John Kirkbride Potts, born in Pennsylvania in 1803, moved to Arkansas in the 1820s and settled by Galla Creek in 1828, eventually acquiring 650 acres of land. He went to California during the Gold Rush of 1849, failed to find gold, but returned there twice in the early 1850s driving cattle to feed miners, and with the profits built a grand home for his large family. Completed in 1858, the house stood on Butterfield's new Overland Mail route, making it a convenient stagecoach station and inn where travelers could spend the night. Potts Station also served as a post office with Potts as postmaster, and Pottsville was later named for him. Seeking reliable mail service to California, the U.S. government hired John Butterfield, a New York stagecoach company operator, to open an overland route. Beginning in 1858, Butterfield's Overland Mail Company carried mail and passengers by stagecoach and wagon between the Mississippi River and the West Coast in under 25 days. Running through Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico on the way to California, the 2,800-mile southern route avoided snow and became the longest stage line in history. In Arkansas, two branches met at Fort Smith: a north-south road from St. Louis, Missouri, and an east-west road from Memphis, Tennessee. Service on this southern line ended in 1861 with the onset of the Civil War.