At times we bemoan the Yampa Valley’s sense of geographic isolation, especially during the cold winter months. Travel over treacherous, icy, and snow-packed mountain passes force us to think twice before heading out on a weekend jaunt. But just over a century ago, a comfortable four hour trip to Denver wasn’t even a remote possibility.

An exhibit about the area’s stagecoach lines in the late 19th century at the Museum of Northwest Colorado offers unique insight into a world far removed from our modern lives. Our concept of time, distance, and connections to the rest of the world has changed drastically.

By 1869 the Union Pacific transcontinental railroad was completed to the north of us in Wyoming. In 1889, the Denver and Rio Grande ran to our south with stops in Wolcott, Glenwood, and Rifle. To connect with the rail hubs, stagecoach lines traversed the bumpy, muddy, and dusty dirt roads of northwest Colorado. Quickly, settlers began flowing into our corner of the world.

While the stagecoach served a vital service, the time it took to travel from rail stations into Craig, Meeker, Steamboat, and Hayden is unfathomable to our modern minds. In one display at the museum, Smethurst and Son, proprietors of the line from Steamboat to Craig, advertised “Comfortable rigs, Best of horses, and Good Accommodations.”

Even with these creature comforts, passengers leaving Steamboat at 7 a.m. were scheduled to arrive in Craig at 4:30 p.m….after a leisurely two hour layover in Hayden! Oddly enough, the eastbound stage left Craig at 7 a.m. and arrived in Steamboat at 6:30 p.m, including the same layover in Hayden. The schedule offers no explanation for the two hour difference between the westbound and eastbound trips.

Even more astounding was the cost. In the 1890s, the trip to Steamboat was $8. Adjusted for inflation that is equivalent to $210 in 2017.  Today, a round trip on the modern marvel of paved roads in a comfortable Steamboat Transit bus costs a grand total of $12 and takes all of 90 minutes.

Similarly, travelers from Craig to Meeker could look forward to an eight hour trip; and just six more to reach Rifle, a scant 88 miles to our south. North to Dixon took eight hours and cost $6, $170 in today’s currency.

Agonizingly slow travel influenced more than just human migration. Fresh vegetables and fruit were hard to come by. In the middle of December in the late 1890’s I’m sure no one expected to find a fresh pineapple from Honduras in the local grocery store….canned fruit and vegetables only.

Soon enough, the end of the line for the stagecoach was on the horizon. In 1909, the railroad arrived in Steamboat and Craig in 1913. Automobiles also started to appear in northwest Colorado, and entrepreneurs were quick to replace horses with the “auto stage.”

Forward thinking Charles E. Baker, owner of the government stage line to Baggs purchased a five passenger Cadillac to replace the horse and the whip in 1909. In the Routt County Courier of March 18, Baker clearly envisioned our 21st century reality: “While there are still four other stage lines that depend upon the endurance of horseflesh, the time has come when the man of affairs must necessarily keep step with civilization.” He continued, “I believe that It is now but a question of time when these wonderful inventions of man will fill every requirement in the way of traveling facilities.”

The one-two punch of the railroad and automobile pushed the horse into the periphery of American life, and notions of time and distance were redefined throughout the 20th century. Experience it for yourself at the Museum of Northwest Colorado.