Opinion Celebrates Black History Month: ‘Stagecoach’ Mary Fields

Mary Fields teaches us many valuable lessons about how to live and embrace freedom. She also demonstrates the power and importance of being a leader, and who we can be, regardless of what others think. I’m so inspired by her that I may start offering some Stagecoach Mary merch.

In the works….

Mary Fields was a slave in Hickman county, Tenn. during 1832. She was released after the Civil War and made her way to Mississippi for work. Robert E. LeeAs a chambermaid. Fields could entertain anyone with tales about the race of 1870, which was between the LeeThe NatchezThe crew added bacon and ham to the boilers in an effort to increase steam pressure.

Fields knew a childhood friend, Sister Amadeus. She was an Ursuline nun. Fields followed Sister Amadeus to Toledo, Ohio when she moved there. Sister Amadeus was then asked to serve St. Peter’s Convent near what was to become Cascade, Montana. Cascade was an isolated town formed by the Montana Central railroad between Helena, Great Falls.

Mother Amadeus became very sick with pneumonia. She asked Mary her friend, to help her. Fields moved to Cascade in 1885, and after nursing Mother Amadeus to health, she worked for the nuns of St. Peter’s Convent. The town loved Fields and so did they.

She liked to drink, smoked bad homemade cigars, and was so respected in her adopted hometown of Cascade, Montana, that her birthday was made a school holiday every year.

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She weighed in at 200 pounds and was considered to be an equal for two males from Montana Territory. Her standing wager was that she could take out any man in one hit, and it paid off. Her only exception was Cascade’s mayor who allowed her to enjoy a local drink. However, she did not consume excessively. Her habit of smoking cigarettes in public was a common sight, as she enjoyed arguing politics with everyone.

A woman I love.

I talk a bit more about Mary Fields and her impact on the West and on our nation’s history. Because Black History IS American History.