Life in the Stages

We three were the only passengers . . . . About the rest of the coach was full of mail bags—for we had three days' delayed mail with us. Almost touching our knees, a perpendicular wall of mail matter rose up to the roof.

Mark Twain, author
Roughing It, 1872

Aside from short breaks to change horses at station stops, stagecoaches kept traveling day and night. The rough, bumpy and often dangerous travel aboard stagecoaches tried the patience of the best and most seasoned travelers.

Visitors to Moving West are invited to step into the recreated mud wagon on display where they can listen to tales of stagecoach travel from passengers' letters and diaries.