Page 3 - lw3390

The U.S. Mint manufactured the Termina- Fargo or any other express company
tion Medal shown at left and below. It is could place a package or a treasure
two-and-one~quarter inches in diameter. chest on a stagecoach.
One thousand were made of silver and If the treasure chest obtained by Black
one of solid gold. Bart was defended by a shotgun mes-
senger, that is explained by the fact that
the express companies often put an
armed messenger on the stagecoach to
accompany the shipment.
UP UNTIL 1857, mail from the East
to California had to come either
around the Horn or across the Isthmus
and up to California by sea, but prior
to that time and beginning in 1850 the
Government let separate contracts for
the transportation of mail from the
Missouri River to Salt Lake City and
from Sacramen,to east to Salt Lake City.
The first contract, . eastbound, was let
to Chorpenning and Woodward of Sac-
ramento in 1850. Since the carrying of
passengers was not a factor and since no
work of express offices over the State. stagecoach had an open route to cross
Though the Adams name is fast dis- the Sierras, Chorpenning and Woodward
appearing from the scene, it was the made the trip on mule back carrying
early great of all California express com- mail only.
panies It, like its competitors, used the used at the very last on eastbound let- The history of Chorpening and Wood-
services of the stage lines but did not ters by Wells Fargo as agent, but only ward's efforts is marked with tragedy
own or operate them. The express com- for its own customers. There are those and failure in spite of heroic efforts. The
panies also used any and all other trans- who doubt if any were ever used. same befell John M. Hockaday and Co.
portation available. It is certain, however, that these which had the contract to carry mail
The steamer Antelope, which made "stamps," actually franks, were printed. from the Missouri River to Salt Lake
a daily round trip between Sacramento And it is also certain that they were City beginning in 1858. This company at-
and San Francisco, carried freight for counterfeited in Germany and that they tempted to carry mail through to Salt
any express company which wished- its were reprinted in 1897 in San Francisco. Lake City in a wagon, stopping long
services. The express companies also Claim has been made that these franks enough each day en route to allow the
shipped to the eastern seaboard, either were issued by Wells Fargo to meet the horses to forage and rest.
around Cape Horn or across the Isthmus, requirements of the Postmaster General The recorded results of these two
by utilizing the steamship lines. but they were actually receipts for ad- heroic operations was that very little mail
In consequence of this, it must be re- vance express charges paid to the agent. was carried through and this author
membered that the express companies The use of these franks and the agency knows of no covers (faces or letters) in
on one hand and the stage line operations connection of Wells Fargo Express have existence which were carried overland to
on the other, were two completely dif- given the impression that Wells Fargo California during this period, 1850 to
ferent sets of businesses, each perform- operated the Pony Express. Nothing 1857.
ing a different service for the public. could be farther from the truth, and the The Post Office Department. as a re-
As a good illustration of the differ- 1960 Centennial of the Pony Express sult of the supposed impossibility of
ence, Russell, Majors and Waddell, found- brought the facts vividly before the operating a mail line over the Central
ers, owners and operators of the Pony public. Route through Salt Lake Citv and across
Express, formed a corporation to encom- Since highwaymanship and banditry the Sierras to California, did. in 1857,
pass their stage lines and the Pony Ex- on California roads in the early days has let a contract to James E. Birch, the
press. About six months before the close been glorified, it should be understood president of the California Stage Com-
of the Pony Express, Mr. Russell ap- that Black Bart, who held up many pany, to carry mail from San Antonio,
pointed Wells Fargo and Company as stages, never held up a Wells Fargo Texas. to San Diego, California.
local agent at Sacramento and San Fran- stage because Wells Fargo operated none This .route was not so long and not
cisco. Wells Fargo soon had the Pony in California. He may well have gotten exposed to severe winters, but the terrain
Express "stamps" printed for the use of a Wells Fargo treasure chest-but that presented such difficulties that, though
their customers. is explained by the fact that Wells (Continued on page 50)
Actually, they were not stamps but
"franks," and their use only indicated
that the Pony Express fee had been paid This stagecoach letter mailed in Denver on June 19, 1860, was cancelled at St. Joseph,
to the agent. Wells Fargo then paid the Missouri, seven days and approximately seven hundred miles later.
fee to the Pony Express. In addition, the
Post Office Department required that
each letter should carry a 10c postage
stamp.
These so-called Pony Express franks
only came into use at the very last, but
after the close of the Pony Express,
Wells Fargo officials gave them away
freely. and since that time they have
turned up in quantities in the philatelic
sales.
In recent years what might seem to
be an abnormal number of Pony Express
covers have turned up, with Wells Fargo
adhesive franks thereon, some of them
with apparently falsified handstamp can-
cellations.
The prevalence of these has been such
as to cast doubt on any and all Pony
Express covers bearing these franks.
When the regular fee was paid direct
to the Pony Express, only the rubber
handstamps were applied.
No Wells Fargo franks were ever used
on letters from east to west. Some were
24 True West