West Butterfield Stagecoach Route Southern Arizona

Have an aerial look at one of the original highways thru southern AZ. Butterfield old stagecoach route of the Overland Butterfield Mail and Stage service!! Also called the Southern Overland route.
This route is based on the old native trails used for thousands of years prior by Native Americans.
The old stagecoach route was used for moving people and mail from St. Louis to San Francisco in as fast as 22 days. A very impressive feat for that time!
The 49’ers of the gold rush used this route to get to the California gold. Kit Carson, along with many other famous mountain men walked this path. Father Kino walked this route trying to convert local tribes to his faith. This was a very dangerous place to be while crossing thru the desert back in the mid-1800’s. The Yavapai and the Apache, two different native cultures, patrolled these lands. Often decimating stagecoaches violently, to take the supplies they carried to help survive the harsh climate of the desert.
There are a lot of old graves along this beautiful historic trail no doubt.
We hiked several miles at this historical location and rarely came across other people. It’s a Wilderness area and it encourages you to hike or go on horseback. You will find ATV’s and other off-road vehicles have found this location and might be encountered on the trail.
You’ve earned the right to experience the area once you’ve hiked through it. Which makes this place that more special? We highly recommend this hike, for its isolation and the history!! We’ve also visited this same stagecoach route in the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas and will follow this with our experience there at a later date.
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