covered by decorated wooden paneling with ornate doors and comfortably padded seats. They often had window openings, but the western models designed for the rougher conditions had no glass panels. The roof was strong enough to support a metal railing where luggage could be carried. Seats were often provided on the roof. A canvas-covered boot at the back was used for luggage and mailbags. The difference between a stagecoach and a mail stagecoach is that a large compartment was provided below the driver's seat to carry mail and the rear boot for mail was larger. Butterfield's stagecoaches were used on 30% of the Southern Overland Trail at the eastern and western ends. Stage (celerity) wagon Celerity means 'swiftness of speed'. The term "celerity wagon" is sometimes used instead of "stage wagon." It was about 60% of the weight of a stagecoach and was designed for the rough frontier conditions where the trail was not as well developed, in sand, and for traversing steep inclines. They were open on the sides with no doors or windows. Often a canvas top was supported by light uprights. They had canvas or leather curtains fastened to the top that could be rolled down as a barrier to the dust. The stage wagon was used by Butterfield's Overland Mail Company exclusively on 70% of the Southern Overland Trail on the section between Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Los Angeles, California. Although the famous passenger wagon manufacturers Abbot-Downing Co. and J.S. & E.A. Abbot Co., of Concord, New Hampshire, never used the name "mud wagon" in their catalogs, there were others who referred to the stage wagon as a "mud wagon." Butterfield stage manufacture Newspapers published an article in June 1858 that Butterfield's mail stagecoaches and stage wagons were made by the J.S. & E.A. Abbot Co. of Concord, New Hampshire. Unfortunately the original order book for that time period in 1858 is missing from the Abbot-Downing Archives. According to the articles, a total of 100 stages were ordered and either put into use or distributed to stations along the trail. Another important reference is from Goddard Bailey's report to the government on his inspection trip of the trail in September 1858. He stated in the report "The road is stocked with substantially-built Concord spring wagons..." A July 1858 Memphis newspaper article tells how the stages were delivered and who made them. This, of course was the