In 1858, the first trip of the Butterfield Overland Mail stage rolled across the country connecting Missouri to California, and all points in between.   

Texas celebrations for 2008 are being planned along the historical route in the Texas Mountain Trail, the Texas Pecos Trail, the Texas Forts Trail and the Texas Lakes Trail regions. 

Learn More About it

Download a brochure outlining Butterfield anniversary celebrations, here!

Save the Date-Events Around the State
     Lakes Trail
     Forts Trail
     Pecos Trail
     Mountain Trail
Sites to Visit Across Texas-Maps
Butterfield Photo Galleries
Walking the Butterfield Overland Mail Route Today

Information will be posted as we receive it through September 2008!  Please check back!


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What was it like to be a passenger on a Butterfield Overland Stage Coach?
What is the historic significance of the Trail?

Link to a YouTube video of a Butterfield Overland Mail re-enactment in Arkansas organized by Heritage Trails Partners.  Video production by Multigrain Media.

What is it like to walk the Butterfield Overland Mail route today?  Click here for a letter from the Texas Forts Trail.

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Save the Date! 
A Listing of Sesquicentennial Events Across the State!

Texas Lakes Trail Region
    
    April 2008 - October 2008, Sherman, Butterfield Stage Exhibit at the Red River Historical Museum. Click here for more information.

    May 3, 2008,  Gainesville, Spring Fling, Chuck Wagon cookoff, arts and crafts booths, children's activities and more!  Click here for details.

    May 9 and 10, 2008, Bridgeport, Butterfield Stage Days.  Second Butterfield PRCA rodeo and dance on Friday.  Arts and Crafts vendors, unique contests, unveiling of life-sized replica of actual Butterfield Concord stagecoach on Saturday.  Click here for more information.

    June 21, 2008, Decatur, Chisholm Trail Days, Western Heritage Event. Click here for details.

    August 23, 2008, Nocona, Tales and Trails Museum Dedication.  Click here for details.

    September 1-October 20, 2008, Dallas, Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture, "Going Places and the Butterfield Trail" exhibits. Click here for more information.

    September, 13, 2008, Whitesboro, Butterfield Heritage Days, the City of Whitesboro will be celebrating "Butterfield Heritage Day" with a street and marker dedication. Click here for details. 

    September 19, 2008, Denton, Trails West—R.B.  Marcy and the Marcy Trail by Bob Montgomery, Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum. Click here for details.

    September 20, 2008, Eisenhower State Park near Denison, Butterfield Stage Day.  Observe the 150th anniversary of the first Butterfield Stage crossing the Red River into Texas.  See a replica Concord Stagecoach and listen to Bob Montgomery tell the story of the Butterfield Stage in North
Texas.  Click here for details.

    September 20-21, 2008, Sherman, Sherman Arts Festival and Butterfield Trail Heritage Celebration, Saturday on the Municipal Lawn with Art Show and Sale, Live Music, Pumpkin Patch, Pancake Breakfast, Children's Activities.  Sunday will feature the Butterfield Overland Stage Heritage Celebration from 12- 5PM, Downtown on the Courthouse Lawn.  Chuckwagon lunch, marker dedication, live music on the square, stagecoach rides to the Red River Historical Museum Exhibit, Children's Tent, and more.  Click here for details.

       October 4, 2008, Bowie, 13th Annual Chicken and Bread Days Heritage Festival. Click here for details.

   October 4-5, 2008, Trails West Tours featuring the historic Butterfield Overland Trail originating in Abilene with overnight in Denton. Click here for details.
   October 11-12, originating in Denton with overnight in Abilene.  Click here for details.

   October 11, 2008, Gainesville, Depot Days, Celebrating Gainesville's role in the Trail, arts and crafts booths, food vendors, live entertainment, and "After Dark Party." Click here for details.

    September 20, 2008, Bronte, 150th Butterfield Celebration, Annual Ft Chadbourne Fundraiser 
An evening under the stars at Fort Chadbourne! Enjoy dinner, live and silent auctions, a Wells Fargo stagecoach display, and a Wild West re-enactment with a running stagecoach! Click here for details.

    September 20, 2008, Grape Creek, Butterfield Trail Celebration and Fly-In. A one-day celebration with period music, a Concord Stage, West Texas Bar-B-Que and a nationally organized fly-in for pilots who fly any part or all of the Trail! Click here for details.

   October 4-5, 2008, Trails West Tours featuring the historic Butterfield Overland Trail originating in Abilene with overnight in Denton. Click here for details.
   October 11-12, originating in Denton with overnight in Abilene.  Click here for details.

Texas Pecos Trail Region
    July 25-26, 2008  Monahans, 15th Annual Butterfield-Overland Stagecoach and Wagon Festival, For more information, visit: www.butterfield.ws or www.monahans.org

Texas Mountain Trail Region
     May 18, 2008  Fort Davis, Overland Trail Museum will host a “Ladies Tea” period costume welcome but not required. Click here for details.

     June 10, 2008-January 2009, El Paso, Butterfield Overland Mail Exhibit, El Paso Museum of History.  The exhibit includes a full-sized stagecoach on loan from Wells Fargo, artifacts from the first 20th C. surveys of the route, and a hands-on section for children.  Click here for details.

     August 30, 2008  Fort Davis, Butterfield Pilgrimage.  Walk the longest unpaved section of the Overland Butterfield trail while listening to pages read from diaries of those who came this way long ago. 10am and 2pm Starts at corner of Hwy 17 & Front Street. Click here for details.

    September 4, 2008 El Paso, Butterfield Lecture by Glen Ely, El Paso Museum of History, 6:30-7:30 pm. RSVP.  For more information, click here.
    
September 6, 2008  El Paso County, Butterfield Anniversary Celebration at Hueco Tanks, Hueco Tanks State Historic Site. The celebration will include 1800s re-enactors, Native American presentations, interpretive displays and special tours, which conclude with a ride on a replica Concord stagecoach. Click here for details.

September 18, 2008  Fort Davis,  The Overland Trail Museum will have storytelling in period clothing. Click here for details.

     September 26-28, Van Horn, Van Horn's Butterfield Weekend. Pack West Texas Motorcycle Rally (including sightseeing run to historic Butterfield sites), Dollar J Productions Car Rodeo, live music, Open House at Clark Hotel Museum and other events!  Click here for details.

     September 27-28, 2008 Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the 150th anniversary of the first meeting of east and westbound stages.  Stagecoach rides, chuckwagon barbecue, interpretive hikes along Butterfield route, period music, muleshoeing demonstration, commemorative "Butterfield Overland" stamp at historic Frijole Ranch postoffice, and others!  Click here for details.

Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Sesquicentennial T-Shirt Design Contest
 
The Guadalupe Mountains National Park Employee Association is looking for a creative design for a t-shirt to be sold at the celebration of the Butterfield Overland Mail State Route Sesquicentennial--the 150th anniversary of its passage through the rugged Guadalupes.  The celebration of the event will occur on September 27th and 28th, 2008 at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, with a variety of events including living history programs, a chuck wagon dinner, live music, and stagecoach rides.  The winning designer will receive $50.00, a free T-shirt, and a free ride on the stage during the celebration.  
 
Please send your entry by April 30, 2008 to:
Guadalupe Mountains Employee Association
Attn:  Darlene Moore
400 Pine Canyon Drive
Salt Flat, Texas 79847

     El Paso is planning several events commemorating the Butterfield Mail Stage in September 2008.  Check back for more information!

Ongoing through September 2008, the Texas Mountain Trail BookCrossing project will "release" books related to the BUtterfield Mail Stage at historic Buttefield sites in the region.  For more information, click here.

Sites to Visit Across Texas 

Map of West Texas Trails 1849-1880 (courtesy of Larry Francell, Museum of the Big Bend)

Map of Route--1858-1861
(Historical Atlas of Texas by A. Ray Stephens and William M. Holmes, copyrighted by the University of Oklahoma Press; courtesy of Matt Walter, Museum of the Big Bend)

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Texas Lakes Trail Region
  Water well on Main Street in Whitesboro used by Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach employees to water their horses and refresh travelers.

  In 1860, Colonel W.H. Hunt and Associates built a toll bridge spanning the Trinity River at Bridgeport, mainly for the Butterfield Stagecoach.

This well is located outside of Nocona in Montague County.  It was a watering
hole for the Butterfield Stage.
Marker off of Hwy 75 on Washington Street in Sherman.  A stone mill wheel from an early Grayson County Ox Mill marks the route of the Marcy's California Trail of 1843 and the Butterfield Trail of 1858.  The marker was erected in 1936 by Martha Jefferson Randolph Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Grayson County Historical Society.

Texas Forts Trail Region

Albany Butterfield Stage

Grape Creek Butterfield Flyin

Fort Chadbourne Butterfield Stop

Frontier Texas Butterfield Overland Mail Exhibit

Texas Mountain Trail Region

The Pinery Stage Relay Station at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

 Sign showing Stage Relay Station at Hueco Tanks State Historic Site.   Staff members and volunteers of the park now believe the rock ruins labeled as the Butterfield site may not be the actual stage relay station.  However, they are showing visitors ruts in the rock believed to be made, in part, by Butterfield coaches.