The Overland Stage to California. Personal Reminiscences and Authentic History of the Great Overland Stage Line and Pony Express from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean

Topeka, Kansas: published by the authors, 1901 Book. Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First edition. Very scarce, and quite rare in this condition! Pp. xvii, [1], 630. Frontis portrait, numerous photographic illustrations and portraits, folding map. Index, list of subscribers. Original pictorial light brown cloth stamped in black and gold on spine and front cover. Very minor rubbing to spine ends and corners, but a fine and clean copy. One of the most valuable narratives on the Overland Stage. As the agent of the postal department, Root oversaw the transportation of the mails over the great stage line. Connelley was a veteran writer who whipped Root's manuscript into shape. The narrative is packed with anecdotes and details and is abundantly illustrated. "The original is very rare and is considered the standard history of the early stage lines" (Six-Guns). "Root's Overland Stage is a classic account of this mode of travel under conditions of extreme peril" (Mattes). "A basic work about early Western transportation systems" (Paher). A number of years ago, a direct relative of Frank A. Root informed me that the reason the first edition of this work is so scarce is that there was a major flood of the Kansas River and most copies of the work were destroyed. [Cowan: p.541; Dobie: pp. 79, 81; Flake: 7417; Graff: 3562; Howes I: R-434; Howes II: R-434; Mattes: 1908 and 2027; Paher: 1689; Six-Guns: 1897; Streeter: 3117]..