A stagecoach was passing through Mendon on this day in 1855. This passage followed the current path of Route 4, and was notoriously windy, earning the name “the bellows pipe of the Green Mountains.”

The wind was even stronger than usual on this particular day, blowing the coach car right off its wheels. While workers chained the coach to the axle, a woman was blown into a nearby field. The five men who saved her and the stagecoach, all lost their hats in the process.

The party gave up on their journery and spent the evening at a local home, hoping to continue on their way the next morning.

The Vermont Book Of Days photo.