Butterfield Overland Stage Route

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From 1858 to 1861 the Butterfield Overland Stage operated its mail and passenger service between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California.   There were a total of 26 stations in Arizona located approximately 15 miles apart.  A portion of the Butterfield Overland Stage route passed through what is now the Sonoran Desert National Monument.  Two stations, Desert Well Station and Happy Camp, were located on this section of the route.  Desert Well Station, as the name implies, had water available in wells.  Happy Camp had no local source of water but had a rock cistern that was stocked with water hauled by wagon from Buttefield's Gila Ranch Station on the Gila River nearly 20 miles to the west.