Here we see the stage coaches that took people from Eatonville to Tacoma.
“The two wagons in the center are T. C. Van Eaton’s stage coaches and one of the men standing by it is T.C.,” says T.C.’s grandson, Pat Van Eaton. “The location was a stopping point — what is now Elk Plain. T.C. would only use two horse teams from Tacoma to Eatonville because of the relatively easy grades.
From Eatonville to Mt. Rainier he had six horse teams due the steep grade out of Eatonville and the one from Longmire to Paradise. They left the Groe Hotel at day break and only from June through September. A diary kept by Bob Potter has entries form the passengers he carried most of whom complained about the rough ride.”
Photo courtesy of Pat Van Eaton.
Click on image to enlarge.
Eatonville To Rainier 