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supplies or grain everywhere. We feed corn to all our working mules. I had made contracts
for hay wherever the grass was likely to be short the coming winter. We had thirty-five mail
carriers and agents along this part of the line; all well-armed border men, carefully selected
for their familiarity with this kind of service. We had seven coaches on the road, and three
more building in San Diego so that we could already take passengers through from ocean
to ocean in stage coaches. I felt that I had carried out in spirit the agreement with your
department to place a creditable service on the line, besides having complied with the letter
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of the contract in carrying the mail."

In 1859, George Foster Pierce boarded a San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line
stage wagon heading west from San Antonio. He descibes the stage:

"The stage is not the old-fashioned coach of the East, but a kind of wagon, with an oblong
body set on leather braces, having three seats, into which nine persons might crowd, but
four or even six might find room enough. As we were but six in number, and one very small
one, we had margin for change of position. The boot of the other stage was our store-room,
containing cooking utensils and provisions. The captain gave the word of command, and
away we went."
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Phoecion R. Way wrote in his diary that the only reliable stage was an “ambulance” used
from the Rio Grand to Tucson. Arizona’s Tubac Presidio State Park has on display a
representation of Phocion's "ambulance." The replica couldn't have been made by
anyone better than Hansen Wheel and Wagon Works. Their reputation for making Old
West replica stages is renowned. Photo Courtesy: Tubac Presidio State Park.

From the many primary references, concerning the San Antonio and San Diego
Mail Line passenger wagons, it is difficult to pinpoint any single style of that was
used. They were called ambulances, carriages, wagons, waggons, and stages. The

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