On June 14, 1958, Wells Fargo arranged to have "Sport" Fellingham drive a stagecoach at the opening of a Wells Fargo branch in Hayward, California. That Saturday afternoon, Fellingham's stagecoach, outriders and two Buick automobiles paraded through Hayward. It was the first appearance of thousands that have followed in the 50 years since.

At 1:30 p.m., the parade began at Wells Fargo's temporary branch. On board the coach were Sport Fellingham at the reins, his eight-year-old son Paul and two "guardians of the transferring funds," bank officers O'Brien and Seider. Riding beside Sport and toting a shotgun, TV star Dale Robertson  waved to the crowd and lent importance to the event as only a TV star can.

Robertson, star of the popular TV series Tales of Wells Fargo, was enjoying the success of his NBC series, which continued for another three years until 1961.

At the luncheon preceding the parade, Wells Fargo president I.W. Hellman III  noted the marketing windfall of Robertson's portrayal of Wells Fargo man Jim Hardie: "The TV show has been a fine thing for the bank. It has made our name a household word throughout the country!"

With driver, bankers and celebrity in place, the stagecoach picked up a treasure box and rolled through downtown Hayward to the new branch at 2nd and "A" Streets. Hellman and Hayward Councilman John Purchio delivered short speeches that celebrated the opening. Robertson delivered the treasure box to branch manager Don Wharton, and Hellman presented keys to the new building.

Wharton opened the treasure box and removed the bags of money packed there. "Let's take our funds into the bank!" he cried, then opened the bank's door and led everyone inside.

Employees of the new branch served refreshments, directed customers to exhibits inside, and helped open new accounts. Robertson, meanwhile, held court behind the teller stand. He signed autographs and handed out Agent's badges to the crowd of several hundred in attendance.

The event was a resounding success and Wells Fargo publicity people knew they had a sure bet on their hands — they planned three more events that year.

And the rest, as we say, is history!

Posted by Charles at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Found in Branding, Events, First-hand Accounts, Hollywood, Misc, Perspective, Photographs, Remember, Ride sharing, Stagecoach, Transportation, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

On June 14, 1958, Wells Fargo Bank launched a new era in public relations — the bank presented a stagecoach on parade at the opening of a new branch office in Hayward, California . A historic stagecoach from Wells Fargo had been seen before at events, but that appearance in 1958 was the first of a full-fledged program to get coaches out in public on a regular schedule.

In earlier years, Wells Fargo & Co.'s Express had put historic stagecoaches in parades and other events. After 1929, Wells Fargo Bank had a stagecoach on display at its San Francisco Headquarters, which rolled out at special events: the opening of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, and an appearance in the film "Union Pacific."  (That historic stagecoach is still on display in Wells Fargo's San Francisco History Museum.) It was always popular; but in those years, it wasn't properly dignified for a bank to advertise so evidently.

In the 1950s, that changed. Banks advertised like any other business wanting to attract customers. Wells Fargo publicity people liked the idea of sharing the Company's long heritage with interested crowds, and recognized its value as an effective marketing tool. The intention was to restore historic stagecoaches for use "by the bank at branch openings, at fairs and rodeos." The program was originally confined to Northern California communities where Wells Fargo had offices.

The program was a complete success, and Wells Fargo pressed forward with the idea. A second historic coach was put into service in 1961, then another in 1968. The first of ten coaches, entirely hand-built by Jay Lambert, appeared in 1970. "Hand-built "means exactly that — every square inch, from the ground up, wheels and iron and leather! That year, the Program had coaches in 69 appearances. Since then, there have been thousands of appearances, before hundreds of millions of people. Wells Fargo stagecoaches have appeared in a Presidential inaugural parade and at the Calgary Stampede , and an annual appearance at the Tournament of Roses  Parade. Last year, there were 760 appearances before an audience of 22 million people.

Just as it did in the Golden Age of stagecoaches, Wells Fargo works with the very best drivers in its Stagecoach Appearance Program. The Fellingham family has been in the Program since the very beginning, and there are currently 22 drivers, and 25 coaches, from 13 ranches across North America.

In a 1992 television commercial for Wells Fargo, four stagecoaches rode abreast into Sonora, California . Seven stagecoaches total conquered "Main Street" that day, and witnesses remember the sound and feel of 96 thundering hooves.

They got the shot in one take.

Posted by Charles at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Found in Animals, Branding, Events, Films, First-hand Accounts, Hollywood, Misc, Movies, Museums, Participate, Perspective, Railroads, Remember, Ride sharing, San Francisco, Stagecoach, Transportation, Travel, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

On June 14, 1958, Wells Fargo Bank experimented with a new public relations idea. The bank arranged with Alfred D. "Sport" Fellingham to drive a borrowed mudwagon to the opening of Wells Fargo Bank's new office in Hayward, California . Sport Fellingham was a Livermore, California cattleman and director of the Livermore Rodeo . He borrowed the coach from the Rodeo Association, and the event was planned.

On the day of the first appearance, Sport supplied four Belgian horses  with complete harnesses, and two outriders . He delivered the full retinue with his own truck and trailer. The Stagecoach with Sport "up" (driving the team of 4 horses), outriders and two Buicks  paraded from the bank's temporary quarters and made their way to the new building. Aboard the coach with Sport were his eight-year-old son Paul and two bank officers. Dale Robertson , star of the popular TV series Tales of Wells Fargo  rode "shotgun" beside Sport.

The event was a complete success. Sport and the Stagecoach appeared in three more events that year, with more planned each year.

Sport Fellingham passed away in 1965, but the Fellingham family continued at the reins for the Stagecoach program. His wife, Virginia, took center stage, driving the first horse-drawn vehicle across the Golden Gate Bridge  and the stagecoach in President Nixon's 1972 Inaugural Parade . For over forty years, she presented the stagecoach to millions of people.

As more coaches joined the fleet and Wells Fargo's geography expanded, Sport and Virginia's daughter, Patsy, took the reins as well. And in 1975, Paul Fellingham drove his first Wells Fargo stagecoach at an event in Walnut Creek, California  — seventeen years after he rode with his father at that first Stagecoach Appearance Program event in Hayward. Since then, Paul has driven in hundreds of appearances.

As Wells Fargo's Stagecoach Appearance Program celebrates its 50th year in 2008, there are several factors in its long-term success. There is a human factor, a connection with every person who sees the coach and appreciates its symbol and its grace.

But the dearest factor is our long relationship with the Fellingham family, and the skill they deliver each and every time they take the reins.

Posted by Charles at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Found in Animals, Branding, Hollywood, Misc, Museums, Participate, Perspective, Remember, San Francisco, Stagecoach, Transportation, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

Looking around the Archives last week, I found an account ledger with some of George Hearst's entries made at the First National Bank of Deadwood, South Dakota . His famous son and the family fortune  have moved George Hearst to a "supporting role" in history, but the Hearst family saga begins with George

Born in 1820 and nicknamed "Boy-That-Earth-Talks-To" because he had a knack for finding ore, Hearst came to California in the Gold Rush and made his way. But it was the Comstock Lode in Nevada where George's innate talent made him wealthy a decade later.

With his riches, Hearst bought land in San Simeon  that would later be developed to a fantastic extent by his son, the memorable William Randolph Hearst , whose newspaper empire began with the San Francisco Examiner , which the elder Hearst acquired in 1880. Six years later, George was appointed to the United States Senate.

George Hearst formed a partnership with James Haggin and Lloyd Tevis, fabled landowners and entrepreneurs. Tevis was Wells Fargo's President from 1872-92, the longest presidential tenure in Wells Fargo's history. The partnership soon became the largest mining concern in the world. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills , the three men purchased the legendary Homestake Mine  in 1877.

While in Deadwood , Hearst kept accounts in the First National Bank, which eventually became part of the Wells Fargo family of banks in 1998.

Posted by Charles at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Artifacts, First-hand Accounts, Gold, Misc, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

Looking for a topic (ANY topic!) to write about today, I came across a bit about "Pony Bob" Haslam  and his career as Pony Express rider, Wells Fargo messenger, and entertainer.

The adventures of "Pony Bob" Haslam—so named for his fast riding  for the Pony Express—made him the hero of a novel, Pony Bob, the Reckless Rider of the Rockies, a title rarely found today. Haslam rode 120 miles while wounded, in his Pony Express days, and was best known for covering 380 miles in 36 hours.

The Pony Express lasted only eighteen months, but a guy like Haslam is an asset anytime. Wells Fargo had acquired the Pony Express in its final months and kept Haslam on as a rider between Virginia City  and Sacramento. By 1887, Haslam was ready to show his derring-do in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show , which took a grand European tour that year. The Wild West Show performed before the crowned heads and Haslam was part of that show.

Just before he was hired on with Buffalo Bill's tour, Haslam was out West selecting a few bison for Buffalo Bill's show. By that time, American Bison herds had decreased by millions in a short time, and from 2 million to 2 thousand in only ten years. One newspaper lamented: "What a sad criterion on the wantonness and heartlessness of the American hunter!"

So this post ends on a strangely sad note, as history often does. It shows all these ironies or paradoxes (take your pick!) that keep Historians combing the books for answers. Here's a guy, Haslam, whose strength and courage landed him fame. Here's the Pony Express, an enterprise doomed to fail but capturing a special place in American lore. Here's Buffalo Bill, whose Wild West Show pretty much laid out the mythic story of the West that we all recognize, even though it's largely false. All these things wrapped up in a moment's tale of Haslam joining Buffalo Bill's show.

Hey, it's what I do!

Posted by Charles at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Found in Animals, Artifacts, Environment, Hollywood, Misc, Perspective, Pony Express, Remember, Sacramento, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

Yesterday, Pandiux wrote, "I have a question. Is there any stories in history of a Wells Fargo Stagecoach being robbed?" The answer is yes, there are several. I blogged about one here.

But we at Wells Fargo don't get all excited about robbery in history as many people do . The reason is simple: We're a bank, and banks are prime targets for robbers. Robbery is dangerous, terrifying and violent even when people aren't hurt. Wells Fargo is committed to a heritage of enforcement and protection and of throwing the creeps in jail – not the lore of the fearless bandit.

The heck with those guys. They are thugs.

I served on a jury several years ago, hearing a bank robbery case (I told 'em I worked at a bank and they picked me anyway). The main witness was the teller, of course, and she was still unnerved by the experience after several months. Robbery is crime against people I work with. No glamor in terrorizing people. I myself am not interested in spinning yarns about those darn bandits of yore. They're robbers and there's nothing cool about it.

So we don't focus too much on robbery narratives except to support the Company's drive to catch the bad guys. Many Western buffs are really into lawmen and bad men, guns and violence. Knock yourselves out, but you won't keep my interest.

Robbers sometimes kill people. It still happens .

Posted by Charles at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Found in At Work, Crime, Misc, Museums, Remember, San Francisco, Stagecoach, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

Wells Fargo has been musically inclined since the Gold Rush. In 1855, we advanced money for an Italian opera troupe. However they defaulted, so we seized their trunk of costumes and musical instruments as security.

Actually, we are really kind hearted. In 1869, Madame Camilla Urso   proposed a music festival to benefit the Mercantile Library, featuring school children and musicians from around California and Nevada. Wells Fargo offered to carry sheet music, letters, and other equipment far and wide throughout its lines on the Pacific Coast for free. The successful San Francisco festival ran for five days in February 1870.

If it could be sent by express, Wells Fargo carried it. In May of 1860, a future jazz musician in Columbia asked Wells Fargo to supply copies of Schatzman's Sax Horn Instructor. Up they came from San Francisco.

On occasion, Wells Fargo contributed to the Big Bang Theory  . Mariposa agent Julia Jones delivered a bass drum to complete a brass band at Whitlock's Gold Mine . In the spring of 1897, this band, splendid in their white uniforms, serenaded Mariposans with "Old Folks at Home," "The Man in the Moon," and the "Young Bandsman."

In the summer of 1917, Wells Fargo also carried "several valuable violin bows from Colorado Springs to Chicago. Accompanying these bows in a handsome, sturdy, brass-bound packing case were also a few violins – one made by Nicola Amati   in 1662, another by Carlo Bergonzi   in 1723, and a third, modern one produced by Joseph Guarnerius   in 1731.

Wells Fargo starred in the performance of express service. Meredith Willson drew on his boyhood memories in Iowa to write The Music Man  . That story revolves around the arrival of band instruments on the "Wells Fargo Wagon." The whole town turns out to sing: "O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is-a comin' down the street, Oh, Please let it be for me!"

Our relations with opera singers improved through the years — we even starred in an opera. In 1910, when Puccini's Gold Rush opera The Girl of the Golden West   appeared, Wells Fargo's agent was heroic.

Posted by Bob at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Found in Artifacts, Branding, Broadway, Gold, Hollywood, Misc, Movies, Music, Opera, Perspective, Remember, San Francisco, The Music Man, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

Just had a thought after getting the afternoon Tully's  / Starbucks  / Caribou  (pick yer chain!). Like everything under the sun, referring to coffee by brand name is not new.

One research question I fielded many years ago was asking about a line in a Western novel, about "going to town to get some Arbuckle." The Dictionary of Western Terms in our library enlightened me about the Arbuckle Coffee Co. , which had a good business supplying chuck wagons .

Our Archive Collection now includes a few of Arbuckles' advertising cards, which showed maps and scenes of different Western states. We've used them to illustrate the exhibit in Helena, Mont. You can also find other Arbuckle stuff on eBay  or in antiques stores.

Posted by Charles at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Found in Coffee, Gold, Misc, Museums, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns

The history of the American West  is a changing field, which makes sense if you follow the history of the environmental West. That is directly concerned with the changes in landscape from human actions. But the West as history has several interesting dimensions.

First, the West is a place that is hard to accurately plot: Minnesota was way out there in the 1830s. Daniel Boone  made a name for himself leading pioneers West—to Kentucky. St. Jo  was the edge of the earth for most Americans in the 1840s and California was, well, another country entirely, seen only by sailors as a sort of high seas rest stop. California and the Pacific Northwest have their own coastal distinction, and Texas is it's own thing entirely. But all are the West. Count in the Dakotas and the Great Plains, too. And how many of you thought of Nebraska as the West?

Western historians have been arguing for a generation about where the West "begins." One operating consensus is the 100th Meridian , which marks the western reach of moist air. (See also the contentious 98th Meridian .) Westward from there, agriculture relies heavily on irrigation.

After the Civil War, industry in the United States developed rapidly. Corporations, transportation and technologies moved people westward, along with their schemes for getting rich. The West urbanized rather quickly due to the huge migration. The "wide-open spaces" of our national myth is in truth the most urbanized region , and much of the expanse is federally controlled land or possessed by large-scale resource extraction—mining, agriculture, water projects, etc.

The West has experienced the effects of several layers of people and cultures. Effects as real as layers of geography in shaping the region. Humans apparently arrived in the West  between 10,000 and more than 40,000 years ago, following megafauna . These people evolved across the continent; there was a great variety of cultures when Europeans arrived. The West had indigenous empires, French mountain men, British trading outposts, Russian forts, and flourishing Spanish and Mexican colonies. Anglo and African American populations of the United States pressed west from the original colonies. The California Gold Rush  brought the whole dang world to the West. Asian populations crossed the Pacific to the Wild, Wild East.

Many people still imagine the West as a mythic thing, a point in fancy where white men ride tall and silent, women long to serve them, and diverse peoples don't exist unless they're outlaws or corrupt officials. But it ain't so and, frankly, never was. Even Western stories have changed, from simplistic cowboy heroes on the silver screen to the trenchant cowboy fiction of Cormac McCarthy . The West is still in transition because it's a vital, changing place.

Posted by Charles at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Found in Animals, Experts, Hollywood, Latin America, Misc, Movies, Perspective, Remember, Westerns

Wells Fargo's role in the history of the West  was a heroic story—frontier, stagecoaching over lonely roads, bandits. The lore fit easily into Hollywood  storytelling. Wells Fargo not only starred in Hollywood films, it helped ensure the popularity of motion pictures in the industry's early days.

In 1855, Wells Fargo opened an office in Los Angeles. As Southern California grew rapidly after 1880, Pacific Electric streetcars  brought Wells Fargo express services to nearly every community. Wells Fargo Express delivered feature films and newsreels to eager audiences nationwide from the company's special express depot in Universal City.

In 1937, Paramount Pictures  produced "Wells Fargo," a Western starring Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. The "Wells Fargo Wagon" brought something special to River City, Iowa, a generation later, in the 1962 film version of Meredith Willson's Broadway hit "The Music Man." 

On television from 1957 to 1962, Dale Robertson fought hard to uphold Wells Fargo's good name in the series "Tales of Wells Fargo." The popular show reached audiences worldwide through syndication.

Posted by Charles at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in Artifacts, Broadway, Films, Movies, Perspective, Remember, Stagecoach, The Music Man, Wells Fargo Bank, Westerns