Page 108 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Norte. This service was soon expanded to include a
Francisco on July 13, just 11 days before the first
Following frantic preparations in San Antonio, the first westbound mail coach was dis- patched only eight days late on July 9, with pack mules to carry supplies and several armed guards riding alongside driver James E. Mason. Their route eventually incorporated the stations listed in Appendix C.
On July 16, 1857, Woods had hired William A. A. “Bigfoot” Wallace and Henry Skillman to help with the second westbound mail party and with supplies. Wallace was dispatched on July 19 with a supply train and 27 mules to stock the relay stations between San Antonio and the Pecos River. Skillman served as conductor of the second westbound mail that departed as scheduled on July 24. He was accom- panied by five heavily armed men, provisions for 30 days, and $600 in gold to purchase replacement
42
stock if needed.
Woods next turned his attention to convincing
George Henry Giddings to become a part of Birch’s organization. Giddings had given Woods much help and advice in setting up the operation on such short notice, and Woods wanted his expertise included in the company. Under the terms offered, Giddings could retain his San Antonio-Santa Fe contract while drawing a salary from Birch as superintendent of the newline east of Tucson. On July 29, Giddings
added his holdings to those of Birch and became a
-43 junior partner in the operation.
Mason did not make as good time as the second mail and was overtaken by Skillman and the others
44
They joined forces and proceeded west together through Tucson to nearby Maricopa Wells where Skillman would wait for the arrival of the mail from San Diego, while Mason carried the
r
run between El Paso del Norte and Santa Fe.
32
Diego, and
Skillman lost his federal subsidy in 1854, however,
and David Wasson won a contract in April of the
33 following year to take over Skillman’s service.
The dispute over what route the federal mails should take to reach California was a continuation of the north-south disagreements over issues such as the annexation of Texas, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Kansas-Nebraska controversy, the Gadsden Purchase, and the bloody Kansas War of
1856. Of course, the question of slavery expansion was the underlying issue in every case. In the Con- gressional sessions of 1855-1856, at least six bills were introduced that would establish mail service to
34
California, but all failed to pass.
An act was eventually passed on March 3, 1857,
that provided mail service between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast. Congress had ac- complished this by avoiding specifying either the route or terminals, leaving it up to the Postmaster
oc
Birch, in com- petition with a new organization named The Over- land Mail Company and seven other concerns, bid on various proposals.36 Many thought that Birch, who had long been seeking such an arrangement, would have an inside track, and indeed that seemed to be an accurate assessment when, on June 22, he
landed a four-year pact to provide mail service from •• • •37
San Antonio via Franklin, to San Diego.
The contract awarded Birch by Postmaster General Aaron Vail Brown turned out to be some- thing of a consolation prize despite the nearly
38
$150,000 annual subsidy.
called for semimonthly deliveries from San Antonio to San Diego to begin July 1, 1857, and from San Diego to San Antonio on July 24 (Figure 27). How- ever, Brown had hand written a proviso into the contract stating that if any part or all of the route came to be contracted to another party, he could, at his discretion, curtail or discontinue the route
39
awarded to Birch.
In anticipation of the contract award, Birch had
hired Isaiah Churchill Woods, who had experience
in California express work, for his general superin-
tendent, and Robert Emmett Doyle (Woods’
brother-in-law) was appointed the chief agent for 40
eastbound mail was to depart San
remarkably this schedule was met, probably made possible by the existence of the massive California
General to make these decisions.
The San Antonio-San Diego Mail Company
The required service
Instructions to Doyle were dispatched
California.
by Woods from New York on June 20 on the first available steamship mail. The letter arrived in San
•
94
operation.
on August 7.
•i
combined mails to California.
45
In the meantime,
Judge Benjamin Ignatius Hayes recorded in his jour-
nal that on July 24 the mail was sent off from San
Diego for Texas with six men, but additional help
would be recruited along the way to resist the
47
the trip in 34
According to the Judge, San Diego was rejoicing.
The cannon located there was deemed unsafe, so two anvils were procured and “Boston” (J. Judson
46
the first mail arrived from San Antonio, having made
Apaches.
He also noted on August 31, 1857, that
days