national road the old time stage coach drivers ns a class were w ere better morally th than an the 0 old who drove the lingo huge fre freight 1 wagons along the highway when the great road was opened these immediately took possession usurping all rights and kept to the middle of t the lie highway with their I 1 long 0 ng 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 anto autocracy to cracy and decided to put a stop to it they armed themselves with ton long poles at the ends of which they placed spikes on a given day they started out and as they met the wagon trallis trains refused to turn out driving into the wagon trains with their makeshift make shift lances and completely routing them eliom the hardy knew when they were beaten and tho the fast stages thereafter were given the right of way endsley says that some of the old stage drivers were given to blasphemy and heavy drinking but that the worst of the stage drivers could be ba beaten tn in those respects by most of the lie he named besides gordon and red bunting as well behaved stage drivers thomas grau gran alex ales thompson john mills charley howell II owell john high william robinson isaac frazee isaac denny james A carroll samuel halsted Ual sted william white samuel jaco thomas moore william bishop and john bunting two of the old stage drivers william robinson and rate pate side were among the most noted penmen in the country no idal western Daner union |
