The Mail Will Get Through!
You've seen Casey's regular mentions of the mail being safe and sound. I'm going to give Casey a break (or have Charles do more work, not sure which) and give some background.
When planning began for this adventure Casey wanted to include an educational component. He devised a lesson plan for school kids that would emphasize the mail delivery aspect of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company. Kids from a school at his starting point of St. Louis would be matched with a correspondent school near his final destination of San Francisco. The St. Louis students would write letters and Casey would deliver them in "stagecoach" time — the San Francisco area kids would reply and send the letters by United States Postal Service 
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What really makes this fun is that all the kids can follow along via the Guided By History blog, track what Casey is up to, and imagine how difficult it was 150 years ago for a letter (and any news at all) to make its way across the country.
As Casey was researching for the trip, he also connected with the amazing Ms. Hansen of Lowell Elementary in Arkansas. Adding letters from her students worked especially well since Arkansas was historically a major mail connection point.
So now Casey has two bags in the RV full of inquiring letters that he is carefully transporting. (I wonder how the mail bags compare in size to the dogs?)
When I was first planning this journey, my intention was to stop at all sorts of sites along the route — even cool places that had nothing to do with the Butterfield. However, reality had other plans. I have found that the rigors of doing a trip like this are much more than I anticipated. I find myself running out of time everyday, so that most everything I'm doing is Butterfield related. Don't get me wrong — it's been amazing, and there are more Butterfield sites than I could have ever imagined. But with the time constraints, I really had to focus my energy. I hope I've been able to create an interesting, albeit incomplete, log of 
You may notice a lag time in the blog posts, especially the videos. Well, writing after a long day of traveling and visiting is hard enough — but then to have to download video and photographs from the day, edit them, get them uploaded so they can be reached by folks in the home office far, far away to be published, and to make time to sleep is really more difficult than I ever imagined. Without a good internet connection it's nearly impossible. I've become very envious of the folks at the big news stations with their traveling buses, complete with satellite hook ups, etc. 
By all accounts, everyone took proper action in advance. Everyone is watching to see that everything goes well and that all those people who live on the Gulf Coast come first. After all, that's why we make the big plans we have to make to move thousands of people to safety — because we all have to make sure our neighbors are safe. We look out for them, they look out for us...that's how everyone is looked out for! 
To recap, the Ada Hancock was a 42-ton steam tug in Los Angeles harbor. On April 27, 1863, the boat exploded in transit, killing or injuring 46 people. Both Wells Fargo's agent and messenger lost their lives. 
McAllister pointed out Wells Fargo's outstanding personal service, even as he was using it for the purposes suing us! The California Supreme Court accepted the argument and the Company had to make good on the loss. 
The contest works like this: You tell Wells Fargo your dream and if you a weekly winner, are a semi-finalist or win the big mo', you get $1000, 10,000 or $100,000 bucks. Visitors to the site vote for the most deserving person and also help out three organizations that stand to get $50K to $250 grand. This prize money goes to people who demonstrate a need and a desire — it's not about luck. No 
Wells was a risk-taker and made a fortune. He also had a great 
Wells Fargo views its support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender 
Wells Fargo celebrates the diversity in our communities. Happy Pride! 
The Emancipation Proclamation, despite its enduring greatness, had some practical limitations. It applied only to 
In the recent past, a number Juneteenth Organizations have emerged with the purposes of promoting official recognition of the holiday, and to cultivate knowledge and participation in African-American history and culture. Although Juneteenth has been celebrated since 1865, it wasn't until 1979 that 
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, 
Employees of the new branch served refreshments, directed customers to exhibits inside, and helped open new accounts. 
In earlier years, 
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 
On June 6, 1968, Senator Robert Kennedy died in Los Angeles from bullet wounds suffered the night before. He had just won the California primary and was poised to become the Democratic Party's candidate for President. But he was assassinated, and the nation once again endured the funeral of a hero: President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the three 
Another message straight to the hearts and minds of ordinary people took effect on June 6, 1978. 
In 1855, 11-year old George Monroe came west from Georgia. When Monroe had grown, he came to exemplify the greatness of fact and legend of the best stagecoach drivers. He was described by his employers as "the best all-round reinsman in the West." 
The crusty General chose to sit next to the driver, a place of honor in those days. An expert horseman in his own right, Grant's assessment of Monroe's skills would make or break his reputation as a stagecoach driver. Monroe did his magic and Grant was duly impressed: "He would throw those six animals from one side to the other," the President marveled, "to avoid a stone or a chuckhole as if they were a single horse." 
I remember his murder in 1968, too. School was cancelled, and our neighborhood was absolutely silent. Most people were watching TV, but even birds and dogs were quiet that day. I was a little kid, but I felt the enormity of it. More than war, or Nixon, music, or any other factors that shaped that era, those last couple years of Dr. King's life affected me and the person I have become. 
