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No matter how tough you are and how groundbreaking
your story, everyone's got to calm down eventually. By the
time she retired from her postal route, Stagecoach Mary was
a beloved member of the community. She was the Cascade
Baseball Team's biggest fan, creating buttonhole rosettes for
each player on the team and giving out full bouquets for play-
ers who hit home runs. The town of Cascade respected Mary
to the lengths that they closed the schools down each year on
her birthday to celebrate the occasion. She was well over 80
years old when she passed away.
Mary's accomplishments might not have been possible had
she stayed back East. Labor needs were more easily met, and
the attitude towards women assuming more responsibility
wasn't as lenient. Her astounding personality would not have
had the historical impact that it does from the life she led out
West, and she remains one of the most dominating pioneers
— male or female — to live on the western frontier.
Did Stagecoach Mary singlehandedly progress the rights
and freedoms of women on the frontier? Probably not. Was
she the toughest, brawniest, most respected Montana woman
to swill whiskey, drive a mail coach, and sponsor her local
baseball team? Yes. Definitely.
She remains one of the
most dominating pioneers —
male or female — to live
on the western frontier.
Mary's gardening skills were revered at the school and around town.
