3 high potential historic sites identified in Draft Comprehensive Plan

By Sheila Harris [email protected]

The route of the original Butterfield Overland Mail – an ambitious, 3,000-plus-mile enterprise that operated from 1858 until 1861 – bisects Barry County from its northeast corner to the Arkansas line, and today, remnants of the once heavily-traveled road still exist, if one knows where to look.

On Jan. 5, 2023, U.S. Congress designated the Butterfield mail route as a National Historic Trail. As a result of this designation, in collaboration with local, state, Tribal, and nonprofit partners, the National Park Service (NPS) has put together a plan to develop, preserve and bring public attention to the impact of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company, and to commemorate its history.

The NPS invites the public to review and comment on its Draft Comprehensive Plan through July 3.

In addition to comments, the NPS is seeking collaboration with cities and private landowners along the trail.

According to Barry County history, Civil War troops forded Flat Creek a total of 13 times en route from McDowell to Cassville, so it’s possible that intact remnants of the trail still exist on private properties between those (and other) locations. Such trail remnants are part of local — and now national — history.

The Butterfield mail route entered Barry County from the northeast, near Wise Spring, and exited at a point southwest of Washburn. Along the way, the mail route passed through Cassville (as noted in the NPS draft plan) and through or near the communities of McDowell and Washburn.

According to the NPS, the legislation authorizing the Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail identified approximately 3,152 miles of trail on its original “Ox-Bow Route,” which extended from St. Louis, Mo., and Memphis, Tenn., to San Francisco, Calif. In its southern-dipping course, the trail passed through the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

In order to qualify as a national trail, a trail must meet certain criteria: The route must be established by historic use; be historically significant as a result of that use; and be sufficiently known to permit evaluation of public recreation and historical interest potential. The route need not currently exist as a discernible trail in order to qualify, states the NPS.

In 2024 and 2025, NPS staff traveled across the historic trail to document and evaluate “high potential historic sites” and “high potential route segments.”

In Barry County, the NPS identified three high potential historic sites: Smith Station, at the northeast corner of the county, near Wise Spring, on Farm Road 2020; Crouch’s Station, a few miles northeast of Cassville on Farm Road 1135; and Harbin’s Station, one mile south of Washburn, in a pasture on private property.

The John Smith Station was constructed near Wise Spring, in the northeast corner of the county, on Farm Road 2020. A spring house and remains of the station’s foundation are still visible at the beautiful spring-lake setting, where historical markers commemorate the site.

Crouch’s Station, located northeast of Cassville on Farm Road 1135, was operated by John D. Crouch, a Virginia-born merchant, and his wife Martha. Crouch acquired the property in March 1857. Today, the station site and possible historic remnants are on private land adjacent to a public road. The setting remains largely intact, and the site is commemorated by a historical marker.

Harbin’s Station was the southernmost relay station in Missouri, and consisted of a log house and corral located on the west side of the mail road. The station was named for its operator, John G. Harbin, who migrated from Tennessee in 1845 and purchased the property in 1857. While the original log structure burned in the 1940s, the historic road and a series of foundation stones still mark its location. Located on private farmland, the setting maintains some of its 19th-century appearance.

In addition to high-potential historic sites, the NPS identified Farm Road 1050, southwest of Washburn from Missouri State Highway 37 to Missouri State Highway DD, as a “high potential segment of road.” The gravel road — one lane in many places — evokes the nature of the Butterfield route as it once existed, as it runs alongside Big Sugar Creek into Washburn and Seligman Hollows, before intersecting with Highway DD then continuing as the Old Wire Road into Arkansas.

High potential sites and segments provide scenic value or offer an opportunity to vicariously share the original users’ experience of the historic route, the NPS states.

The history of the original Butterfield Overland Mail route is colorful. In Barry County, the trail was created and first used by the Osage Tribe.

The trail infamously became known as the Cherokee Trail of Tears when southeastern tribes were forcibly removed from their homelands after the passage of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act in 1830.

In September, 1857, John Butterfield of Utica, New York, headed a group of investors who signed a contract with the US Postal Service to create a cross-country mail route from the Mississippi River to San Francisco, California. The contract called for semi-weekly mail service, subsidized at $600,000 per year, with service to begin within the following year.

In Missouri, from its eastern terminus in St. Louis, the mail traveled by rail to Tipton, in central Missouri, where the mail’s first journey by stagecoach began. Almost 24 hours later, after multiple stops, Butterfield stages reached the route’s western terminus in San Francisco.

Initial preparations for the daunting route called for the construction of relay stations along its 3,000-plus miles, “where passengers could embark or disembark, horse or mule teams could be changed, and animals could be stabled in readiness for the next stage,” the NPS plan states.

According to the NPS, by the time stage service on the “Ox-Bow Route” ended in 1861, the number of relay stations had increased from 140 to 200 stations, located within an average 20 miles of each other.

At the relay stops, passengers were allowed 10 minutes for “personal needs,” unless a twice-daily meal was served, in which case, 40 minutes were allotted.

After the mail route began operating, stages ran day and night, seven days per week, regardless of weather and road conditions.

Congress voted to suspend service along the original Butterfield mail route in March, 1861, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Afterward, the trail received heavy military traffic and became known as the Wire Road.

The National Park Service seeks partnerships (without necessarily requiring a formal agreement) with Barry County landowners and communities to operate, develop, and maintain portions of the Butterfield National Historic Trail.

The NPS can provide technical assistance to partners, including assistance with interpretation, site design, preservation, historical research, mapping, strategic planning and trail marking.

“All partnership initiatives are voluntary,” the NPS emphasizes. “Partnership certification begins with a conversation between the landowner or manager and the federal trail administrator about the historical significance and management needs of a particular trail-related property. Then, the landowner or manager and the National Park Service may enter into a voluntary partnership to manage, protect, and interpret the site for visitors. Commitment to that partnership is formalized with a simple, legally nonbinding partnership certification agreement that states the parties will work together toward those mutual goals.”

The NPS assures landowners that historic sites and segments associated with the Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail that exist on private property are only made accessible to the public through landowner consent.

According to the NPS draft plan, no federal restrictions or requirements are placed on private landowners.

“The owner/manager retains all legal rights to the property,” the NPS plan states.

As administrator of the trail, the National Park Service looks forward to sharing this piece of American history with the public.

For details on how to help preserve and promote a segment of our county’s and nation’s history in partnership with the National Park Service, visit https://tinyurl.com/ddzhrx68.

The comprehensive draft plan can be downloaded and viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/msc66xfe.

Comments will be accepted through July 3.