Tuesday, June 11, 2024, 3 – 4:30pm EDT

Mary Fields was the only African-American living in Cascade, Montana from 1885 until she died in 1914. Formerly enslaved, the end of the Civil War led to her working for wages on steamboats on the Mississippi, then for an Ursuline convent in Toledo, Ohio, and eventually at the Ursuline mission school on the Birdtail Prairie in Montana.

Fields was an exceptional person. She was literate, a master gardener, and an excellent farm hand. She was a crack shot with a rifle, a good cook, and she had a way with horses, dogs, and children. She ran her own businesses – a laundry, a restaurant, and offered childcare in Cascade.

At the age of 70, Mary Fields became the first African-American woman to become a star route carrier. She delivered the mail faithfully to the isolated homesteads of Montana in blizzards, freezing cold, and blasting heat for eight years. Hence, Fields earned everyone’s respect and the moniker of “Stagecoach Mary.” She became a legend in her own time.

Registration required.

*ASL Interpretation provided.