A History of the Stagecoach Business in Camden, Arkansas
By David Stark
A stagecoach traveler to Camden in the 1860’s almost surely would have made a stop at the Chidester house, an elegant Southern home that served as the hub of a major stage line business that networked all of Arkansas and much of the Southwest. As the first home in the Camden area to be furnished with amenities like plastered walls, carpeting, wallpaper, and an iron-cook stove, the Chidester House was a testament to the wealth and influence of John T. Chidester during the pinnacle of his stagecoach business in Arkansas. The large plot of land that the house stood on boasted a massive red barn that sheltered the countless horses and stagecoaches owned by Colonel Chidester. The home itself was considered a lavish residence during its time, and it still stands today as a reminder of the accomplishments John Chidester as a stage operator (Lindsey, Morrison).
Although a multitude of events played their parts in the development of the stagecoach business on the American frontier of the mid-1800’s, a particularly important factor was the opportunity for profit. The country was still in the process of transitioning from horse to steam power, and the railroad system was still underdeveloped. Isolated communities, such as Camden, Arkansas, were in dire need of passenger and goods transportation that could not be provided by steamboats or railroads. Businessmen like John Chidester saw that stagecoach enterprises would well serve the frontier area and that a substantial profit could be made (Morrison).
Chidester became a shrewd businessman through working in the stage industry from his early manhood on. He started as a mail carrier and went on to operate stage lines in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi before coming to Camden. It would seem logical that the Colonel was making a conscious effort to stay one step ahead of the ever-westward expanding railroad network. Chidester recognized that the speed and strength of the railroads would make the stagecoach obsolete, so each time the railroads caught up with him, he expanded his business westward (Morrison, Rothert).
Long before Chidester actually arrived in Camden, the roads that would be necessary for a stage line operation were being developed. Permanent settlement came to Camden in the early 1800’s, and at that time, the Ouachita River was the main method of transportation in the area. The settlers realized that a road system would be necessary for the prolonged survival of the town because low water in the river often made steamboat or keelboat travel impossible. Most of the roads that eventually developed were actually old American Indian trails that came through or very close to Camden. The Choctaw and Creek Indians had a hunting trail that became the first route west to Camden. It crossed the Mississippi River near what is now Lake Village and then went on to the Red River Valley by way of Camden. A trail called the Natchez followed the Ouachita River and met the Choctaw hunting trail at Camden. The Caddo Indians also had trails that led from Camden to their hunting grounds around the Red River (Morrison).
By the year of 1822, the United States government had voiced an interest in the development of roads in the Camden area (then called Cote a Fabre). The General Assembly of the Territory of Arkansas recognized the benefits of improvement of roads to and from Camden when a road which would lead from Camden to Hot Springs was proposed:
Cote a Fabre is the head of safe Steamboat navigation on the Washita, and situated about seventy miles from Hot Springs. The great advantage of this road is apparent to every one conversant with the situation of the Country and with the number of invalids who, to benefit their health annually resort to the Hot Springs. The day is not far distant when these Springs will be the great place of resort for the invalids of the Southwest, and nothing prevents it at present day except the want of roads over which to travel.
The proposal was approved on November 1, 1833. This road probably followed one of the trails of the American Indians who were gradually being forced to move from the area (Rothert).
Another key element to the growth of Camden and the coming of the stagecoach era was the establishment of government mail routes to the town. Arkansas newspapers often published postal routes which had been established in Arkansas. These publications illustrated the fact that Camden was well connected in all directions by the postal routes. The earliest mail was dispatched by horseback, but by the 1850's the government was hiring stagecoach companies. By 1845 the Arkansas Banner was listing many postal routes which included Camden somewhere on the route (Rothert, Morrison).
The combination of government mail contracts and the development of better road systems helped to bring the stagecoach era to Camden. The roads meant that passenger travel would be much more comfortable and expeditious, and the mail contracts helped to finance the budding stagecoach enterprises. The Hickman and Agee Company established the first recorded stage line in Camden in 1852. A letter to the editor of the Ouachita Herald on March 7, 1853 from a person who had traveled on this line said, "They [Agee and Hickman] have fine teams and attractive skillful drivers and with good roads and good company it would be quite pleasant traveling on their line." Between 1850 and the American Civil War, a great deal was done to improve and increase the stage lines in Arkansas (Morrison).
This development was greatly enhanced when John T. Chidester came to Arkansas in 1857. This was the year that he began his first stagecoach endeavor in Arkansas. He started his operation by subcontracting the section of the famous Butterfield Overland Mail from Memphis to San Francisco that extended from Little Rock to Ft. Smith. In 1858 the Colonel moved his family to Camden, and he started Chidester, Rapley, Manger, and Company. This was the stage company that he would head through the peak years of the stagecoach era in Camden. Its services extended from the Chidester house to South Arkansas, North Louisiana, and Texas (Rothert, Lindsey).
There was an advertisement in the April 7, 1859, Ouachita Herald for the "Great Western Four Horse Stage Coach Line" operated by John Chidester. It explained the connections with steamers and other stage lines and the roads of the area:
This line passes through the following county seats; Camden, Ouachita County; Hampton, Calhoun County; Warren, Bradley County; and Monticello, Drew County. It connects each day with the regular Steam Packets, both ascending and descending the Mississippi River, so that passengers may not be delayed at that point. It also connects each day at Camden, with the daily stage line of Messr. Stewart and Co., running from Camden to Hot Springs. And it is decidedly the shortest and most commilus stage route from all the southwestern counties of Arkansas, and the upper, eastern and northwestern counties of Texas, to the Mississippi River.
The stagecoach businesses were reaching their height in Camden between the years of 1859 and 1861. The diary of a local businessman named R. F. Kellam gives several instances, which illustrate the importance of the stage lines and their appearance in every day life. The entry for August 11, 1959 tells about the beginning of his journey from Camden to New York:
Left home in company with John T. Ferguson for New York on the Gaines Landing Stage, weather hot and dry. Health good. Dinner at Lary's. Stop 1/2 hour at Hampton, congratulate our friend McColluck Esq. who was celebrating his marriage. Supper at Warren, Pennington hotel. Meet my old partner- Dick Cone- delightful moonlight. Run all night, sleep some, jostle, jolt, thump and bump. Morning came- breakfast at Collins 8:30. Enter the Mississippi bottoms. Rough and tumble all causeway. Crops as always excellent. Dinner at Lowry's. Good dinner and excellent water. Arrive at Gaines Landing 4 P.M. hot, wearied, tired awful worn out, full of dirt and dust. Find this place just as imagined, ugly mean looking place.
Although this description of the stagecoach ride is not exactly as comfortable as the advertisement said, the stage lines can still be seen as an integral part of the lives of the people of Camden and of the frontier (Morrison, McIver).
Mr. Kellam's diary also gives evidence that many migrants to Camden often arrived by stagecoach. On December 4, 1859, Kellam wrote that there was, "Great travel over our Gaines Landing Stage Route. As many as 15 and 20 passengers on the stage. Mostly from Georgia looking and buying lands." At this time there were at least three hotels, the Commercial Hotel, the Southland House, and the Ouachita house, that provided accommodations for these travelers. The Southland House advertised, "The Travelling public will especially be cared for, and all their wishes gratified if in the power of the proprietor. Everything in the way of table comforts which the market affords will be constantly supplied." The influx of travel into Camden caused a burst of growth and trade that lasted until the railroads finally made the stage lines obsolete.
The American Civil War interrupted the growth of Camden and the further development of the stage lines. There was great deal of confusion in the Arkansas mail service that was caused by the succession of Arkansas from the Union. When the Union troops captured Little Rock, Colonel Chidester continued servicing the Confederacy in Camden. However, when the Union army marched into Camden under the command of General Frederick Steele, they intended to arrest John T. Chidester for turning over Union mail to the Confederacy. By hiding in a secret room of the Chidester House, Mr. Chidester barely managed to evade the Union soldiers. Bullet holes from this incident remain in the walls of the Chidester house today. Chidester escaped to Texas where he remained for the duration of the war.
Chidester faced a high degree of difficulty in rebuilding the Arkansas stage system after the end of the war. The shortage of horses, the worn out equipment, the unrepaired roads, and, especially, the lack of money were all problems that communities like Camden would have to face. These isolated communities would often be forced to wait to have their transportation needs met because most available money went to the repair of railroads in the South. Despite these problems the citizen of Camden remained enthusiastic. An article from the September 25, 1866 Arkansas Gazette showed their optimism:
The Mail at Last- A new era is about to dawn upon this poor benigned region, for there is a prospect for mail again. We have already inaugurated horse mails from Rock Port to Camden, from Eunice to Camden, via Monticello, Warren, and Hampton: and from Camden to Monroe, La. As yet they have not delivered much mail matter but as soon as fully arranged we may expect at least letter mail. The route to Rock Port and Little Rock, we understand is soon to be stocked with coaches. We hope all the lines will be fully equipped and in successful operation soon, and that other important routes be taken and put in working order. But for the present we are truly thankful for even the meager facilities which have fallen to our lot.
The majority of this task became the responsibility of Colonel Chidester, and by 1868 he had successfully brought the stage lines in Arkansas back into full operation (Morrison, Rothert).
In 1874 the first omen of the future of the stages in Arkansas was printed in the Camden Beacon:
From and after Monday the 22 of June, 1874, we will run our Stages daily (except Sunday) from Camden to Prescott on the Cairo and Fulton Railroad, carrying U.S. Mail and making close connections at Prescott with the cars from Little Rock, St. Louis, Memphis, and all points East; also to Washington, Arkansas.
This was an advertisement for a stage line owned by Chidester. It signaled the upcoming end of the stagecoach era in Arkansas; as the railroads neared Camden, the importance of the stage lines became less and less (Wood, Morrison).
Although business was dwindling in Arkansas, Chidester still managed to stay on top of the game by moving west once again. He was awarded the contract to extend mail service from Ft. Worth, Texas to Ft. Yuma, Arizona, and he became the operator of the last major leg of a transcontinental stage line in the Southwest (Morrison). In Camden, however, the stage line situation continued to deteriorate. The Old Mountain Line was completed to Camden in 1881, and in 1883 the Cotton Belt arrived. The railroads had ended the stagecoach era in Camden (Morrison).
The stagecoach remains a staple of American history because it proved to be an extremely important part of the lives of those who lived on the frontier. In the time of transition between horse and steam power, the stage lines provided the transportation that was necessary to spur the growth and development of towns like Camden on the westward-moving American frontier.
Bibliography:
Lindsey, Pryor E. “History of the Chidester House.” Student essay. Camden High School, 1976.
McIver, H. M. “Reminiscences of an Arkansas Pioneer.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 17 (1958): 61.
Morrison, Larry. “The Development of Roads, Postal Routes, and Stage Lines at Camden, Arkansas.” Ouachita County Historical Quarterly Mar. 1978: 1-15.
Rothert, Matt Sr. “The Chidester Stage Lines.” Ouachita County Historical Quarterly Sept. 1983: 2-6.
Wood, Stephen E. “Development of Arkansas Railroads.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 7 (1948): 121-122.