On December 17, 1860 Henry Dwight Barrows and his wife left San Francisco east-bound. They shared the coach with a Lieutenant identified as "McCaul" who was going to Tennessee, and Barrows thought the officer was bound for the Confederate Army.

The Barrows reached Picacho the morning of December 24 and Mesilla at dusk on Christmas Eve, arriving in El Paso on Christmas morning.

John Butterfield's stage line was destined to be abandoned to the Confederates.