Overland Mail Re-enacts Trek to Vallecito Stage Station
One hundred and fifty years ago, in August 1857, the first Overland
Mail left San Antonio, Texas, bound for San Diego, Calif.  Although
besieged by formidable terrain, hostile Indians, and lack of dependable
feed and water, Isaiah Woods, his drivers, coaches, and several teams
of mules brought the mail into San Diego.
They arrived on Aug. 31, 1857, to a raucous celebration of the
citizenry.  Without doubt, the most arduous and dangerous part of the
trip traveled across the Colorado Desert between Yuma, Ariz., and
Lassiter's Ranch in Vallecito.
The San Antonio and San Diego Overland Mail was greeted at Vallecito
with as much enthusiasm as the drivers had at concluding the desert
crossing. Along this stretch of the road, Woods transferred the mail
from stagecoaches to the sturdy mules who took the rugged cutoff up the
mountain trail to Cuyamaca.
In 2007, horse and mule riders from Southern California are re-enacting
several tracks of this momentous journey.  The first of these
re-enactments took place Feb. 24 with horses, mules, riders, and the
mailbags traveling from the Palm Spring Station in Anza-Borrego Desert
State Park to Vallecito Stage Station in Vallecito County Park.
The ride was co-sponsored by California State Parks, San Diego County
Parks, and Ramona Trails Association. Twenty riders and 11 hikers
representing Ramona Trails Association, Back Country Horsemen's San
Diego Unit, California State Parks, and San Diego County Parks traveled
the nine miles through the Vallecito Wash to be greeted at Vallecito
Station by bonneted ladies and suspendered gents offering cold water
and coffee.
Riders came for the event from as far away as Sacramento and ranged in
age from 10 to 60.  An additional 40 visitors, on a tour of the
Overland Mail route from the Arizona Historical Society were also
welcomed.
The Vallecito Stage Station, a unique sod-block building that is one of
the few surviving structures from the 1850s Overland Mail era, was
decked in period furnishings for the day.  After recovering from the
day's desert trek, riders and guests enjoyed barbecue dinner, Dutch
oven dessert provided by Back Country Horsemen's San Gorgonio Unit, and
a program on the history of the establishment of the San Antonio and
San Diego Mail Line.  Speakers included historians Phil Brigandi and
Steve Van Wormer, archaeologist Sue Wade, and mule packer Richard
Overturf.
Additional events are planned for 2007, including two horse and mule
re-enactment rides May 4-6 and June 15-17, a celebration at the
Pe'asquitos Station in Pe'asquitos County Park on June 2, car and
hiking tours of portions of the route on June 9, and a grand arrival of
the mail in Old Town San Diego on  Aug. 31.
More information is available at www.parks.ca.gov/archaeology.