Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail PASSENGER DIARIES & STORIES Across Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri 1858 - 1861

Butterfield's Overland Mail Company stagecoaches rolled across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri one hundred and sixty five years ago as they connected with San Francisco. 

Now that the route is a National Historic Trail, it seems appropriate to remember what that experience was like for passengers. The following pages contain reminiscences of first person observers in their own words.

In most chapters below I have attempted to only include portions of each original document that focus on passage through Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory.