With the advent of the railroad, the stage coach passed out of existence, but lack of authentic data  makes it difficult to provide a complete  history of Kansas stage lines. The earliest stage route in what is now Kansas was the Santa Fe Trail, over which, in 1849, ran a monthly line of stages from St. Louis, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. As the line became popular, the eastern terminus was moved westward to Independence, Missouri, where Hall & Porter were the proprietors of the line. To meet the increasing demands of the business, they later established a weekly line of stages, which made the trip in about 15 days. The distance from Independence to Santa Fe was about 740 miles, for which passengers were  charged $250 for the trip and were allowed but 40 pounds of baggage. This enterprise had about $50,000 invested and carried the government mail, for which an annual compensation of $50,000 was received.

The Butterfield Stage  Line, 1866, photo by Lawrence & Houseworth.

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John Butterfield's Southern Overland Mail was operated from St. Louis to San Francisco, via El Paso, Yuma and Los Angeles, and thus avoided the snows of the Rocky Mountains encountered by the routes farther north. This line was 2,759 miles long and Butterfield had a schedule of 25 days for the trip, which later was reduced to 23 days. The first coaches started from each end on September 15, 1858. The line was discontinued on the breaking out of the Civil War and the equipment moved north to the central route, starting from St. Joseph, Missouri and going west by way of the California Trail. After the close of the war the field covered in southern and southwestern Kansas by the Butterfield Lines was succeeded by the Southern Kansas Stage Company.

Kansas City, on account of its location on the Missouri River, was quite a stage center, and during the late 1850s a line was operated between that city and Leavenworth by Moore & Walker. Another line ran from Kansas City to the Sac and Fox Agency through the towns of Westport, Missouri to Kansas via Olathe, Gardner, Bull Creek, Black Jack, Palmyra, Prairie City, Boling City, Centropolis and Minneola being intermediate points. This route was 75 miles long and the fare to the Sac and Fox agency was $5.

Colonel Eldridge, of Lawrence, started a line between Lawrence and Leavenworth in 1857, and another between Lawrence and Kansas City, running this in opposition to one operated by a Mr. Richardson. H. G. Sutherland and H. G. Weibling, who operated a line between Lawrence and Leavenworth. Samuel Reynolds, of Lawrence, also started a line in 1857 between Lawrence and Osawatomie, via Prairie City, Ottawa, Jones and Stanton. A tri-weekly line of hacks, operated by Kimball, Moore & Co., ran between Leavenworth and Westport, Missouri.

A daily line of stages between Leavenworth and Lecompton was operated by a man named Cass. This line was about 35 miles long. Fred Emery ran a weekly line of hacks between Leavenworth and Junction City, passing through Salt Creek, Easton, Hardtville, Ozawkie, Indianola, Silver Lake, Louisville, Manhattan, Ogden and Fort Riley. A. G. Lewis, of Leavenworth, operated a line between that city and Atchison, commencing about July 1, 1863, and another line was operated between Leavenworth and Atchison, going by way of Kickapoo. In 1864 J. C. Crall, of Atchison, started a line of hacks to Leavenworth.

A line of stages was operated between Topeka and Manhattan beginning in March, 1857. Coaches left Topeka every Thursday morning, and returning left Manhattan the following Monday morning. A line was also started from Topeka to Lawrence in the same month, the service being tri-weekly. Following the Pike's Peak gold excitement a daily line of stages was run from Topeka to the gold mines, commencing as early as April, 1859.

Stagecoach.

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In 1859 the Territorial Legislature granted articles of incorporation to the Kansas and Missouri River Stage company. In March, 1860, the Western Stage Company had a daily line of stages running between Atchison and Topeka via Lecompton. The fare was $4 from Topeka to St. Joseph, via stage line to Atchison and by rail the balance of the way.

In April, 1860, four lines of stages reached Topeka, three from the Missouri River and one from Junction City. One of these lines from the Missouri River was operated by the Kansas Stage Company, which had offices at Kansas City, with L. G. Terry as superintendent and James H. Roberts as agent. This route from Kansas City to Junction City was 150 miles long, for which a $10 fare was charged. The line passed through Westport, Shawnee, Chillicothe, Monticello, Lexington, Eudora, Franklin, Lawrence, Lecompton, Big Springs, Tecumseh, Indianola, St. Marys, Manhattan, Ogden and Fort Riley.

About 1862 the Kansas Stage Company started a line from Junction City to Fort Larned, making a through route from Leavenworth to Fort Larned of about 300 miles. This line ran up the Kaw valley, through Topeka, Manhattan, Fort Riley, Junction City, Abilene, Salina and crossed the Smoky Hill near the present city of Ellsworth.

From about 1864 to 1868 the Barlow & Sanderson Overland Mail Company operated a line from Fort Larned to Fort Lyon, Colorado. Colonel Robert M. Wright, of Dodge City, built about all the stations along this route, generally dugouts about 14 by 20 feet in size, cut in the side of a hill, and located about 30 miles apart. The line ran along the north side of the Arkansas River and the stations, commencing with Fort Larned, were at Coon Creek; on the Little Coon on a line drawn direct between Fort Larned and Fort Dodge; a temporary station between Coon Creek and Blanco Arroyo; Fort Dodge; Cimarron Station (about four miles west of the present town); Bluff Station, near the site of Pierceville; Aubrey, at the fort of that name on the boundary between Hamilton and Kearny counties; Pleasant or Pretty Encampment, about four miles east of the Kansas line in Hamilton county and located in a nearly enclosed bend of the river; Sand Creek, at the mouth of that stream, and Fort Lyon between Graveyard and Limestone Creeks.

In 1866 the Southern Kansas Stage Company was running a line of coaches from Lawrence and Topeka, in connection with the Union Pacific Railroad, to all the principal villages in southern and southwestern Kansas. A daily line left Lawrence for Baldwin City, Ohio City, Iola, Twin Mound, Waterloo, Paola, Prairie City, Garnett, Humboldt, Ridgeway, Emporia, Mound City, Ottawa, Carlyle, Burlingame, Burlington, Council Grove and Fort Scott. Henry Tisdale was superintendent and Jacob Pike was agent at Lawrence. G. L. Terry was superintendent at Leavenworth.

The Fort Scott Stage Company operated a line between Fort Scott and Kansas City, the route from the latter city south passing through Westport, Little Santa Fe, Squiresviile, Spring Hill, Paola, Osawatomie, Twin Springs, Brooklyn, Paris, Moneka, Mound City, Dayton, Mapleton, Osage, Fort Scott and Warrenton. The distance from Fort Scott to Kansas City was 122 miles and the fare was $11.

Fort Scott was once quite an important stage center. As late as 1869 ten stage lines ran out of there as follows: One to the Missouri River operated daily, along the line of the Fort Scott & Gulf railroad; another daily line to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, by Barlow, Sanderson & Co.; A. P. Bland ran a line to the Missouri River; Parker & Tisdale, a daily line to Humboldt on or near the 5th standard parallel, and a tri-weekly line to Ottawa and Chetopa; the Kansas Stage Company a daily line to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory; William Smalley, a daily line to Osage Mission; Parker & Smith, a tri-weekly line to Carthage, Missouri, and a man named Arnold, a tri-weekly line to Lamar, Missouri.

The Jones Express ran from Leavenworth up the north side of the Kansas River to Fort Riley and Junction City, the enterprise being started about 1859, and a daily coach left Junction City for Denver. This route was located on the divide between the Republican River and Chapman's Creek, the intention being to make it as nearly an air line to Denver as possible.