George “Alfred” F. Monroe was considered one of the most skilled stagecoach drivers of the Old West.

George was a mulatto and former slave who came West from Georgia at the age of 11. His father, a barber in the mining camps, purchased his freedom.

From a young age, Monroe developed a knack for training and driving horses. At the age of 22, he took a job as a stagecoach driver for A.H. Washburn and Company (later known as the Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company), driving a route along Wawona Road from Mariposa into the Yosemite Valley in California. Monroe quickly earned a reputation as one of the company’s best stagecoach drivers, expertly navigating treacherous cliffside roads and never once injuring his passengers, horses, or coaches during his 20 years of service.

His main notoriety came from driving several presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant and his family in 1879, and later visits from Presidents James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes, as well as other famous people of the time, including journalists, artists, entertainers, and politicians. He was described as alert, mild-mannered, and well-dressed, always wearing white gauntlets embroidered in silk, an expensive hat, and boots that shone like mirrors. His boss, Henry Washburn, would say of him.

His expertise garnered him the nickname of “Knight of the Sierras.” Ironically, he would die from injuries sustained in a wagon crash on November 15, 1886. This time, however, Monroe was not the driver but a passenger.

 

“I have never known another such as an all-around reinsman as George Monroe. He was a wonder in every way. He drove over my lines for nearly twenty years and never injured a person. I always put him on the box when there was a distinguished party to be driven, and fast and showy was expected or necessary, and he never disappointed me or exceeded the limit schedule or fell behind.”

 

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

Also See:

Cowboys, Trail Blazers & Stagecoach Drivers

Drivers and Their Whips

Stagecoach Kings (Lines) & Drivers

Stagecoaches of the American West

See Sources.