Handing out charcoal foot-warmers and buffalo robes was all part of winter stage service on the Overland Trail. Most passengers wore coonskin overcoats and moccasins or felt shoes, according to seasoned traveller William MacBride. Coonskin coats with nametags hung on the walls of the White Horse stage office, awaiting the owners' return from warmer lands.
The stage drivers, known as skinners, wore similar coats, with a long red sash tied around the waist, and soft buckskin outer gloves with black silk or wool gloves as liners. On cold days they often held the reins in one hand while pounding the other against a shoulder to maintain circulation. Even so, the seat of honour was up in the box seat with the skinner. Many travellers waited for days in White Horse or Dawson for their favorite driver. Some of the more famous were "Hobo Bill" Donnenwerth, "Hard Face" Ned Reeves and Joe "The High Priest" McDonald.
At the log roadhouses, heated by roaring fires, a good country meal could be had for $1.50 and a bed for a dollar. In the latter days of stage service, drivers didn't leave a Post if the temperature was colder than 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, but many times it would be 50 or 60 below before they reached the next Post. If a roadhouse thermometer was broken, a bottle of alcoholic "Perry Davis pain-killer" was placed outside the window. MacBride said, when the contents froze, "it was too damn cold for man or beast."
