we bought the required number at auction, for eighteen hundred dollars, or less than a dollar apiece. They were brought to San Antonio and placed in Captain Muenzenberger's store, on West Commerce Street, where the Washington Theater now stands. Only five hundred were delivered before the building, including the other rifles, was destroyed by fire, and we suffered a total loss because we carried no insurance, but the profit on those that were sold more than covered our entire outlay.
We drove six animals to the coach in Texas, and in Mexico eight, on account of the heavy traffic. The coach weighed about three thousand pounds, and was substantially built, with a capacity for carrying about four thousand pounds. The wood used in its construction was the choicest hickory, and all the iron work was the best quality of steel. The spindles of the steel axles were two and a half inches thick and about fourteen inches long. The cushions were upholstered on coiled steel springs, with horse-hair filling, and covered with the best quality of brown calf-skin leather, consequently they were very expensive. The body was swung on leather braces and it was capable of seating eighteen average sized persons very comfortably, as it had three seats inside, each large enough for three people, and three others on the roof, capable of accommodating a like number. One of the outside seats was close behind that occupied by the
64 A TEXAS PIONEER
driver, similar to those used on transfer buses in large cities. The third seat was on the hind end of the coach, above the boot where trunks and other bulky baggage was usually carried, which faced toward the rear, and it had a top attached to it like those used on buggies, that could be raised or lowered. The flat top of the coach was covered with heavy ducking that was impervious to water, and it had an iron railing two feet in height around its outer edge. The two seats on top, in the rear of that occupied by the driver and guard, were rarely used except in Mexico, where there was more traveling, when they, and the floor of the roof, were often crowded. Once the coach entered Lampazos with twenty-three passengers, but that was an exceptional occasion, though generally we received a liberal patronage.
The coach was manufactured by Abbott, Downing & Co., in Concord, New Hampshire, and it was imported by Mr. A. Staacke, their agent for such vehicles and Concord buggies in west Texas. He was also agent for Wilson & Childs, of Philadelphia, and introduced the first wagons, called " prairie schooners," that were used for over-land freighting, and the first Studebaker farm wagons, which have since become so popular. He suggested to this firm the manufacture of large cart wheels with heavy iron axles for freighting purposes, that were first introduced through him into Mexico, where they came into general use. In addition to his large stock of vehicles, in his establishment on West Commerce Street he kept an extensive assortment of supplies necessary for teamsters and train owners, and nearly all of them purchased their outfits from him.
I note these facts, with reference to Mr. Staacke's extensive business in early times, with pleasure, and it is necesary for me to do so because I will be compelled to notice him frequently in connection with my affairs. Mr. Staacke is still alive, but he retired from business about fifteen years ago, and his establishment has since been
A TEXAS PIONEER 65
successfully conducted by his sons in San Antonio under the firm name of Staacke Bros.
We paid Mr. Staacke nine hundred dollars for the first coach we bought from him in 1867, when we started our line, and we purchased later the coach which has been described, for which we paid $1250, without the harness. The set of harness that was made for it was intended for six horses, to weigh twelve hundred pounds, but it was useless to us because our animals were much smaller.
Our stage line extended from San Antonio along my old mail route to Eagle Pass, on the east bank of the Rio Grande. The distance to that point was one hundred and sixty-two miles, and the road was good in dry weather. I crossed the river there to Piedras Negras, now known as Ciudad Porfirio Diaz, situated on the high banks of the west side, in the State of Coahuila, Mexico. From there it continued southward three hundred and sixty-two miles to Monterey.
We had, at first, very few stations, and lost entirely too much time on account of wet weather that often prolonged the trip to seven or eight days because of insufficient teams. To remedy the defect, suitable stations were selected, where the animals could be protected in the wild country through which it was necessary for us to pass, and we stocked the route with seventy-two good mules. We were satisfied, before these changes were made, that the line would pay if run to advantage, and afterwards an experimental drive was made over the route in five days, but the average time thereafter never exceeded six days.
The road between Santa Monica and Paso de la Laza was an unoccupied desert except by the stage-stand on the banks of the Rio Sabinas, which was abandoned later, on account of the Indians, and thereafter we were obliged to make a ninety-mile drive between Santa Monica and Lampazos with one team and without water, after crossing the Rio Sabinas.
66 A TEXAS PIONEER
The town of Lampazos had about three thousand in- habitants who were sustained by some irrigated land, and it was also a great sheep, goat and cattle country. The people of the town manufactured by hand good Mexican blankets, and they seemed to be industrious, as they were always at work. Northeast of the town is the Mesa de los Cartuhanas, that was then known as the Mesa de Vedura.
From Lampazos to Villaldama, by the way of Sierra Colorado Pass and Golondrinas, is fifty miles. The town had about four thousand inhabitants in 1868, and the silver, copper, and lead mines in that vicinity gave constant employment to the people. The leading men in the place at that time were Mariano and Machor Sanchez, who were mostly engaged in the mining business.
From Villaldama to Palo Blanco it is thirty-two miles and the road is good; and from there to Morales the distance is eighteen miles. This stretch of fifty miles was considered the most dangerous for travelers on the frontier of Mexico. From Villaldama the road passed through a valley near the base of the Sierra Madre and another range of mountains enclosed it on the east side. The valley was from ten to fifteen miles in width, and thirty miles of the distance was through a palm-tree forest with a thick undergrowth of brush that in some places grew so close to the road it was impossible for two vehicles to pass each other.
The heights of the Sierra Madre were constantly infested by Indians, and the road that lay below them could be observed for miles. When travelers were seen approaching from either direction, they would descend to some suitable place in the valley and waylay them in ambush. The most dangerous place was about six miles from the Palo Blanco Ranch, where the road was confined to a narrow pass, between hills that rose from twenty to thirty feet high for a distance of about one hundred and fifty yards. Here and at other places they would make
A TEXAS PIONEER 67
a sudden attack, with the result that the travelers were murdered generally before they could offer the slightest resistance. I was told by the people at the ranch that more than seventy-five people had been killed in the pass in about twenty years, and I had personal knowledge of a family with their children, and several other persons that were killed there at different times. After perpetrating their murderous work, the Indians would flee to the mountains, where they were safe from pursuit, and it is doubtful if large bodies of soldiers could have dislodged them from their place of refuge.
One of our stations, where we changed horses, was Palo Blanco Ranch until it was removed elsewhere. On one of my trips westward, in 1867, when I reached that point the people informed me that the Indians had come out of the mountains and were depredating in the country along my route. They begged me to stay with them, as they thought it probable that the Indians would attack the ranch; but as I was not looking for Indians, and did not wish to have trouble with them, I only delayed long enough to change my team.
When I returned I learned that, after my departure, about five o'clock in the evening, the Indians
