Post by Gordon Lee on Nov 26, 2013 23:47:10 GMT -5
Greetings Fellow SB Boarders
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Do you know this lady and why she is notable in the history of the U.S. Postal Service?
.
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Her name is Mary Fields. Born around 1832 in Tennessee as slave owned by Judge Dunn and grew up on his family farm. She became friends with his daughter, Dolly, who was around the same age.
.
After the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, many ex-slaves left the plantations and farms of their former owners. Mary, however, stayed with the Dunns. When she did leave, she spent time in Ohio and along the Mississippi River. As an adult, she was a fiery, feisty sort, she shared a driving ambition with audacity, and a penchant for physical altercation on a regular basis. She also had a love of smoking rather large foul smelling cigars.
.
When Mary was around 30 years old, she received a letter from Dolly, who had become a nun and was now known as Sister Amadeus. Mary welcomed her friend’s request to join her at the Ursuline convent. Soon after Mary’s arrival, however, Sister Amadeus headed west to become the headmistress of a school for Native American girls in Montana. Meanwhile, Mary become a novice of the Ursuline Order..Not long into her studies she learned that Sister Amadeus was ill with pneumonia. Mary dropped her rosary beads and headed west to Montana. After helping nurse her friend back to health, she decided to stay and work for the small cluster of Ursuline nuns at Saint Peter's Mission.
.
The school consisted of old buildings that were badly in need of repair. Mary, who stood over six feet tall, carried six guns and toted a rifle, prefered whiskey instead of milk, was as strong as any man and very good at fixing anything. Mary did the heavy work, she chopped wood, did some stone work and rough carpentry. She dug the the necessary holes (the ones for the out houses). And when the missions reserves started to run low, Mary made the supply runs to the train stop, or as far as Great Falls or the city of Helena when special needs needed to be filled.
.
.
During one of these winter forrays to fetch supplies, Mary's wagon was attacked by wolves (maybe they wanted some of the dried beans or nun suits on board). The terrified horses bolted uncontrollably and overturned the wagon, thereby unceremoniously dumping Mary and all her supplies onto the dark prairie.
.
The more doubtful part of the story further says that Mary kept the wolves at bay for the whole of the night with her revolvers and rifle. How she could see them in the pitch black night is not explained however, but she did survive and eventually, when dawn broke, got the freight delivered, to the great relief of the nuns who had spent more than $30 on the goods in question (which was their principle concern). They were not so relieved with Mary’s safety that they did not deduct they price of a keg of molasses that leaked from a keg that had hit a rock from her salary.
.
She eventually became the foreman, or boss, of the other workers at the mission. There was one man, however, who did not want to take orders from a black woman. He argued with Mary, and then struck her. While Mary was falling, the man reached for his gun. Mary, in self-defense, snatched her six-shooter and fired. And missed.
.
But both combatants kept at it. Bullets flew in every direction until all six-guns were empty, and blood was spilt. Neither actually hit the other by direct fire, but one bullet shot by Mary bounced off the stone wall of the nunnery and hit the forlorn man in the left buttock, which completely ruined his new $1.85 trousers. Not only that, but other bullets Mary fired passed through the laundry of the bishop, which was hanging and drying on the clothes line, generously ventilating his drawers and the two white shirts he had had shipped from Boston only the week before.
.
That was enough for the bishop; he fired Mary, and gave the injured man a raise.
.
.
Out of work and needing some work, Mary took a stab at the restaurant business in Cascade. Unfortunately Mary's cooking was rather basic, which means that nobody would eat it, and the restaurant closed in short order. She was looking for work yet again.
.
A "Help Wanted" ad was posted on the wall outside one of the local saloons. The post office needed a mailman. Mary applied for the job along with a half-dozen other fellows. Mary Fields hitched a team of horses to a wagon faster than any of the other applicants (don't see that qualification requirement nowadays) and got the job. Thus, in 1895 she became only the second woman, and first black female, working for the U.S. Postal Service.
.
This work suited her fine as she had always been independent and determined. She quickly earned a reputation for delivering the mail in all kinds of conditions regardless of the weather. She and her old mule plugged along through bitter raw blizzards, roasting heat and drenching rain. She and old Moses (the mule) delivered mail to remote miner’s cabins and other outposts – delivering mail, land claim forms and parcels that kept communication open to the outside world. She is credited with helping advance the development of a large portion of central Montana, a contribution that is not recognized today.
.
This is where she became known as "Stagecoach Mary," not by association with a stage line but because she was so dependable of keeping a regular schedule. Mary kept up this activity until well into her sixties. But the ravages of time wore her down, and she retired from the mail delivery business. She needed an income so at the age of seventy she went to the laundry business in Cascade.
.
Figuring that she deserved to relax she did not do much laundry. Rather, she spent much of her time in the local saloon, drinking whiskey, and smoking her foul but beloved cigars. She entertained the assortment of sweaty and dusty men with stories of her exploits and claimed to be a crack shot, but her aim at the cuspidor was none to good and she often missed to the disgust of the nearby patron who was in the way. But what the hell, she did laundry didn’t she? One lout refused to pay his full laundry bill ( he had ordered extra starch in his cuff and collar), Mary heard him out in the street. She left the saloon and confronted him with a solid blow to the jaw. She knocked him flat at the age of seventy-two with the one blow and knocked out a tooth. Mary later said that the satisfaction she got from hitting him was worth the amount he owed her. The recipent of the blow afterwards expressed gratitude to Mary for knocking out his tooth, it had been troubling him for some time.
.
She had a standing bet with any of the men in town. If she couldn't knock them out with one punch she would pay them ten dollars. She never lost ten cents from this bet.
.
.
Mary did more than drink beer and whiskey, smoke her nasty cigars, bust noses and bend ears with the men folk in Cascade during her "laundry days." She had a dandy garden that she in which she took a lot of interest. She always grew more than she could use and always shared with friends and neighbors.
.
Most endearing of all was her love for baby sitting. She loved children, and with all her roughness, they loved her. Every year on her birthday, the local schoolhouse closed it's doors, and all the children celebrated. (One of the young kids she babysat turned out to be the movie actor, Gary Cooper.)
.
Mary eventually died of liver failure in 1914. She was buried with a simple wooden cross in Hillside Cemetery in Cascade. It just so happens to be located alongside the main road between town and the mission along her old mail route.
.
People who knew this mellow, cigar smoking, whiskey drinking old lady were hard pressed to believe she was the gun packing, short-tempered female of old they had heard so much about.
.
That this historical old gal lived is documented pretty well, she like so many others has been lost in the dust of time. It is good to brush the dust off some of these old tales and air them out again. Wouldn't she make a lovely subject on a U.S. commemorative stamp?
.
Respectfully,
Gordon Lee
.
Do you know this lady and why she is notable in the history of the U.S. Postal Service?
.
.
Her name is Mary Fields. Born around 1832 in Tennessee as slave owned by Judge Dunn and grew up on his family farm. She became friends with his daughter, Dolly, who was around the same age.
.
After the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, many ex-slaves left the plantations and farms of their former owners. Mary, however, stayed with the Dunns. When she did leave, she spent time in Ohio and along the Mississippi River. As an adult, she was a fiery, feisty sort, she shared a driving ambition with audacity, and a penchant for physical altercation on a regular basis. She also had a love of smoking rather large foul smelling cigars.
.
When Mary was around 30 years old, she received a letter from Dolly, who had become a nun and was now known as Sister Amadeus. Mary welcomed her friend’s request to join her at the Ursuline convent. Soon after Mary’s arrival, however, Sister Amadeus headed west to become the headmistress of a school for Native American girls in Montana. Meanwhile, Mary become a novice of the Ursuline Order..Not long into her studies she learned that Sister Amadeus was ill with pneumonia. Mary dropped her rosary beads and headed west to Montana. After helping nurse her friend back to health, she decided to stay and work for the small cluster of Ursuline nuns at Saint Peter's Mission.
.
The school consisted of old buildings that were badly in need of repair. Mary, who stood over six feet tall, carried six guns and toted a rifle, prefered whiskey instead of milk, was as strong as any man and very good at fixing anything. Mary did the heavy work, she chopped wood, did some stone work and rough carpentry. She dug the the necessary holes (the ones for the out houses). And when the missions reserves started to run low, Mary made the supply runs to the train stop, or as far as Great Falls or the city of Helena when special needs needed to be filled.
.
.
During one of these winter forrays to fetch supplies, Mary's wagon was attacked by wolves (maybe they wanted some of the dried beans or nun suits on board). The terrified horses bolted uncontrollably and overturned the wagon, thereby unceremoniously dumping Mary and all her supplies onto the dark prairie.
.
The more doubtful part of the story further says that Mary kept the wolves at bay for the whole of the night with her revolvers and rifle. How she could see them in the pitch black night is not explained however, but she did survive and eventually, when dawn broke, got the freight delivered, to the great relief of the nuns who had spent more than $30 on the goods in question (which was their principle concern). They were not so relieved with Mary’s safety that they did not deduct they price of a keg of molasses that leaked from a keg that had hit a rock from her salary.
.
She eventually became the foreman, or boss, of the other workers at the mission. There was one man, however, who did not want to take orders from a black woman. He argued with Mary, and then struck her. While Mary was falling, the man reached for his gun. Mary, in self-defense, snatched her six-shooter and fired. And missed.
.
But both combatants kept at it. Bullets flew in every direction until all six-guns were empty, and blood was spilt. Neither actually hit the other by direct fire, but one bullet shot by Mary bounced off the stone wall of the nunnery and hit the forlorn man in the left buttock, which completely ruined his new $1.85 trousers. Not only that, but other bullets Mary fired passed through the laundry of the bishop, which was hanging and drying on the clothes line, generously ventilating his drawers and the two white shirts he had had shipped from Boston only the week before.
.
That was enough for the bishop; he fired Mary, and gave the injured man a raise.
.
.
Out of work and needing some work, Mary took a stab at the restaurant business in Cascade. Unfortunately Mary's cooking was rather basic, which means that nobody would eat it, and the restaurant closed in short order. She was looking for work yet again.
.
A "Help Wanted" ad was posted on the wall outside one of the local saloons. The post office needed a mailman. Mary applied for the job along with a half-dozen other fellows. Mary Fields hitched a team of horses to a wagon faster than any of the other applicants (don't see that qualification requirement nowadays) and got the job. Thus, in 1895 she became only the second woman, and first black female, working for the U.S. Postal Service.
.
This work suited her fine as she had always been independent and determined. She quickly earned a reputation for delivering the mail in all kinds of conditions regardless of the weather. She and her old mule plugged along through bitter raw blizzards, roasting heat and drenching rain. She and old Moses (the mule) delivered mail to remote miner’s cabins and other outposts – delivering mail, land claim forms and parcels that kept communication open to the outside world. She is credited with helping advance the development of a large portion of central Montana, a contribution that is not recognized today.
.
This is where she became known as "Stagecoach Mary," not by association with a stage line but because she was so dependable of keeping a regular schedule. Mary kept up this activity until well into her sixties. But the ravages of time wore her down, and she retired from the mail delivery business. She needed an income so at the age of seventy she went to the laundry business in Cascade.
.
Figuring that she deserved to relax she did not do much laundry. Rather, she spent much of her time in the local saloon, drinking whiskey, and smoking her foul but beloved cigars. She entertained the assortment of sweaty and dusty men with stories of her exploits and claimed to be a crack shot, but her aim at the cuspidor was none to good and she often missed to the disgust of the nearby patron who was in the way. But what the hell, she did laundry didn’t she? One lout refused to pay his full laundry bill ( he had ordered extra starch in his cuff and collar), Mary heard him out in the street. She left the saloon and confronted him with a solid blow to the jaw. She knocked him flat at the age of seventy-two with the one blow and knocked out a tooth. Mary later said that the satisfaction she got from hitting him was worth the amount he owed her. The recipent of the blow afterwards expressed gratitude to Mary for knocking out his tooth, it had been troubling him for some time.
.
She had a standing bet with any of the men in town. If she couldn't knock them out with one punch she would pay them ten dollars. She never lost ten cents from this bet.
.
.
Mary did more than drink beer and whiskey, smoke her nasty cigars, bust noses and bend ears with the men folk in Cascade during her "laundry days." She had a dandy garden that she in which she took a lot of interest. She always grew more than she could use and always shared with friends and neighbors.
.
Most endearing of all was her love for baby sitting. She loved children, and with all her roughness, they loved her. Every year on her birthday, the local schoolhouse closed it's doors, and all the children celebrated. (One of the young kids she babysat turned out to be the movie actor, Gary Cooper.)
.
Mary eventually died of liver failure in 1914. She was buried with a simple wooden cross in Hillside Cemetery in Cascade. It just so happens to be located alongside the main road between town and the mission along her old mail route.
.
People who knew this mellow, cigar smoking, whiskey drinking old lady were hard pressed to believe she was the gun packing, short-tempered female of old they had heard so much about.
.
That this historical old gal lived is documented pretty well, she like so many others has been lost in the dust of time. It is good to brush the dust off some of these old tales and air them out again. Wouldn't she make a lovely subject on a U.S. commemorative stamp?
.
Respectfully,
Gordon Lee
