What Was the Desert Wells Stage Stop?
The Desert Wells Stage Stop was located in Queen Creek, Arizona, three-quarters of a mile south of Ocotillo Road on the east side of Sossaman Road. The stage stop was a resting area and water stop for horses used by the stage that came from Florence via Olberg and continued through the gap in the San Tan Mountains and on to Mesa, Arizona.
The pioneers described the stop as a simple one-room building about ten feet square, constructed of rock, mud, and thatch. A trough for watering the horses ran around three sides of the building, while a porch graced the south side. It had one four-foot door on the south side and small gun ports instead of windows. A well was close by to fill the trough.
This stage route was in use in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Why Were Stagecoach Stops Significant?
Mail arrived in the Arizona Territory via stagecoach. Mail delivered by stagecoach was the main means of communication between the Arizona Territory and the rest of the country. Stagecoach travel through the southwest was literally from watering hole to watering hole.
Travel was dangerous! Between 1875 and 1903, there were 129 stagecoach robberies in the Arizona Territory. Stagecoach mail delivery to Arizona ceased during the Civil War. Freight was shipped down the Colorado River at a great expense, but mail was only carried by travelers on horseback. Early settlers, mostly miners and ranchers, were completely cut off from the rest of the country. They had no idea what was happening with the war. Regular mail delivery was re-established in the 1870s and 1880s when the railroads came.
Even though the Desert Wells Stage Stop was a small spur stop, it holds a significant role in Queen Creek's history and folklore.
The Desert Wells Stage Stop was located in Queen Creek, Arizona, three-quarters of a mile south of Ocotillo Road on the east side of Sossaman Road. The stage stop was a resting area and water stop for horses used by the stage that came from Florence via Olberg and continued through the gap in the San Tan Mountains and on to Mesa, Arizona.
The pioneers described the stop as a simple one-room building about ten feet square, constructed of rock, mud, and thatch. A trough for watering the horses ran around three sides of the building, while a porch graced the south side. It had one four-foot door on the south side and small gun ports instead of windows. A well was close by to fill the trough.
This stage route was in use in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Why Were Stagecoach Stops Significant?
Mail arrived in the Arizona Territory via stagecoach. Mail delivered by stagecoach was the main means of communication between the Arizona Territory and the rest of the country. Stagecoach travel through the southwest was literally from watering hole to watering hole.
Travel was dangerous! Between 1875 and 1903, there were 129 stagecoach robberies in the Arizona Territory. Stagecoach mail delivery to Arizona ceased during the Civil War. Freight was shipped down the Colorado River at a great expense, but mail was only carried by travelers on horseback. Early settlers, mostly miners and ranchers, were completely cut off from the rest of the country. They had no idea what was happening with the war. Regular mail delivery was re-established in the 1870s and 1880s when the railroads came.
Even though the Desert Wells Stage Stop was a small spur stop, it holds a significant role in Queen Creek's history and folklore.
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