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Wells Fargo & Company

© Elizabeth Gibson

was sent on stages owned by someone else. Just in time, they bought a stage line that ran from the Washoe Valley to Sacramento. They also expanded into fast freight shipments, which took supplies to the mines. Wells Fargo also brought many of the women of ill fame and other dance hall girls to Virginia City.

As Wells Fargo grew, it opened offices in Bodie, California, and Aurora, Nevada. During peak times, there were 30 mines in operation at Bodie and Wells Fargo was there to ship the gold. The Bad Man from Bodie was their nemesis. He was constantly robbing the stages. Sometimes Wells Fargo didn't even care about whether the bandits were caught; they just wanted their money back. One such case occurred in Eureka County, Nevada, in which a Wells Fargo agent was killed in the hold up. Once the money was returned, the bandits got off scot free. Wells Fargo also opened an office at Austin, Nevada to take advantage of another gold boom. They opened offices all over Nevada to serve the late booming boom towns such as Eureka, Hamilton, and Candelaria. Wells Fargo also had several branches in Mexico, as well as offices in Australia, Honolulu, London, and Paris.

In 1870, the first Wells Fargo shipment was held up on a train. Amazingly the same train was held up at Verdi, Nevada, and again, 400 miles away at Independence, Nevada. All of the men were eventually caught. In 1873, four armed men robbed a westbound stage to Grass Valley, California. They blew up the safe to get at the treasure. They only got about $7,000. In less than a fortnight, the men were caught by Wells Fargo detectives and local officers. In November 1876, three men robbed a stage near Redding, California. The gunmen got only $1,100 from the strong box and $700 from the mails. No one was hurt.

Wyatt Earp worked for Wells Fargo when he was leaving Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1877. When hitching a stage to Cheyenne, the Wells Fargo agent gave Earp a free ride, plus $50 to ride shotgun for Wells Fargo. He accepted. It was great publicity for Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo was also involved in trying to catch the stage robbers in Tombstone and Bisbee. Earp helped Wells Fargo round up the Clanton gang, which ended in the shootout at the OK Corral in 1881.

In the 1890s, the company built some special refrigerated cars. Soon they were transporting fresh fish from the Great Lakes to the east. Salmon from Alaska was sent to Boston and New York. They also established the Palace Hotel in San Francisco as their main entertainment mecca. Wells Fargo held state dinners and business conferences there.