Hidden Figures: Stagecoach Mary (Mary Fields) (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Stagecoach Mary (Mary Fields)

Mary Fields (c. 1832–1914), also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary, was the first African-American woman star route mail carrier in the United States. Fields obtained the star route contract for the delivery of U.S. mail from Cascade, Montana to Saint Peter's Mission in 1885. She drove the route with horse and wagon, not a stagecoach, for two four-year contracts: from 1885 to 1889 and from 1889 to 1893. The hard-drinking, quick-shooting mail carrier sported two guns, men’s clothing and a bad attitude. As the first African American woman to carry mail, she stood out on the trail—and became a Wild West legend. Rumor had it that she’d fended off an angry pack of wolves with her rifle, had “the temperament of a grizzly bear,” and was not above a gunfight. Born a slave in Hickman County, Tennessee, circa 1832, Fields was freed when slavery was outlawed in the United States, in 1865. She then worked in the home of Judge Edmund Dunne. When Dunne's wife Josephine died in 1883, in San Antonio, Florida, Fields took the family's five children to their aunt, Mother Mary Amadeus, the mother superior of a convent in Toledo, Ohio. In 1884, Mother Amadeus was sent to Montana to establish a school for Blackfeet Native American girls at St. Peter's Mission. Learning that Amadeus was stricken with pneumonia, Fields hurried to Montana to nurse her back to health. The West suited Fields, Amadeus recovered, and Fields stayed at and began working for her new convent near Cascade, Montana. Mother Amadeus helped her open a restaurant in nearby Cascade. Fields would serve food to anyone, whether they could pay or not, and the restaurant went broke in about 10 months. In 1895, although approximately 60 years old, Fields was hired as a mail carrier because she was the fastest applicant to hitch a team of six horses. This made her the second woman and first African American woman to work for the U.S. Postal Service. As a star carrier, her job was to protect the mail on her route from thieves and bandits and to deliver mail. She drove the route with horses and a mule named Moses. She never missed a day, and her reliability earned her the nickname "Stagecoach”. If the snow was too deep for her horses, Fields delivered the mail on snowshoes, carrying the sacks on her shoulders. “Stagecoach Mary” or “Black Mary,” as she was nicknamed, carried a rifle and a revolver. She met trains with mail, then drove her stagecoach over rocky, rough roads and through snow and inclement weather. And though she intimidated would-be thieves with her height and her tough demeanor, she became beloved by locals, who praised her generosity and her kindness to children. For eight years, Fields protected and delivered the mail. She was a respected public figure in Cascade, and the town closed its schools to celebrate her birthday each year. When Montana passed a law forbidding women to enter saloons, the mayor of Cascade granted her an exemption. In 1903, at age 71, Fields retired from star route mail carrier service. She continued to babysit many Cascade children and owned and operated a laundry service from her home. When she died on December 5, 1914, her funeral was one of the largest the town had ever seen. #HiddenFigures #StagecoachMary #MaryFields ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: https://www.instagram.com/p/BozyTuMnb-4/ Mary Fields Aka Stagecoach Mary: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Fields-Aka-Stagecoach/dp/1506901018 'Meet Stagecoach Mary, the Daring Black Pioneer Who Protected Wild West Stagecoaches:' https://www.history.com/news/meet-stagecoach-mary-the-daring-black-pioneer-who-protected-wild-west-stagecoaches 'The Life and Legend of Mary Fields:' http://montanawomenshistory.org/the-life-and-legend-of-mary-fields/ Mary Fields: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Fields 'Mary Fields - Female Pioneer in Montana:' http://www.historynet.com/mary-fields-female-pioneer-in-montana.htm 'Famous Cowboys...' https://www.blackcowboys.com/maryfields.htm 'Mary Fields (ca. 1832-1914): First African-American Woman to Carry the Mail:' https://americacomesalive.com/2014/01/05/mary-fields-ca-1832-1914-known-as-stagecoach-mary/ Mary Fields (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fields