Stagecoach Etiquette

In the old days of the West, the only mode of public transportation was the stagecoach. Though on May 10, 1869 the famous "Golden Spike" was driven in Promontory Summit, Utah, and the track complete for America's first transcontinental railroad, the stagecoach would endure until after the turn of the century, replaced then by the automobile.

Stage stops dotted the western plains like bus depots do today. And like independent bus companies of these modern times, there were independent stagelines during days of old. They came and went, flourished and died, starved out, sold out, and merged with others to grow larger and become stronger.

At the top of the heap after such a merger was Wells Fargo & Company Overland Stage, who established among many stage stops one in Silver City, Idaho, a mining district high in the Owyhee Mountains. There, the Wells Fargo vault still stands (empty, of course), next to the Idaho Hotel that was established during the boom of 1863.

Journeys by stagecoach were long, dusty, and hard. Coaches were usually cramped and loaded down with heavy merchandise and luggage; passengers jammed in like sardines. It was not unusual for as many as twelve to fifteen people to be aboard at one time, some riding up front with the driver and atop the luggage. These crowded conditions required the establishment of company rules; a list of acceptable and unacceptable passenger behavior while aboard.

Since proper stagecoach etiquette was a must, the following was posted in Silver City's Idaho Hotel stage depot:

WELLS FARGO RULES FOR RIDING THE STAGECOACH

1. Abstinence from liquor is requested, but if you must drink, share the bottle. To do otherwise makes you appear selfish and unneighborly.

2. If ladies are present, gentlemen are urged to forego smoking cigars and pipes as the odor of same is repugnant to the Gentle Sex. Chewing tobacco is permitted, but spit WITH the wind, not against it.

3. Gentlemen must refrain from the use of rough language in the presence of ladies and children.

4. Buffalo robes are provided for your comfort during cold weather. Hogging robes will not be tolerated and the offender will be made to ride with the driver.

5. Don't snore loudly while sleeping or use your fellow passenger's shoulder for a pillow; he or she may not understand and friction may result.

6. Firearms may be kept on your person for use in emergencies. Do not fire them for pleasure or shoot at wild animals as the sound riles the horses.

7. In the event of runaway horses, remain calm. Leaping from the coach in panic will leave you injured, at the mercy of the elements, hostile Indians and hungry wolves.

8. Forbidden topics of discussion are stagecoach robberies and Indian uprisings.

9. Gents guilty of unchivalrous behavior toward lady passengers will be put off the stage. It's a long walk back. A word to the wise is sufficient.

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