Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary, was one of the first women entrepreneurs, stagecoach drivers, and pioneers of the American West. 

Born as a slave in Tennessee, Fields was orphaned and grew up with Ursuline nuns but received no formal education. With the nuns, she traveled West but was never known for her quiet temperament; she left the convent in her teens. Living by her wits and strength, she became known as a hard drinker, a notorious brawler, a cigar smoker, and one of the wildest women of her time. 

The pistol-packing, muscular, six-foot-tall woman drew attention wherever she went and constantly reinvented herself as a successful entrepreneur. Over the years, she ran several restaurants in several towns in Montana, Wyoming, and southern Canada.

Never married, she found her ideal job in 1895 when she became a U.S. mail coach driver for the Cascade County region of central Montana. She and her mule, Moses, never missed a day, and in this role she earned the nickname “Stagecoach” for her unfailing reliability. When she retired in Cascade, Montana, spending most of her time gardening, she was befriended by Gary Cooper, the actor who, as a child, grew up with her as a neighbor.

In 1914, she died of liver failure. Neighbors buried her in the Hillside Cemetery in Cascade, marking the spot with a simple wooden cross. Given the limitations society placed on her because of her race and gender, Fields stands out as a woman far ahead of her time during those adventurous days of the Old West.

 

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.

Also See:

American West

Cowboys, Trail Blazers & Stagecoach Drivers 

Stagecoaches of the American West

Women in American History

See Sources.