How fast could a stagecoach travel?
Mitchell McClure
Rayville, Louisiana
The speed of stagecoach travel during the Old West era depended on whether the terrain was flat or mountainous and on the condition of the roads. To give you an estimate: For the 2,812 miles from Tipton, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, that took 25 days, the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach traveled about 110 miles a day, averaging roughly four and a half miles per hour.
Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association. . His latest book is Arizona’s Outlaws and Lawmen; History Press, 2015. If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or e-mail him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu
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