In honor of the 100th International Women's Day, Postmarks would like to share the amazing story of Mary Fields (a.k.a. Stagecoach Mary), who was the first African American woman to work for the Postal Service.
It's surprising that there hasn't yet been a movie made about Mary. Her life was filled with love, strife, and daring. Her 6-foot, gun-toting, cigar-smoking, fearless persona begs for portrayal on the silver screen.
In the early 1800s, she was born into slavery in Hickman County, Tennessee. Details about her early life are sketchy. According to some historians, she belonged to Judge Dunn and grew up on his family farm alongside his daughter, Dolly. Unlike most African Americans of the time, she was taught to read and write.
After emancipation, Mary remained on the Dunn farm until she was 52, which was when she decided to leave for Montana. Dolly (now Sister Amadeus), Mary's childhood friend, lived in a nunnery there, and had taken ill. Mary nursed her friend back to health and then remained in Montana to do physical labor for the nuns.
Despite being a devoted caretaker to her friend, Blackcowboys.com describes Mary as a woman one would not wish to cross:
"Pugnacious" is not really an adequate word to describe her demeanor....Since she did not pay particular attention to her fashion statement, and otherwise failed to look and act the part of a woman in the Victorian age (albeit on the frontier), certain ruffian men would occasionally attempt to trample on her rights and hard won privileges. Woe to all of them.
She broke more noses than any other person in central Montana; so claims the Great Falls Examiner, the only newspaper available in Cascade at the time.
After her employment with the nuns didn't work out--it is believed that she was "let go" because of a gunfight that she had with a male co-worker who refused to take orders from a woman--Mary tried her hand at owning a restaurant. There are conflicting reports about why her attempt at entrepreneurship failed: some sources say that she gave all of her food to people who couldn't afford to pay, while others say that she flopped because her cooking was terrible.
Either way, at 60 years old, she was in dire need of a job. When the Postal Service had an opening for the person who could harness six horses the fastest, Mary beat out all other applicants.
So for the next 10 years, in blizzards and scorching heat, through all kinds of rugged terrain, Stagecoach Mary and her mule, Moses, delivered the mail.
According to CascadeMontana.com, Mary loved the job, despite the many dangers and difficulties. Thieves and wolves roamed the countryside, always ready to pounce on prey....In the winter, heavy snowfalls plunged the trails under drifts. On several occasions, Mary’s horses could not cross the drifts. Determined to do her job, she left the horses behind and walked alone to deliver the mail. Once she walked 10 miles back to the depot.
In addition to being a ground breaker for women, free-spirited adventurers over 50, and African Americans, Mary Fields was an important pioneer of the American West. Her trustworthy and dependable delivery of communication expediated the development of parts of Montana.
At age 70, she stopped delivering the mail but still needed to earn a living, so she opened a laundry. When the laundry burnt down in 1912, the townspeople rebuilt it for her.
According to CascadeMontana.com, An avid baseball fan, Mary often presented the town’s team with bouquets of flowers from her garden. The town so loved and respected Mary that on her birthday they even closed the schools to celebrate the occasion. She was well over 80 years old when the townspeople laid her to rest at the foot of the mountain trail that led to Saint Peter’s Mission.
