Haute Chocolate History ~ Amazing Black Women In History

February is Black History Month and here at LTHCL, we will be highlighting some amazing black women who made history. Some of these women you may know; some we may be introducing you to.

First up...Mary Fields, also known as Stagecoach Mary.

Stagecoach Mary was a bad mamma jamma. She was born into slavery in Tennessee around 1832. Much of her early life is unknown. She lived in Toledo, Ohio in 1884 and worked as a handywoman for an order of Ursuline nuns. When the mother superior of the convent, whom she was very close to, moved to Montana to start a school, Mary moved to Montana to take care of her when she fell ill.

Mary eventually became a stagecoach driver for the US government as a mail carrier and was the first African American and second woman to work for the US Postal Service. Stagecoach Mary was a force to be reckoned with in town. She was 6 feet tall, weighed over 200 pounds and had a terrible temper. One schoolgirl wrote "She drinks whiskey, and she swears, and she is a republican, which makes her a low, foul creature." She was bout that life!! She was a match for any animals that threatened her cargo and any man that stepped to her wrong. She dressed in men's clothing, drank, smoked and carried a gun on the regular.

She was also a sweetheart. When she settled in Cascade, Montana, she opened a restaurant with the mother superior. The restaurant ended up failing within its first year because she allowed customers who didn't have enough money to run up credit. She was also a big fan of the local baseball team. She even presented them with flowers from her garden when they did especially well on the field. 

Mary died in 1914 in Great Falls, Montana. She has been portrayed in several television movies and shows. Her legendary life will continue to live on.