and feed; but I am informed the Butterfield Company propose erecting intermediate stations every twelve miles, on account of the greater amount of horses required for the accomplishment of the journey within the specified time of sixteen days from St. Joseph to Placerville.” Under the Confederate States of America, the abandoned Butterfield route between Texas and Southern California operated under a new Federal contract as part of the Overland Mail Corporation route with limited success by George Henry Giddings. The contract was given in May 1861 and was to start on April 1, 1861, and to end on June 30, 1862. "An attempt was made to fulfill the contract, beginning April 1, but faced with insurmountable obstacles and with the development of the Civil War, The contractors were compelled to give it up. The eastern portion of the line was curtailed June 30, 1861. The final chapter was closed when the latter part of the line was discontinued Aug. 1, 1861." Wells Fargo continued its stagecoach runs to mining camps in more northern locations until the coming of the US Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. At least four battles of the American Civil War occurred at or near Butterfield mail posts, the Battle of Stanwix Station, the Battle of Picacho Pass, Second Battle of Mesilla and the Battle of Pea Ridge. Four clashes between the Apache and Confederate or Union forces in the Apache Wars occurred on the route, First Battle of Dragoon Springs, Second Battle of Dragoon Springs, the Battle of Apache Pass and Skirmish in Doubtful Canyon. Confederates attempted to keep the stations from Tucson to Mesilla open while they destroyed the stations from Tucson to Yuma which were used to supply the Union army as it advanced through Traditional Arizona. The burning of the Stanwix Station and others led to a significant delay to the Union advance, postponing the Fall of Tucson, Arizona's western Confederate capital, which housed one of two territorial courts; the other court was in Mesilla. All said engagements happened in the Confederate Arizona and Arkansas sectors of the mail route. Modern remnants There are two surviving stage stations in San Diego County: the Oak Grove Butterfield Stage Station in Oak Grove, California and Warner's Ranch near Warner Springs, California. Both properties, apart, were declared National Historic Landmarks in 1961. The Elkhorn Tavern in the Pea Ridge National Military Park was another destination along the