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General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Philately that reflects personal history

 

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Bobstamp
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23 May 2016
08:02:07pm
Phil (Phil) is offering this cover in the current Stamporama auction; it commemorates the founding of the Overland Mail in the Western U.S. and its founder, John Butterfield, who was also the founder of the Wells Fargo & Company, which transported the Overland Mail.

According to Wikipedia, "(The)Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach service in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It carried passengers and U.S. Mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. The routes from each eastern terminus met at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then continued through Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Baja California, and California ending in San Francisco. On March 3, 1857, Congress under James Buchanan authorized the U.S. postmaster general, Aaron Brown, to contract for delivery of the U.S. mail from Saint Louis to San Francisco. Prior to this, U.S. Mail bound for the Far West had been transported by ship across the Gulf of Mexico to Panama, where it was freighted across the isthmus to the Pacific, then taken by ship for points in California."

Image Not Found

The Butterfield Trail passed near Silver City in Southwestern New Mexico; my family moved to a small village near Silver City from New York State in 1949, when I was six years old. In 1957, we moved into Silver City itself. This map shows the route of the Butterfield Trail in relation to Silver City:

Image Not Found

And here's a postcard picturing Silver City as it was about 1908, long after the days of the Butterfield Trail, but still very well known:

Image Not Found

The Silver City area is just stuffed full of history. Billy the Kid was jailed there for the first time, and escaped; silver mines just a couple of miles from my house proved to be the richest ever found anywhere; the famous Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at nearby Fort Bayard, where I attended Boy Scout meetings; the Apache "renegade" chief Geronimo put fear into the hearts of local white residents and employees and passengers on the Wells-Fargo stagecoaches, which carried mail for Overland Express. (It has to be said that the whites put even greater fear into the hearts of the Apaches, who realized that their world was coming to an end in a Holocaust that is only now being recognized for what it was.)

The Butterfield Trail passed very near Cook's Peak, which I climbed twice in my teens:

Image Not Found

Soon after my family moved into Silver City, I was wandering around town with a friend when we came across what I realize today was a remarkable artifact: in an empty lot not far from St. Mary's Academy, there was the remains of a stagecoach, badly weathered and beginning to fall apart but still sufficiently intact to be identified as a stagecoach, much like the ones in the Western movies of the 1950s. My friend and I were intrigued and soon discovered evidence of its provenance: on the inside of a passenger door were clearly stamped the words "Wells Fargo & Company".

Unfortunately, there were never any adults in town who realized the significance of that old stagecoach. Some 15 or 20 years later I happened to be driving past that same lot, and once again saw the stagecoach, but by then it was no longer a stagecoach, but only small pile of grey, warped boards, rusted metal, and bits of tattered fabric.

Bob



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2010ccg

24 May 2016
10:18:36pm
re: Philately that reflects personal history

This is why I love postal history..Thankyou for sharing.......

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Bobstamp
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24 May 2016
11:39:32pm
re: Philately that reflects personal history

Here's another cover that reflects my own history:

Image Not Found

I well remember the day that John Glenn orbited the earth. My father had sparked my interest in space exploration, as he had in earthbound aviation. Together we had seen one of the first orbits of Sputnik beneath the dark sky of New Mexico, and I marvelled at his creation of an "Echo I Satellite Finder" — a contraption made of a round mirror, strips of black electrical tape, compass and his wristwatch. Using it, he was able to predict where on the horizon, and when, the silvery Echo I satellite would appear. (Echo I was a large balloon with a reflective coating of aluminum, used in early experiments that bounced radio signals between distant locations on earth. Scott No. 1173 commemorates Echo I:

Image Not Found

But now back to Mercury: On the day that John Glenn's Mercury was launched, I attended my American History class. It was early in my second semester of college. The professor, Dr. Bauer, walked in as he usually did, without a word, stood behind his lectern, opened his notebook, and began to lecture. Probably about the letters of John Adams or some other equally fascinating subject. He droned on through the hour, closed his notebook, and left without another word. There he was, a history professor, on what was certainly an historic day, and he didn't acknowledge it. I couldn't believe it, but there it was. I actually failed that class, in part because I found that watching the pigeons on the roof outside the classroom to be far more interesting than Dr. Bauer. Because I failed it, I had to take it again the next year, but I hated the class even more by then, and couldn't stand Dr. Bauer either, so I did the next best thing and joined the Navy. Not a smart move. How was I to know a war was coming?

Back to Mercury: I wasn't aware until this evening that that stamp was issued on the day that John Glenn landed back on earth. The Post Office Department must have had a lot of confidence in NASA!

Bob



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dani20
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25 May 2016
08:37:01am
re: Philately that reflects personal history

Kudos to all postal historians-very enjoyable to read. Thanks to you all and keep on researching.
Best,
Dan C.

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Author/Postings
Members Picture
Bobstamp

23 May 2016
08:02:07pm

Phil (Phil) is offering this cover in the current Stamporama auction; it commemorates the founding of the Overland Mail in the Western U.S. and its founder, John Butterfield, who was also the founder of the Wells Fargo & Company, which transported the Overland Mail.

According to Wikipedia, "(The)Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach service in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It carried passengers and U.S. Mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. The routes from each eastern terminus met at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then continued through Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Baja California, and California ending in San Francisco. On March 3, 1857, Congress under James Buchanan authorized the U.S. postmaster general, Aaron Brown, to contract for delivery of the U.S. mail from Saint Louis to San Francisco. Prior to this, U.S. Mail bound for the Far West had been transported by ship across the Gulf of Mexico to Panama, where it was freighted across the isthmus to the Pacific, then taken by ship for points in California."

Image Not Found

The Butterfield Trail passed near Silver City in Southwestern New Mexico; my family moved to a small village near Silver City from New York State in 1949, when I was six years old. In 1957, we moved into Silver City itself. This map shows the route of the Butterfield Trail in relation to Silver City:

Image Not Found

And here's a postcard picturing Silver City as it was about 1908, long after the days of the Butterfield Trail, but still very well known:

Image Not Found

The Silver City area is just stuffed full of history. Billy the Kid was jailed there for the first time, and escaped; silver mines just a couple of miles from my house proved to be the richest ever found anywhere; the famous Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at nearby Fort Bayard, where I attended Boy Scout meetings; the Apache "renegade" chief Geronimo put fear into the hearts of local white residents and employees and passengers on the Wells-Fargo stagecoaches, which carried mail for Overland Express. (It has to be said that the whites put even greater fear into the hearts of the Apaches, who realized that their world was coming to an end in a Holocaust that is only now being recognized for what it was.)

The Butterfield Trail passed very near Cook's Peak, which I climbed twice in my teens:

Image Not Found

Soon after my family moved into Silver City, I was wandering around town with a friend when we came across what I realize today was a remarkable artifact: in an empty lot not far from St. Mary's Academy, there was the remains of a stagecoach, badly weathered and beginning to fall apart but still sufficiently intact to be identified as a stagecoach, much like the ones in the Western movies of the 1950s. My friend and I were intrigued and soon discovered evidence of its provenance: on the inside of a passenger door were clearly stamped the words "Wells Fargo & Company".

Unfortunately, there were never any adults in town who realized the significance of that old stagecoach. Some 15 or 20 years later I happened to be driving past that same lot, and once again saw the stagecoach, but by then it was no longer a stagecoach, but only small pile of grey, warped boards, rusted metal, and bits of tattered fabric.

Bob



Like 
7 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasur ...
2010ccg

24 May 2016
10:18:36pm

re: Philately that reflects personal history

This is why I love postal history..Thankyou for sharing.......

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Bobstamp

24 May 2016
11:39:32pm

re: Philately that reflects personal history

Here's another cover that reflects my own history:

Image Not Found

I well remember the day that John Glenn orbited the earth. My father had sparked my interest in space exploration, as he had in earthbound aviation. Together we had seen one of the first orbits of Sputnik beneath the dark sky of New Mexico, and I marvelled at his creation of an "Echo I Satellite Finder" — a contraption made of a round mirror, strips of black electrical tape, compass and his wristwatch. Using it, he was able to predict where on the horizon, and when, the silvery Echo I satellite would appear. (Echo I was a large balloon with a reflective coating of aluminum, used in early experiments that bounced radio signals between distant locations on earth. Scott No. 1173 commemorates Echo I:

Image Not Found

But now back to Mercury: On the day that John Glenn's Mercury was launched, I attended my American History class. It was early in my second semester of college. The professor, Dr. Bauer, walked in as he usually did, without a word, stood behind his lectern, opened his notebook, and began to lecture. Probably about the letters of John Adams or some other equally fascinating subject. He droned on through the hour, closed his notebook, and left without another word. There he was, a history professor, on what was certainly an historic day, and he didn't acknowledge it. I couldn't believe it, but there it was. I actually failed that class, in part because I found that watching the pigeons on the roof outside the classroom to be far more interesting than Dr. Bauer. Because I failed it, I had to take it again the next year, but I hated the class even more by then, and couldn't stand Dr. Bauer either, so I did the next best thing and joined the Navy. Not a smart move. How was I to know a war was coming?

Back to Mercury: I wasn't aware until this evening that that stamp was issued on the day that John Glenn landed back on earth. The Post Office Department must have had a lot of confidence in NASA!

Bob



Like
Login to Like
this post

www.ephemeraltreasur ...
Members Picture
dani20

25 May 2016
08:37:01am

re: Philately that reflects personal history

Kudos to all postal historians-very enjoyable to read. Thanks to you all and keep on researching.
Best,
Dan C.

Like
Login to Like
this post
        

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