Grayson County TXGenWeb

THE ERA OF THE HORSE, MULE AND OXEN

Columbus on his return trip to Spain reported that there were no horses in the New World as a result of hunting by humans and weather condition. Since the horse had been essential to the European economy, it was decided that horses would be good items to trade for gold in the New World. On a later voyage Columbus delivered a cargo of horses to the island of Cuba. Soon after fifteen of these horses were transported to Mexico, once again placing the valuable horse on the North American continent.

However, the dilemna existed as to how to "break" the newly arrived horses and their offspring. The art of breaking horses was perfected in Europe and was passed down from one generation to the next. These men were strong, athletic and patient in their quest to subdue the wild and obstinate animals. There were no skilled horsemen in the New World to do the task.

The Spanish horse in North America was primary for warfare. The arrival of many cargoes of Spanish horses followed Columbus' first delivery. The Spanish warrior on horseback would conquer Mexico.

Other European nations delivered horses to the developing eastern shore of North America. Some of these horses would later be found in the Southwest.

Some of the Spanish horses may have escaped. Three hundred years later large herds of wild horses roamed the plains of Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. Some had been captured and broken by the Indians for use in hunting, agriculture and warfare; these were the great Mustangs or cow ponies that frontiersmen found in Grayson County, trained and used in the last half of the 1800s.

For hundreds of hears the Spanish horses had been bred in Europe and later ranging wild on the plains of Texas and Oklahoma; they had been trained for stamina, strength and endurance. Lathering as they strained against their harnesses and with nostrils flaring, a team of Mustangs, the small Spanish horses, turned south on Travis Street. They had been harnessed to a stage coach on the Oklahoma side of the Red River at Colber's Ferry shortly after noon. They were ferried across the river by Colbert's slaves and began the pulling of the stage coach up the sandy southern rivery bank, entering Texas. The dirt trail which they followed had been used by travelers on horseback and in wagons; this trail avoided hills and streams making the journey easier. They proceeded in a southwesterly direction past the Indian village of Shawnee Town.
The trail then turned southery, proceeding into what was western Denison for a rest stop at Sand Springs, near Waterloo Lake. The springs were close to the head waters of Iron Ore Creek, which flowed west to east.

In 1848 there were no roads, bridges or fences in Grayson County until 1858. The Preston Trail, north and south, and the Chihuahau Trail, east and west, crossed the county. The first road work was done by private individuals, including Colbert who had his slaves improve the road south from his ferry.

The first person to discover Sand Springs was a hunter; there was a slight bluff above the springs. The first bridge in Grayson County was built at Sand Springs to accomodate the Overland Stage as well as others traveling north to south.

The trail followed by the stage coach avoided hills and unfordable streams, following trails used by generations of Indians and animals. Proceeding south from San Springs, the Spanish horses had to ford the head waters of Iron Ore Creek, arriving at a point on Hwy. 75. The trail turned slightly west, proceeding south along the level grade. The State entere north Sherman west of present-day Austin College near Maxey street; turning west near the intersection with Brockett Street and south on to Travis Street. Travis Street was the most improved road on which the stage would travel its 900 mile journey across Texas. South of the square was a livery stable where the horses would be unharnessed, watered, fed and rested.

The Sherman Courier
Wednesday, August 15, 1917
pg. 27
Fiftieth Anniversary Edition

(From the Courier of January 10, 1876)
The first stage line from Fts. Gibson and Smith reached this place on Sunday last. There is no estimating the importance of this line to northern Texas. There is but one link wanting to place Sherman in direct communication by stage to all parts of Texas, all the northern states and California. If the line which now runs from Bonham to McKinney could be changed so as to come by Sherman, the chain would be complete. The importance of this change cannot long remained unnoticed.

These horses pulling the state traveled 20 miles between Sherman and way stations in Grayson County; most of the horses would pull the heavy stagecoach six to eight years before retirement. Two hundred and fifty vehicles were placed in the stagecoach system to pull 50 Concord coaches and 100 Celerity coaches along with freight wagons, tank wagons and other vehicles. Seven hundred horse and five hundred mules provided the horsepower. Two thousand men and women were hired as drivers, conductors, station-keepers, blacksmiths, mechanics, helpers, hostlers and herders.

The Celerity Coach was the lighter of the two types of wagons that could carry 4,000 pounds. The coach was a heavy duty covered wagon that was the most used vehicle in the system, which was faster than the Concord and taxed the team less, allowing for longer stretches between way stations.

The Overland Stage, usually called the Butterfield Stage, operated up and down Travis Street twice a week in both directions for 31 months. Sherman was the stage coach hub for all of north Texas, connecting the American Continent, east to west, and delivering mail and passengers. The first west-bound stage arrived in Sherman on September 30, 1858 shortly before 4 p.m. It had arrived at Colbert's ferry on the Red River 34 hours earlier. There being no teams to pull it south to Sherman, a team was dispatched from Sherman on September 20, 1858 destined for Colbert's Ferry. Immediately upon the team's arrival at the ferry, they were harnessed to the stage and sent off towards Sherman with no rest. When the team arrived in Sherman later in the day. Mr. Bates, Superintendent of the Sherman part of the line, did not like the condition of the team, which had been dispatched that morning. He ordered the freight and cargo of ammunition removed from the stage coach and placed in another wagon pulled by a team of mules.

A rider was sent away to the next way station, hoping to see that the way station was prepared for the arrival of the stage and to prevent any further delay.

During the first 14 months of its operation, the stage's route was to proceed west of Sherman by traveling north on Crockett Street and turning west in the vicinity of Washington Street, crossing the tributaties of Choctaw Creek and proceeding west to Diamond's station, in the western part of Whitesboro.

The last east-bound stage arrived in Grayson County on March 14, 1861. The stage line was approximately 3,134 miles with 200 way stations along its route. In February 1861 the lucrative Federal subsidy paid to the Overland Stage for mail delivery terminated. On May 9, 1861 the Confederate States of America contracted with H.P. Dyer to transport mail three times a week in both directions, beginning at Bonham, Fannin Co., going to Kentucky Town and then to Mantua and on to Weston, Collin Co., Texas; the Confederate mail route by-passed Sherman.

The first part of the old trail south from Colbert's Ferry to Sherman was long ago abandoned but the last part was used by engineers for railroad right-of-ways.