Stagecoach | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Stagecoach

The principal means of public overland transportation in Canada and the US in the first half of the 19th century, the stagecoach was a 4-wheeled vehicle pulled by 4 or more horses. Six or more passengers sat in the suspended
Stagecoach Travel
Illustration from a travel book published in 1799 showing travel in the early Canadas.

Stagecoach

The principal means of public overland transportation in Canada and the US in the first half of the 19th century, the stagecoach was a 4-wheeled vehicle pulled by 4 or more horses. Six or more passengers sat in the suspended carriage protected from the elements; parcels were fastened to racks on its roof; and the driver sat in an exposed, forward position. Regular routes were travelled which took passengers and mail by stages from station to station. Developed in England in the 17th century, the stagecoach was displaced by the railway coach in the 1840s. Today it is principally associated with the Western movie and the Wild West.

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