Restoring An Overland Stage Station

 

We recently received a press release from the Virginia Dale Community Club located near the Wyoming state line in north central Colorado. The group is restoring a rare, surviving stage coach station and they have an Open House fund raiser coming up in June. Below is more information on their activities.

 

Restoration begun on 1862 Virginia Dale Overland Stage Station

Open House June 7-8, 2013

 

 

Restoration of the Virginia Dale Stage Station, the only remaining Overland Stage Station still standing in its original location started on April 1, 2013. Under the direction of restoration expert Bill Bailey of Historical Associates, Inc. and Paul Matosky, Field Engineer, the Stage Station will be stabilized and restored back to its 1862 origins.

 

 

The now 151 year old Stage Station was built by the notorious Jack Slade and is designated a National Historic Site. It was an overnight station for the Overland Stage, a pony express stop and has been in continual use by the Virginia Dale ranching residents, families and friends as their Community Center.

 

 

The Stage Station, located four miles south of the Wyoming border on U.S. Hwy 287, was recently straightened and inspected for needed repairs before undergoing the complete restoration.  Due to volunteer labor, in-kind and monetary donations, and the generosity of the American Society of Civil Engineers ( who chose the Stage Station as its Community Service Project for 2012), the original $326,000 restoration estimate has dropped to $135,000.

 

 

Each year the Virginia Dale Community Club, whose members own the Stage Station and the adjoining Hurzeler house (1909), have an Open House to celebrate the Stage Station's historical significance, the rural way of life and to raise funds for the restoration and maintenance of the Stage Station so that many more generations can enjoy its unique heritage. Admission is free and all proceeds go towards the restoration and maintenance of the Stage Station.

 

 

This year's Open House will be held Friday, June 7 and Saturday June 8. The theme will be “Abe Lincoln and the Civil War”.  The local popular band “Barely Gettin' By” will kick-off the weekend with a western dance from 7-11pm on Friday at the Stage Station and an old-fashioned pie auction will be held at intermission.  Saturday, June 8, 9am to 4pm will be the annual quilt raffle, craft show, and bake sale.

 

Speakers for this year include Bruce Spear as Abe Lincoln, Joan Day as Virginia Slade, Eva Sue Littleton as Lady Moon, Wayne (Mr. History Ft. Collins) Sundberg, National Freight Wagon & Stagecoach Association, Oregon California Trails Association, American Tapestry Acappella Choir, Stephen Hyatt ( Civil War expert) Rocky Mountain High School bivouac re-enactors, Susan & Duane Kniebes (Graves of Virginia Dale) and Dick Hart cowboy poet.

 

Local artisans will also offer their talents. There will be food, games for all ages, animals, spinning demonstrations by Esther Nance- Beck, Kaye Collins and Helen Hart, silent auction, a General Store and the Model A Ford Club. The club will begin filling its time capsule with memories.

 

 

The Virginia Dale Stage Station is located 4 miles south of the Wyoming border on US Hwy 287. Turn onto County Rd. 43F at the memorial plaque placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Stage Station is 1 mile down the road.

 

Visit us on our website  www.virginiadalecommunityclub.org or call Sylvia Garafalo 970-495-1828 or Marcie Wells 970-568-7646.

California Coaches & Wagons

I recently had the honor and privilege of speaking to a great group of folks in Santa Ynez, California.  My presentations were part of a western vehicle symposium hosted by one of the premier wagon and stage coach museums in the country – the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum, www.santaynezmuseum.org

During the event, I was able to share a great deal of original imagery and information from our Wheels That Won The West® archives focusing on the early wagon industry, including specific design and identification elements as well as rare discoveries and other investigative details.  Another of my presentations focused on the huge, tall-sided western freighters that helped build so much of the western frontier. 
 

Other speakers included Allan Peterson of Wells Fargo Historical Services, Doug Hansen of Hansen Wheel and Wagon Shop, Ken Wheeling – associate editor of The Carriage Journal, Bobby Tanner covering the legendary 20 Mule Team and Borax wagons, Champion Para-Equestrian driver, Diane Kastama, and Graham Goodfield of Los Padres Outfitters demonstrating camp cooking techniques.  Below is a snapshot of the speakers.

Attendees of the 4-day conference came from as far away as Canada and the east coast of the U.S.  While the bulk of the program took place at the museum, the first day included a tour of the Santa Barbara Carriage Museum along with a trip over the legendary stagecoach road and stage stop at San Marcos Pass.  Wells Fargo and other participants punctuated the final day of the “Spirit of the West” event with vehicle rides and public demonstrations at a nearby ranch.  Surrounded by rare, horse-drawn vehicles dating to periods as early as the 1860’s, the event garnered attention from regional and national media as well as the motion picture industry.

Congratulations to the great folks at the Santa Ynez Historical Museum for an outstanding event, rich with information, entertainment, camaraderie and opportunities to better understand America’s first and largest transportation industry. 

Traveling from the beaches to the desert and numerous places in between, we covered a lot of ground in a short time on the west coast.  As a result, we’ll be sharing even more vehicle profiles from this trip in the weeks to come.

Lamons Wagon For Sale

We’ve written a few brief overviews on Lamons wagons in the past.  The company was located in Greenville, Tennessee and survived almost a century before its assets were auctioned off in 1961.  We were recently contacted and asked if we might let folks know about a wood-wheeled, Lamons wagon available for purchase.  Below are a few photos that were shared with us.  If you’re interested, feel free to call these folks at 865-712-4243.  They’re located in Tennessee.

Stoughton Wagons

As I traveled the historic Dakota plains, my mind began to wander, easily imagining early life on this picturesque part of the American frontier.  The driving wind, cold winter air and below zero harshness of this country seemed at odds with the majestic color and splendor of the accompanying sunrise.  It’s a backdrop of beauty not easily overlooked as I made my way to research yet another survivor from America’s legendary wagon makers.  Passing a tractor-trailer rig, I caught myself smiling.  The iconic brand name on the back of the trailer was Stoughton.  Ironically, this modern, well-known builder is a relative of the very wagon brand I was en route to see.  

 

The Stoughton Wagon Company carries a storied legacy dating back to the end of the Civil War.  The beginnings of the firm are actually rooted in another legendary wagon company, T.G. Mandt.  Like many of his peers, Mandt’s early successes were recognized by investors who became involved in his company in Stoughton, Wisconsin.  As time progressed, Mandt desired more latitude in business and decision-making than the corporate structure inside his company would allow.  Taking his name and numerous patents, he left and started his own firm once again. 

 

The thriving Stoughton factory that had built so many Mandt wagons quickly made the transition to building their own brand, known as the Stoughton.  With a broad distribution network already in place, the company immediately took a prominent and competitive role.  The Stoughton wagon I had the opportunity to examine still holds the majority of its vibrant, original paint.  It will likely date to the late teens of the 20th century and was sold by Olaf Melby of Summit, South Dakota.  

 

The wagon has been used very little and still carries a substantial amount of original, hand painted striping along with its ornate, stenciled logos and crisp wooden contours on the box and gear.  Each of the wheels is equipped with dodge mortised hubs.  It’s a design Stoughton consistently promoted as being stronger and better reinforcement for the foundation of the vehicle.  Complemented by a 14/16 wheel spoke combination and extra cross sills supporting the box, this near-century-old set of wheels provides an excellent look into America’s early transportation industry.  As a significant, large-scale brand, the Stoughton Wagon Company is among a host of legendary makers coveted by early vehicle collectors and enthusiasts.  While the company may be best known for their farm and freight wagons, Stoughton also built a line of carriages, spring wagons, sleighs, one horse wagons, and sheep bed wagons.  Their products were built for a wide range of needs for farms, ranches, and businesses throughout the U.S.

They Thought of it All

From wagons specifically built to carry beer, livestock and furniture to other patterns engineered for fighting fires, hauling coal, and delivering milk, the early transportation industry seemed to have a vehicle for every purpose.  Road building, landscaping, and forestry-related designs were no exceptions.  While reviewing a number of different vehicle patents, we ran across this one highlighting a wagon gear built to help move trees.

Dating to 1889, this custom set of wheels was meant to help transport and transplant mature trees.  The rear section of this design is configured to provide optimum support and care for the tree while touting a low-slung, ultra-stable wheel base with optimum maneuverability.  Specialty vehicles like this unique dray would not have been built in great quantities and, if any from this patent were built, it’s likely that few, if any, have survived. 

If you know of a specially-purposed, wood-wheeled vehicle you’d like to see profiled here, drop us a line at info@wheelsthatwonthewest.com  We’d enjoy hearing from you.

Rarity Defined

Not long ago, I was asked what constituted rarity in early horse drawn wagons.  It’s a great question but, not one with a simple – or short – answer.  Certainly, we don’t have sufficient space or time in these brief blog posts but I can share a little. 

Helping shape resale values and collector desirability, rarity is one of a dozen elements we highlighted in Volume One of our “Borrowed Time” western vehicle book series.  For historians, collectors and enthusiasts, the term can involve anything from the brand to the style of vehicle, features, paint, age, provenance, condition, originality, completeness and numerous other elements.

 

To qualify this point a bit more, nearly every set of old wooden wheels would likely rank as ‘rare’ to at least some degree.  But, different vehicles – even of the same age – can clearly have different values assigned to them.  Those price or value differences can often be traced to the very reasons something is considered to be rare or scarce.  In other words, just because something is old or even rare doesn’t make it a cinch that it’s valuable.  For instance, I have an old Herschel brand wagon seat.  They don’t make them anymore and there probably aren’t too many left with the original paint and stenciling.  So, since it’s not something you’ll find every day, it does possess an element of rareness.  However, compared to an original spring seat authenticated to belong to a Murphy, Jackson, Kansas or Espenshied brand wagon, it will likely always come up lacking.  The reason – at least in part – is that those other companies have an extremely strong heritage and rich legacy associated with the early American West.  Because of those deep-rooted connections – and also that very few of the collective hundreds of thousands of vehicles built by those brands have survived – that uniqueness and historical provenance can significantly boost the vehicle’s desirability.

 

Spending so much time researching, collecting, photographing and cataloging information on early vehicles, we’ve learned that sometimes it’s not necessarily what you’re looking for as it is what you find.  In other words, learning to recognize those things that are truly unique, peculiar or otherwise different can open up opportunities that may otherwise have been overlooked.  Of course, ‘unique’ can also mean non-original, wrong, or just that you may never have seen something before – which doesn’t always mean someone else hasn’t seen it quite often.  Without knowing what is correct and truly uncommon, it’s easy to misjudge a piece.  As with any antique, it pays to know your subject.  After all, contrary to the old saying, what you don’t know can hurt you. 

Ultimately, some of the best advice I’ve ever heard has been to know what you’re looking at and look at as many vehicles as often as you can.  Over time, the awareness learned from personal experience has a way of delivering rewards.

À l'œuvre, on connaît l'artisan

It was out of a desire to know more about early western vehicles that, nearly two decades ago, we began searching for greater information on the subject.  While it began as a hobby, the depth of study has driven our files of primary source research materials much deeper.  In fact, the pursuit has grown to include literally thousands of period photos, original catalogs, broadsides, and promotional and business pieces related to heavy wood-wheeled vehicle makers in the U.S.  No matter how much we discover, though, I never cease to be amazed – and humbled – at how much more there is to learn.  The search for more details about America’s earliest and largest transportation industry is truly never-ending.  The good news is that the quest often turns up extraordinary pieces tied to some of the most exciting eras of American history.  

 

Recently, the value of our commitment to constantly learn and grow our archives was reinforced as our Wheels That Won The West® collection (WTWTW) of images and information was tapped by the leading French equestrian publication, “Attelages” magazine.  Profiled in an extensive article entitled, “The Conquest of the West,” by Stephan Broeckx, a number of period western vehicle images and historical highlights were selected from our archives.  The story introduction is dominated by a WTWTW photo showing an early freight wagon pulled by a unique hitch of 5 horses.  Other photographic highlights from our files include an early mud coach in Oregon, a small wagon shop in Wisconsin, a surviving Peter Schuttler wagon and a Fish Bros. wagon, restored by Hansen Wheel and Wagon Shop, that we were able to assist with dating, authentication and restoration details. 

In addition to our weekly blog and regular additions of original articles on our website, we expect to have several other articles printed by additional publications this year.  Combined with the upcoming Volume 2 edition of our “Borrowed Time” western vehicle book series (Peter Schuttler), we’re busy sharing even more exclusive and little-known history.  We’re pleased to continue to help fill a niche by showcasing so many of the vehicles that helped build America.

In keeping with the spirit of the recent French article, the title of this blog is À l'œuvre, on connaît l'artisan.  Roughly translated, it’s a reminder that the craftsman is known by his work.  It’s our hope that, along with so many other historians and enthusiasts, our ephemeral archeology and historical preservation work will ultimately be viewed as beneficial research for generations to come.