[eyedigress]

Cool.

I was out on the Butterfield trail quite a bit in the 80’s and 90’s. This stretch was between Maricopa and Gila Bend.

There is a very large earthen tank that was used by the stage about 20mi from the Gila River back in the day.
I’m sure it’s probably closed off by now.

The area was wide open and probably isn’t anymore. Very beautiful but desolate.

Thanks for posting.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Thanks for mentioning it. I hadn't really dug into the story before this. In the photo I count about 17 passenger and crew aboard the stage about to leave. S.F. Very cozy.

I wondered how your Gila River stop would be on the route of a stage from St. Louis to San Francisco. But the article explains they took a long curving route through Texas and the southwest. The trail even fords the Rio Grande at one point. Good stuff, if I do say so myself.