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Legends of the Old West

WOMEN OF THE WEST Ep. 1 | Stagecoach Mary: “The Trailblazer”

Legends of the Old West

Black Barrel Media

Arts, History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.83.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mary Fields was a former slave who became the caretaker of a convent in Ohio before rushing west to help save the life of her closest friend. In Montana, she became a legendary stagecoach driver for the U.S. postal service and a towering figure in the town of Cascade. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join To advertise on this podcast, please email: [email protected] For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This show is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please visit AirwaveMedia.com to check out other great podcasts like Ben Franklin’s World, Once Upon A Crime, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Their skiff'd have ever received has to be a bike when I was younger, a pedal bike.

0:07.0

It was a sort of slick little road bike and I remember it was all like, it was so, it was all wrapped up,

0:13.0

it was so obvious what it was obviously because nothing shaped like a bike and I had a little ribbon on it and I was so

0:17.0

a guess. For that was a life changer and I'm still sort of big on cycling around my area now so, for that one change really.

0:24.0

Enjoy in every sip with red cups now back at Starbucks.

0:54.0

Starting over 36 months and 28th December 2022, 36 months of ice-pan would link to our time plan up to 24 months, 18 plus correct chance,

0:59.0

and it would in times of life.

1:16.0

Montana, big sky country, is still one of the most unspoiled and untamed places in America.

1:23.0

Before it was granted statehood in 1889, what was then called Montana Territory was the ultimate frontier about as wild as the west could get.

1:33.0

Even though the men and women who settled there were as tough as they came, only the strongest or the luckiest survived.

1:41.0

For most, whatever dangers lurked in the territory were worth the risk.

1:46.0

Those who survived and thrived experienced a kind of freedom they might never have found anywhere else.

1:53.0

One character of the Old West who wholeheartedly embraced the freedom that Montana Territory offered had for many years never known a day of freedom.

2:02.0

But out of that hardship and against all odds, a quintessentially American legend was born.

2:09.0

Her name was Mary Fields, a six foot tall, 200 pound cigar-smoking whiskey drinking bar-brawling former slave, who became known throughout Montana and eventually the entire west as stage coach Mary.

2:24.0

She was revered by many and feared by some.

2:28.0

After emancipation, Mary worked as a servant in various capacities for nearly 20 years.

2:35.0

It was a better life than the one she had previously known, but one that still didn't afford her much freedom.

2:41.0

It wasn't until Mary went to Montana Territory that she finally experienced real freedom.

2:47.0

At that point, she was in her 50s, and once she found it, she vowed she would never lose it again.

2:54.0

Native Americans in the area called her White Crow, because they said she was a black woman who acted like a white woman.

3:02.0

The theory is that they thought she refused to be put in her place by people who thought they were better.

...

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