THERE WERE ORIGINALLY fifty-three Butterfield Stage Stations in California. Thirty-four were in the First Division, including Warner's (Bay Area to Los Angeles), and nineteen were in the Second Division (Los Angeles to Colorado River). These stations were located from 8 to 38 miles apart, as seen in the schedule to the right. The total length of the route across the state was approximately 742 miles.

MARJORIE REED (1915-1996), one of the country's great Western artists, is best known for her paintings of the stage stations and scenes along the Butterfield Overland Stage Route.

She came to chronicle these sites after befriending Captain William Banning, who had been a stagecoach driver. Captivated by his knowledge of stage coaches and horse teams, she paid her first visit to the Campbell Ranch near Vallecito, California in 1938. There she saw the recently completed restoration of the Vallecito station, which led Reed to embark on a lifelong artistic mission to capture the colorful history of the Butterfield trail, her finest artistic legacy.

Reed's first series of twenty paintings of the trail through California was commissioned by James S. Copley, publisher of Copley Books and what is now the San Diego Union-Tribune. In 1971, The Colorful Butterfield Overland Stage was published.

Her art, travels, and publications raised awareness of these historic stations and sites, which in turn helped to preserve them.

The four Marjorie Reed paintings below are from the mid-1950s and are part of the Coons collection.

Arrival at Warner's Ranch Oil on canvas, 24"x36"

Indian Camp in Warner's Pass Oil on canvas, 24.5"x20.5"

Vallecitos Station Oil on board, 16"x20"

Indian Raid on Carrizo Oil on canvas, 24"x30"