Butterfield Trail / Espejo's Expedition

The stage line was a federal bargain. John Butterfield of Utica, New York, won Mail Contract No. 12,578 in 1857, $600,000 a year for six years of twice-weekly service, the longest mail contract the country had let, and spent a year setting up 139 stations. The first westbound coach left on September 16, 1858; its only through passenger, the New York Herald reporter Waterman Ormsby, reached San Francisco about twenty-four days later and wrote it up. The fare was $200. The line's southern route ended with the Civil War in 1861.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Butterfield Trail Stagecoaches of the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. began carrying passengers and mail from St. Louis to San Francisco, across southern New Mexico, in 1858. The 2,795-mile journey took 21-22 days. In 1861 the service was re-routed through Salt Lake City. Here the trail followed the Rio Grande northward to La Mesilla. Official Scenic Historic Marker Espejo's Expedition On the Camino Real Trying to locate two Franciscan friars, Antonio de Espejo in 1582 led an expedition up the Río Grande near here. The two friars had remained among the Tiwa Indians near Bernalillo after the Rodríguez-Sánchez Chamuscado expedition returned to Mexico in 1581. When he reached the Tiwas in 1583, Espejo learned that the missionaries were dead.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mesilla Plaza — 22 mi
  A plaza laid out in 1848 by people who meant to stay in Mexico, American six years later, a stage stop and Civil War headquarters, and scene of a deadly political riot in 1871.

More markers nearby

• Brazito Battlefield — steps away
• Oñate's Route / El Camino Real — steps away
• Paraje de los Brazitos — 9.2 mi
• El Paso del Rio del Norte — 15 mi