Stagecoach Mary
By
John C Abercrombie
Because of the depictions of life in the Western United States, most don’t think of Blacks yet 25% of all cowboys were Black. We also dismiss the fact that there were women of note, let along Black women of note in the early days of the West.
There are many states in the West with small populations and even smaller Black populations and among them is Montana. This post features a larger than life story of Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary or sometimes Black Mary. It should be noted that while there was segregation in Montana, the name Mary was more of a description than a slur, like some take it today. In fact, the Native people referred to her as White Crow because she had the actions of a White woman, but the skin color of a crow. Mary Fields made quite an impression on Montana and the West.
Better know as Stagecoach Mary, Mary Fields became the first Black woman Star Route mail carrier in the United States. She was not hired directly by the Post office but earned a contract to deliver the mail at the age of 60 by outperforming the men competing for the job, most of whom were half her age. She had to have sureties to substantiate her ability to finance the route.
In law, it refers to one that is bound with and for another; one who enters into a bond or recognizance to answer for another’s appearance in court, or for his payment of a debt or for the performance of some act, and who, in case of the principal debtor’s failure, is compellable to pay the debt or damages
After the contract was awarded the contractor could drive themselves or sublet the route or even hire someone else. In fact, some people obtained multiple star routes and conducted the operation as a business. Mary drove the route herself.
She was born s slave around 1832 in Hickman County, Tennessee. She was freed when slavery was outlawed at the end of the Civil War in 1865. After being freed, she worked in the home of Judge Edmond Dunne. The Dunne’s had a daughter, Dolly, about the same age as Mary.
Dolly and Mary were about the same age and were playmates. Dolly being White was given an education, Mary being Black was denied the opportunity, however she asked Dolly to teach her to read and write. It was against the law to teach a Black to read or write during this time even though her father was a judge, she did.
The law was in place not because Blacks were not intelligent enough to learn, but as a method of keeping them suppressed. Money was therefore not used for the public good of educating them. It was not the lack of intelligence that was at the root of this practice, but a way of preventing the exchange of ideas and concepts that they could use for their benefit. Its perpetuated tenant farming because no matter the production, they could be treated unfairly and were told that they did not make any money, thus preventing them from advancing in any manner.
Today with the opportunity of education, it is important to remember that the greatest way to freedom is knowledge.
Dolly’s mother Josephine died in 1883 in San Antonio, Florida, or San Ann as it is called by the locals is a small city in the suburban area of Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, area in Pasco County, Florida. At this time, they were sent to Toledo, Ohio to live with their aunt, Mother Mary Amadeus, the mother superior of the Ursuline convent under the care of Mary Fields aka Stagecoach Mary as she would later be known. She was not part of the package, just sent to ensure the safety of the 5 Dunne children.
Mother Amadeus was sent from Toledo to Montana Territory. Montana did not become a state until 1889. Mother Amadeus was sent to establish a school for Native American girls at St. Peter’s Mission west of the town of Cascade, Montana. While there, she came down with pneumonia. When Mary Fields learned of the diagnosis, she rushed to Montana to nurse her back to health. Amadeus recovered and Mary Fields stayed at St. Peter’s hauling freight, doing laundry, growing vegetables, tending 400 chickens even repairing buildings. Mary was 6’ tall and weighed 200 pounds and was a hard and dedicated worker. She eventually became the forewoman.
Her position as forewoman angered some because she earned $2.00 more per month than the White men. She was paid $9.00 per month while the others were paid $7.00.
Mary was known to have a temper. Nuns who would walk on the grass after she mowed it, especially if they littered would be severely scolded. They complained as did others. In 1894 after several complaints and an incident involving gunplay with a disgruntled male subordinate the bishop ordered her to leave the convent. Mother Amadeus helped her open a restaurant in the nearby town of Cascade, Montana. Despite her temper, Fields was kindhearted and would feed anyone, whether they could pay or not, which is not a great philosophy for remaining in business. The restaurant closed about 10 months later due to bankruptcy.
At the age of 60, she earned a contract to deliver mail on a star route by being the fastest applicant to hitch a team of 6 horses despite them being male and half her age. This made her the first Black woman to work for the United States Postal Service. She filled 2, 4-year contracts, never missing a day of work and never lost a letter. If the snow was too deep for her horses, she delivered the mail on snowshoes carrying the sacks of mail on her shoulders.
Mary was known and was known for drinking whiskey, smoking cigars, and cursing. She spent a great deal of time in the saloon. After all, there was little else for a Black person to do and she liked being around people. In those days there was some segregation in the saloons and public accommodations, but in this case, there was a high-class saloon and one for the common people.
Mary was a gun toting woman often carrying 2 pistols and when on her route a 10-gauge shotgun.
Montana passed a law outlawing woman from being in saloons and the mayor granted her an exception. She was well loved in the town. The town even closed its schools to celebrate her birthday each year.
After retiring from the star route, she opened a laundry business. Her temper showed one day when a customer refused to pay her $2.00. She came up behind him and with one punch knocked him out. Other customers made sure they paid their bill. The irony of this case is, if the customer had said he could not pay, she would have done it without pay, but the lying and trying to get away with it was the last straw.
When her home burned, the town collected money and rebuilt it.
An exceedingly kind and gentle natured person, after retiring from the laundry business, she was a sought-out babysitter.
While we seldom talk about Stagecoach Mary, she is known and has received attention while being excluded from history books.
In 1959, Gary Cooper, a Montana native wrote an article for EBONY magazine in which he wrote, “Born a slave somewhere in Tennessee, Mary lived to become one of the freest soul ever to draw a breath or a .38.
In the 1976 documentary South by Northwest, “Homesteaders” Fields is played by Ester Rolle.
In the 1996 TV movie “The Cherokee Kid” Fields is played by Dawnn Lewis
In the 2012 TV movie “Hannah’s Law” she is played by Kimberly Elise
In the 2013 short western “They Die By Dawn, she is played by Erykah Badu.
There is even an asteroid named in her honor. Asteroids are large objects in the inner solar system. They are astronomical objects orbiting the Sun. They don’t have the characteristic tail of a comet. The asteroid 7091 Maryfields was discovered in 1992. The official naming citation was published in the Minor Planet Center November 8, 2019.
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Video of the author – John C Abercrombie at the Spartanburg Library
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The Toughest Woman in the West | Stagecoach Mary
Welcome to Forgotten Lives! In today’s episode, we are looking into the life of Mary Fields, the first African American Mail star route mail carrier in the United States!
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Deliverance Mary Fields, First African American Woman Star Route Mail Carrier in the United States: A Montana History
O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE “10 Titles to Pick Up Now” February 2018
AWARD-WINNING CREATIVE NONFICTION BIOGRAPHY
1885 – 1914 Mary Fields, a fifty-three-year-old second-generation slave, emancipated and residing in Toledo, receives news of her friend’s impending death. Remedies packed in her satchel, Mary rushes to board the Northern Pacific. Days later, she arrives in the Montana wilderness to find Mother Mary Amadeus lying on frozen earth in a broken-down cabin. Certain that the cloister of frostbit Ursuline nuns and their students, Indian girls rescued from nearby reservations, will not survive without assistance, Mary decides to stay.
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AAHIAH Episode #13: “THE STORY OF STAGECOACH MARY”
Born a slave in Hickman County, Tennessee around 1832, “Stagecoach” Mary Fields, also known as Black Mary, was a formidable figure in the Old West. She stood 6 feet tall and weighed about 200 lbs. She loved to smoke cigars, and usually had a pistol strapped under her apron and a jug of whiskey by her side.
Fearless Mary: Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver
A little-known but fascinating and larger-than-life character, Mary Fields is one of the unsung, trailblazing African American women who helped settle the American West. A former slave, Fields became the first African American woman stagecoach driver in 1895, when, in her 60s, she beat out all the cowboys applying for the job by being the fastest to hitch a team of six horses. She won the dangerous and challenging job, and for many years traveled the badlands with her pet eagle, protecting the mail from outlaws and wild animals, never losing a single horse or package. Fields helped pave the way for other women and people of color to become stagecoach drivers and postal workers.
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Don’t mess with “Stagecoach Mary” Fields
As portrayed by Rosieleetta “Lee” Reed, “Stagecoach Mary” Fields distinguished herself as the first African American woman star route mail carrier in the United States. Garnering a contract from the postal service, “Stagecoach Mary” served as an independent contractor to transport mail from Cascade, Montana, to surrounding areas. Protecting her cargo from thieves and bandits, she was the second woman in the United States to serve in that role.
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African American Women of the Old West
The brave pioneers who made a life on the frontier were not only male—and they were not only white. The story of African American women in the Old West is one that has largely gone untold until now. The stories of ten African American women are reconstructed from historic documents found in century-old archives. Some of these women slaves, some were free, and some were born into slavery and found freedom in the old west. They were laundresses, freedom advocates, journalists, educators, midwives, business proprietors, religious converts, philanthropists, mail and freight haulers, and civil and social activists. These hidden historical figures include Biddy Mason, a slave who fought for her family’s freedom; Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood, a teacher determined to educate black children and aid them in leading better lives; and the mysterious Mary Ellen Pleasant, a civil rights crusader and savvy businesswoman. Even in the face of racial prejudice, these unsung heroes never gave up hope for a brighter future.
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Stagecoach Mary Fields
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Mary Fields Hardcover From Back Cover:
“One of the most loved characters who lived in the memory of the Montana Ursalines was Mary Fields. She was of Negro race, born in slavery in Tennessee on May 15, 1832. The old timers called her “Black Mary” and they, too, loved and respected her. When Mother Amadeus was near death from pneumonia in April 1885, Mary came to Montana to help the mission
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Stagecoach Mary Fields – Joanna Winston
Filmed on location at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, IN in the Clowes Theater. Special thanks to WFYI, Hyacinth Williams-Rucker, Linda Montag-Olson, and Alisa Nordholt-Dean for the opportunity to present this piece live. Special thanks to Donna Ison for the original draft of the script “Stagecoach Mary Fields” and to the Eiteljorg Resource Center for background information that went into the production of this piece.
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Mary Fields is part of a myth portrayed by the entertainment industry that depicts the West without Blacks. 25% of the Cowboy were Black. Even the legendary “Lone Ranger” was based on the life of Bass Reeves the first Lawman West of the Mississippi.
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