Waterman Ormsby, reporter for the New York Herald was the first thru passenger in September 1858, seated on the 14-inches allowed. John Butterfield, Jr., drove. Other passengers included an unidentified lady and her 2 children. Having forgotten the coffee, the meal provided was jerked beef, raw onions, wormy crackers, and bacon cooked over buffalo chips.

Ormsby found the Rio Grande "an insignificant puddle" and made derogratory comments about Mesilla. At Picacho the horses were changed for mules, and the stage slowed. Ormsby walked two miles of Picacho Pass, noting it has "some very bad hills".