July 2009 Archives

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100 years ago, Robert Peary  was on his way south from the Arctic Sea, returning to the United States to claim the adulation of the world. Peary had become the first man to reach the North Pole. His expedition, the last of several attempts, was as interesting to people in that era as the Apollo missions were to people in the '60s.

Trouble is, Dr. Frederick A. Cook  had recently declared that his expedition had reached the Big Nail  a year before Peary. Peary was incensed, Cook stood his ground, and the controversy swirled for months. Scientific panels and public opinion chose Peary's story.

In the century since then, Peary is exulted while Cook has a bad reputation. But the question of who and when is alive, still debated  among enthusiasts. The evidence both ways  is very, very interesting. It's still a question of time—of history—before absolute, final proof one way or the other.

Meanwhile, the triumph is Peary's.

For what it's worth, I assume that the first man to the North Pole was likely Inuit.  I mean, they've been there for centuries—it makes sense that someone would have trudged across the Pole, maybe lost, maybe on some hunt or rite of passage. Maybe the first Polar guy was Scandinavian (those guys are tough.) Could the first North Pole visitor have been a woman?

Personally, I think the first one to the place would be someone who lives there.  But that's just my opinion....

Charles

Ryan Baum is a 17-year Wells Fargo man, a Sr. VP in Asset Management. He's a U.S. Navy veteran and a leading member of Wells Fargo's Veterans Resource Group. He has been a coin and currency collector since the age of five. This is his third blog about National Bank note history and Wells Fargo's place in it. (CR)

Growing up in Southern California, I never realized how much the car culture turned so many things into proper nouns — those formal names preceded with "The." Traffic reports always talked about "The San Diego Freeway," "The Golden State Freeway," "The Hollywood Freeway," etc. When I would give directions to such places as downtown, I would advise the driver to take "The 405 to The 10." Only when I moved to Northern California did I realize directions could be given without the article, as simply numbers: "take 80 to 980 to 880."

As it turns out, some objects of affection in the financial world get elevated to proper nouns, too.

In 1875 four Comstock Lode bonanza kings  capitalized a San Francisco-based bank. John Mackay , James Flood , James Fair  and W. S. O'Brien  endowed the bank with the inconceivable amount of $10 million dollars, and named it the Nevada Bank in honor of the source of their wealth.

Of course, even unlimited capital is no replacement for experienced management, so eminent Los Angeles banker Isaias W. Hellman was enticed north to run the institution in 1890. Under Hellman's leadership, the Nevada Bank received national charter #5105 in 1897.

But the best was yet to come eight years later....

Charles

On this day in 1969, astronauts first walked on the moon. 

I was a little kid when it happened. (No age jokes — I'll hit you with my cane!) My parents roused my brothers and sisters and me from our sleep and plopped us in front of the TV. It was a Sunday night during summer vacation, so we'd be able to sleep in the next day. (So would Mom. Dad was not so lucky.)

Bleary-eyed, we watched the event, and I remember my Mom and sister wept softly.

I was too dumb to be overwhelmed with emotion. As a kid, the event was like a TV show to me, and the picture was lousy.

Also, news bulletins about the mission were interrupting everything on TV and radio that whole week. To a kid, that's simply unfair.

On the other hand, I was fully stocked with G.I. Joe  and Major Matt Mason  stuff, so I had all the tools to play out the events as they happened.

I remember two things about my consciousness of that moment: my inability to fully wake up, and the sense that the images on our Zenith of men on the moon were a whole lot bigger than the Tigers' World Series win  the previous fall.

We watched the events that whole week on CBS. We were a Cronkite household. (My wife grew up in a NBC, Huntley-Brinkley  household. Neither of us can even imagine anything different.)

Last week, Walter Cronkite passed away  and the tributes to him include his round-the-clock coverage of Apollo 11.

It was a labor of love: Cronkite really dug space exploration work. They keep showing that clip of Cronkite rubbing his hands with happiness , beaming unashamedly, as the mission landed on the surface. It's fitting that he and Apollo 11 dominated weekend TV.

Just as they did 40 years ago.

Steve

Wells Fargo has a history of conserving resources through smart business practices, such as recycling waste paper, equipping buildings with solar power, and buying more renewable energy than any other company.

Wells Fargo Express also has had a role in conserving wildlife.

By the early 1900's, many species native to North America were on the verge of extinction , including the American bald eagle, the buffalo, and elk. The historic range of the buffalo  once ranged from Canada to Mexico, and across the United States into Florida. Bison have since bounced back, and now their numbers have increased to the extent that grocery stores are even selling buffalo meat. 

One species of elk — another animal that faced extinction because people hunted them for their hide, antlers, and ivory teeth — was not so lucky. The federal government pronounced the Eastern Elk  extinct in 1880.

The historic range of elk  included Oregon, and during the early twentieth century the Oregon State Fish and Game Commission  developed a plan to restore the elk population.

In 1913, the Commission brought 15 elk from Jackson Hole, Wyoming  to Wallowa County, Oregon.  As the herd increased in size, Wells Fargo shipped elk to other parts of Oregon. After trapping the young elk, the game warden placed the elk on crates built on sleds and transported them 45 miles to Enterprise, Oregon.  From Enterprise, Wells Fargo shipped the elk to Ashland, Oregon. Wells Fargo's Chief Messenger C. T. Allan and Route Agent C. E. Redman accompanied the elk. Once the elk arrived in Klamath Falls, the game warden released the elk into the wild 18 miles from Chiloquin. 

Today, elk thrive in Oregon — the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation  estimates that Oregon has over 100,000. This video  from National Geographic captures the haunting sound of bugling elks in the wild.

A few years ago, I drove past a herd of elk on the south side of I-84, near Cascade Locks.  It's great to know that herd could be descended from the elk Wells Fargo shipped from Jackson Hole.

Charles

Today is Wells Fargo's 157th anniversary. On this day in 1852, Wells Fargo opened for business in San Francisco, a bustling gold rush 'burg. Within a few weeks, the next offices opened in Sacramento and Portland.

The name you trust was established.

But this is a special anniversary. See, we got a double rainbow over the weekend — you don't see them often.

As I was driving up University Avenue in Berkeley, I saw the rainbow ended right on top of the Wells Fargo store at San Pablo Ave.

Seriously. I don't make this stuff up, you know.

I thought it quite appropriate that one end of the arc would rest on my Company. But I got to wondering where the other end was. There might be something in it, some birthday message.

I found the rainbow on its other end on some guy's house in south Berkeley. He was outside just staring at it. I got out and started taking these pictures.

(This one is a janky composite to show the wonders of nature and photography. I don't pretend to have talent with a camera, but I do have a knack for bad angles and varying light.)

A small crowd formed and we all wondered what it meant. I figure the guy's house was his pot o' gold. (I know mine is.)

And at the very least, a bunch of people hanging out in your front yard, marveling at one of nature's best ideas, has to be a golden moment, one you remember for a while. Maybe even a moment that gets blogged about.

Good enough for me! Happy Birthday, Wells Fargo!

Charles

Joycee Wong is Curator at Wells Fargo's San Francisco History Museum. Today, she tells us about yesterday's Open House event there. (CR)

On Thursday, July 9, hundreds of museum visitors attended and enjoyed our Family Open House.

Yelps of laughter and surprise were heard throughout the day as visitors climbed aboard "Herbie," a simulated stagecoach ride.

Inside Herbie, they listened to a traveler's tale of his stagecoach journey in the 1860s, while viewing passing scenes helped them imagine a 3-week journey inside a stagecoach, crammed with eight other passengers. Little tots loved our Kiddie Ride, or pretended to be daring drivers on our model stagecoach.

For this Open House, we offered several unique ways to teach history hands-on. One amazingly popular special activity is writing and sending a letter to family via "stagecoach time." Visitors handwrite a note on old-fashioned stationery, and then our museum staff sends it in the time it would have taken that letter to arrive back in the 1850s! (Courtesy the United States Postal Service  since stagecoaches are no longer available to deliver mail!)

For those impatient folks, who can't wait that long, another hands-on history is "texting" the old fashioned way: Using Morse Code on our working telegraphs to send an "instant message" the way pioneers did!

Gold Rush "Argonauts"   sacrificed creature comforts and endured a grueling trip to the exciting adventure that awaited them in that distant land called California.

This especially hit home at our "Pack for a Stagecoach Journey" special activity, where you have the chance to imagine yourself preparing for your own stagecoach journey.

We had a large table with an old-fashioned suitcase, with various clothing and household items laid out. Visitors stepped back in time to decide what items they would bring for their journey out West — from vintage clothes to old books, from cookware to toys. The suitcase which was placed on an antique scale, and packers had to limit their belongings to 25 pounds in weight — the standard luggage restriction for Wells Fargo stagecoach passengers!

While some families were busy trying these simulated experiences of the Old West, others enjoyed some of the popular museum offerings, such as completing a Historic Map Treasure Hunt to earn a souvenir prize. Many played the "be-your-own-detective" game in our special exhibition about tracking down stagecoach robbers.

Seeing so many people from all ages and backgrounds engaging in the attractions was definitely a highlight at Headquarters this week. And since all 9 of our Wells Fargo history museums are free and open to the public, why not include a visit of your own next time you're in one of these locations?

Charles

Tomorrow, July 9, Wells Fargo museum visitors — including Wells Fargo team members and their children — will enjoy many fun and interactive activities, and learn the history of our Company during our Family Open House.

The Wells Fargo History Museum is located at 420 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco (near the site of the very first Wells Fargo office in 1852).

As with many museums in many places, we have audio tours, and history videos, and lots of photo ops, including a 5-foot tall plush pony positioned in front of our 1860s-era stagecoach.

Our Museum folks in San Francisco — just like their colleagues in the other 8 Wells Fargo museums — make history come alive. After all, who wouldn't be fascinated with all things Gold Rush, California history and stagecoaches!

"Wells Fargo Agent" sounds like a cool job title. Ever wonder what an agent actually did during the gold rush? You can find out by trying some of the duties performed by Wells Fargo agents in early days, such as weighing gold dust for miners and lifting a gold ingot.

Gold was often shipped back East in ingot form, carried in Wells Fargo's stout treasure boxes. As you hold a real gold nugget and an actual gold coin (shiny!), you can't help but think about the lure of gold that attracted people to California from all over the world.

The event tomorrow is free to the public. Everyone is invited to come on in and take hold of some living history. Experience it!

Charles

Last week, Ryan Baum began an historical explanation of Wells Fargo's National Bank charter number. Something this esoteric shouldn't make for an interesting read. But Ryan, a serious collector of coins and currency since he was a kid, has found the story to have as many twists and turns and mysteries as a detective story. (CR)

As I wrote earlier, National Banks were set up in 1863 to regulate and stabilize American currency. The OCC  issued charters and the very first went to First National Bank of Philadelphia.  That story is one I will revisit in a later blog — this is the charter currently used by Wachovia Bank, NA. I purchased a bank note with the number P1741 and I was motivated to find the story behind it.

In 1879 the Federal Government began to honor its debts again in gold or silver , so the distinction between government bonds and gold became less important. The following year, National Gold Banks were allowed to convert their Gold Bank charter to a regular National Bank charter. The First National Gold Bank of San Francisco took advantage of this option and changed its name to First National Bank of San Francisco on February 25, 1884.

The First National Bank of San Francisco was located at 403 Montgomery Street.  After several moves, and the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, First National erected a new headquarters at 1 Montgomery Street. This location was the gateway to Montgomery Street from Market Street, and was a powerful intersection — Wells Fargo Nevada National and Crocker National Bank were neighbors....

Charles

Ryan Baum is Senior Vice President of Finance in Wells Fargo's Asset Management Group. He joined Wells Fargo in 1992, fresh from graduate school, and participated in Wells Fargo's mergers with First Interstate, Norwest, and now Wachovia. Ryan is also a Supply Corps Reserve Officer in the US Navy, deployed to Kuwait in 2006-07. He is a member of the Wells Fargo Military Veterans Resource Group.

Ryan has collected coins since he was five years old and is a life member of both the American Numismatic Association   and the Carson City Coin Collectors of America.  His fascination with coins, the California gold rush, and Wells Fargo's history brings otherwise dull trivia to life — and makes the past relevant with today. (CR)

Back in November 2007, I attended a coin convention in Santa Clara, California. I was looking for the "usual suspects" —Carson City coins , Indian Head Pennies  and numismatic oddities.  Since it was late in the day and many of the tables had already closed, I stopped by a paper money dealer and searched through his national banknotes. Although I had known a little about national banknotes during my 20 years of coin collecting , I had not paid too much attention to them since they were more esoteric and above my spending limit when I was in high school and college.

The dealer had a bank note from a San Francisco bank that looked interesting. The note was from the First National Bank of San Francisco and had a "P1741" stamped on it. I asked if he knew what became of the bank. He didn't know. Just for fun I bought this note along with a couple of others, and wondered about its history. Little did I know that this purchase would change my collecting interests and unlock a treasure of research and a direct connection to today's Wells Fargo.

Let's now move back in time to trace the history of this note and "P1741...."