Butterfield Stage Stop Temecula in 1860Butterfield and his signature
The Temescal Butterfield stage station is the site where the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach stopped to deliver mail and get fresh horses in what is now Riverside County, California. The Temescal Butterfield stage station was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.188) on June 20, 1935. The site of the Temescal Butterfield stage station is currently near the City of Corona along Temescal Canyon Road. The first stagecoach with mail and passengers departed Tipton, Missouri on September 15, 1858. The stagecoach stopped at the Temescal Butterfield stage station and arrived at the Butterfield Overland Mail Company Los Angeles Building on October 7, 1858. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company closed in 1861.[1]
The Temescal Butterfield stage station was built five miles (8 km) north of the Temescal Hot Springs, ten miles (16 km) north of Rancho La Laguna station and twenty miles (32 km) south of the Chino Rancho station. The Temescal Butterfield stage station was "at the foot of the Temescal hills, a splendid place to camp, wood and water plenty, and protected from the winds."[2] Temescal had its own post office from February 12, 1861, to November 12, 1861.[3] Around this location, the settlement of Temescal grew over the next few decades. By 1860, Greenwade's Place at Temescal, three miles (4.8 km) north of the stage station, was a polling place for southwestern San Bernardino County. Voting irregularities there that year resulted in a court case between the candidates for a California State Assembly seat. The trial was so contentious it included the shooting of Bethel Coopwood, one of the opposing lawyers by the other in court, before the results could be determined.
Marker on the site, 20730 Temescal Canyon Road, Corona, reads:[4]
NO. 188 BUTTERFIELD STAGE STATION - Site of Butterfield Stage Station where mail was delivered and horses changed. The first stage carrying overland mail left Tipton, Missouri on September 15, 1858 and, passing through Temescal, arrived in Los Angeles October 7, 1858.
Fort Tejon – Located 15 miles southwest of Sink of Tejon Station, north of and below the summit of Tejon Pass.
Reed's Station – Located 8 miles southeast of Fort Tejon, near, to the south of the summit of the Tejon Pass.
French John's Station – Located 14 miles east southeast of Reeds Station, in the vicinity of the mouth of Cow Springs Creek Canyon.
Mud Spring, a later station operating in 1860, 14 miles east from French Johns and 13 miles north from Clayton's Station (formerly Widow Smith's Station). [1]
Los Angeles – Located 12 miles southeast of Cahuenga Station in the pueblo of Los Angeles. The 2nd Division headquarters was in a brick building, consisting of an office, blacksmith shop, stables and sheds.
Sackett's Wells – a later station, located 171⁄2 miles east southeast of Carrizo Creek Station, 15 miles west northwest of Indian Wells.
Indian Wells Station – Located 32 miles southeast of Carisso Creek, near present day Heber, no water except at station.
New River Station – a later station, located 15 miles southeast of Indian Wells Station, in Baja California, 14 miles west of Alamo Mocho Station, in present day Mexicali.
Alamo Mocho Station – Located south of the Mexican border in Baja California, 38 miles east of Indian Wells Station, no water except at station.
Gardner's Wells Station – a later station, located south of the Mexican border in Baja California, 9 miles east of Alamo Mocho and 9 miles west of Seven Wells.
