The Butterfield Overland Mail was a mail and passenger stagecoach service linking the Eastern and Western states. In 1857, John Butterfield, president of the Overland Mail Company, secured a federal contract to carry mail twice weekly in both directions between St. Louis, Missouri, and San Francisco, California. The service operated from September 1858 until March 1861, when events leading to the Civil War ended it. Its route included a large, well-equipped stop in Franklin, present El Paso. Through West Texas, the route later called the Upper Road ran from Hueco Tanks into Franklin, while later changes created the Lower Road, which turned south and followed the Rio Grande through San Elizario and Ysleta. The Lower Road offered a more reliable water supply and better protection from Native American attacks than the Upper Road. Both roads joined at the Concordia settlement, where Concordia Cemetery is now located. From there the trail continued to Franklin, followed the river north to Cottonwoods, now Anthony, Texas, and then turned west. The route boosted commerce in El Paso, helped increase the town's population, and strengthened its connection to the U.S. Stage service ended in 1861, though a Confederate mail service used the trail until 1862. The path later formed the basis for other routes, including roads and highways, and traces of the Upper Road remain visible on Fort Bliss and El Paso International Airport property.