Pioneer Stagecoach Stand Operators Mr. and Mrs. Isaac J. Rude
Ft. Stockton, Pecos County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On way to California from Tennessee in the 1850's Isaac J. and Sarah Isabella Rude settled in West Texas. In Davis Mountains, Rude built and operated a station for the Butterfield Overland Stage; here passengers had meals while mules were unharnessed and exchanged for a fresh team. Soon Butterfield--the pioneer passenger and mail service (1858-1861) from St. Louis to California--had Rude move here to Ft. Stockton and build another stand. In 1859, when a stop was added at Leon water hole, 5 miles west of Ft. Stockton, Rude built and ran the stand there. Food there was best on the route, said a journalist. Sarah Rude (1834-1916) carried a pistol under her apron, to protect her children. When Indians attacked the Davis Mountains stand, the men loaded guns and handed them to Mrs. Rude--a calm, sure marksman. Just over 5 ft. tall, she butchered and skinned beeves to feed her family, when her husband was away. After stages stopped operating in 1861, Isaac Rude, like others associated with the Overland Mail, joined the Confederate army. Later he became a prosperous businessman in McKinney. Born in 1829, he died in 1902.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the 1850s Isaac and Sarah Isabella Rude, bound for California from Tennessee, stopped instead in West Texas, where Isaac built and ran stagecoach stands for the Butterfield Overland Mail (1858–1861) linking St. Louis to the Pacific. Passengers changed mule teams and took meals here, at one stop said to serve the best food on the whole line. Sarah, barely five feet tall, carried a pistol beneath her apron and coolly loaded rifles for the men when the Davis Mountains stand came under attack. After the mail line closed in 1861 Isaac joined the Confederate army and later prospered as a McKinney businessman.
Why it matters
The Rudes embody the everyday grit behind the great overland mail routes that stitched a continental nation together on the eve of the Civil War.
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Related people
- · Isaac J. Rude
- · Sarah Isabella Rude
Related events
- · Butterfield Overland Mail
Themes & tags
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