Born Enslaved, She Carried Montana’s Mail in Her Sixties

Fact check

The facts and where they come from

1. She was born enslaved, but in her sixties she drove the US mail through Montana winters. National Park Service: “Born enslaved in Tennessee in the early 1830s”; “In 1895, Mary obtained a contract to be a Star Route Carrier”; “Even though she was well into her 60s, Mary never let the hardships of the job prevent her from completing her route.” Montana Historical Society: “she drove the fifteen-mile route between the mission and Cascade from 1895 to 1903.” Wikipedia: “By 1895, at sixty years old.” 123
2. Her name was Mary Fields, star route mail carrier. National Park Service: “First African American woman to work as a Star Route Carrier.” 1
3. Born in Tennessee, she was freed after the Civil War. National Park Service: “Born enslaved in Tennessee in the early 1830s, she lived in bondage until the end of the Civil War.” American Battlefield Trust: “it is widely accepted that Fields was born in Hickman County, Tennessee.” The Montana Historical Society is more careful: “Born around 1832, possibly in Tennessee.” 142
4. She worked on a steamboat, then at an Ohio convent. National Park Service: “finding work on steamboats along the Mississippi River. She eventually made her way to an Ursuline convent in Toledo, Ohio.” Montana Historical Society: “After the Civil War, Fields worked as a chambermaid on the Robert E. Lee, a Mississippi River steamboat,” and “In the 1870s, Fields began working at the Ursuline Convent in Toledo, Ohio.” 12
5. In 1885 she followed the nuns to a mission in Montana. National Park Service: “We know that Mary moved to Montana in 1885”; the nuns had left Toledo “for St. Peter’s Mission in Montana.” Montana Historical Society: “Mary Fields traveled upriver with the nuns sent by the order.” 12
6. But she smoked, swore and bickered, so the bishop banned her. Montana Historical Society: “Because of her tendency to smoke, swear, and bicker with other hired hands at the mission, Fields drew the ire of Bishop Brondell, of Great Falls, who banned her from the mission around 1894.” National Park Service: “The local bishop responsible for the mission banned her from St. Peter’s.” 21
7. In 1895 she won a contract to carry the US mail. National Park Service: “In 1895, Mary obtained a contract to be a Star Route Carrier for the United States Post Office Department.” Wikipedia: star route contracts went “to persons who proposed the lowest qualified bids.” 13
8. Her route ran from Cascade to the mission, through deep snow. National Park Service: “Mary’s route ran between St. Peter’s Mission and the town of Cascade”; “When the snow was too deep to drive the stagecoach.” Montana Historical Society: “the fifteen-mile route between the mission and Cascade.” 12
9. When snow buried the road, she reportedly walked it on snowshoes. National Park Service: “When the snow was too deep to drive the stagecoach, Mary trekked the route with snowshoes, delivering the mail on foot.” Wikipedia: “If the snow was too deep for her horses, Fields delivered the mail on snowshoes, carrying the sacks on her shoulders.” Both rest on later accounts, so we say “reportedly.” 13
10. She reportedly never missed a day. National Park Service: “She delivered the mail for eight years without missing a day of work.” Wikipedia: “She never missed a day.” No primary record was seen, so we say “reportedly.” 13
11. People called her Stagecoach Mary. Montana Historical Society: “She earned the nickname ‘Stagecoach Mary’ for her reliability and speed.” 23
12. She was the first African American woman to carry the mail on a star route. National Park Service: “She was the first African American woman and the second woman to receive a Star Route contract from the United States Post Office Department.” Wikipedia: “the first Black woman to be employed as a star route postwoman in the United States”; the Postal Service established this after documentation went to its Archives Historian in 2006. American Battlefield Trust: “the first African American woman to operate as a Star Route Carrier.” 134
13. She kept going until about 70. Montana Historical Society: “She was around seventy years old when she finally ‘retired’ in town and ran a laundry out of her home.” Wikipedia: “In 1903, at the age of 71, Fields retired from star route mail carrier service.” 23
14. Gary Cooper said she “lived to become one of the freest souls ever to draw a breath, or a .38.” Wikipedia: “In 1959, actor and Montana native Gary Cooper wrote an article for EBONY in which he stated: ‘Born a slave somewhere in Tennessee, Mary lived to become one of the freest souls ever to draw a breath, or a .38.’” Montana Historical Society: “as Gary Cooper opined, she was born a slave, but ‘lived to become one of the freest souls ever to draw a breath or a .38.’” (Gary Cooper, as told to Marc Crawford, Ebony, October 1959.) 32
15. At the mission she grew food, hunted and hauled supplies. National Park Service: “By cultivating a large garden and hunting game, Mary worked to ensure that all staff and students were fed. She also coordinated the delivery of supplies to the isolated mission.” Montana Historical Society: “raising chickens, growing vegetables, and freighting supplies from nearby Cascade.” She died in 1914 (National Park Service, Montana Historical Society). 12

Sources

1. Mary Fields (Dr. Katherine Crawford-Lackey) National Park Service
2. The Life and Legend of Mary Fields (April 8, 2014) Montana Historical Society, Montana Women’s History
3. Mary Fields Wikipedia
4. Mary Fields American Battlefield Trust

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