Salt Lake City: Wells Fargo's Transportation Depot during the Stagecoach Era

Utah Historical Quarterly

Vol. 53, 1985, No. 1

Salt Lake City: Wells Fargo's Transportation Depot during the Stagecoach Era

BY W. TURRENTINE JACKSON

WITH THE BEGINNING OF COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION and in twenty years following, 1850-70, Salt Lake City was the most important and widely publicized transportation center between the Missouri frontier and California. Residents throughout the American West vitally concerned with the arrival of stagecoach passengers, mail, express, and freight focused their attention on that community in the Great Basin. No company played a more continuous and significant role in this vital endeavor to maintain channels of communication and transportation than Wells, Fargo & Co.

When the federal government first introduced overland mail routes, all recognized that the delivery by one contractor from the Missouri River to the Pacific was too great an undertaking, and Salt Lake City was designated as a halfway settlement where mails coming west from Missouri and those headed east from California could be exchanged. The government made the initial contract with William H. Woodson in 1850 to carry the mail from Independence to Salt Lake, monthly each way, and with Absolom Woodward and George Chorpenning the following year to transport letters between California and Salt Lake City where an exchange could be carried out.

From the very beginning two factors largely determined the success of the overland mail service: the weather and Indian depredations. On the eastern sector mail carriers on occasion were lost for days in the vicinity of the South Pass or struggled through the snow for over a month between Fort Laramie and Salt Lake City, finally abandoning their horses and personally dragging the letter mail over the snow of the Wasatch Mountains for the last forty miles into the Mormon capital. Property, mostly horses and mules, was repeatedly stolen or destroyed by Indians. To the west, the story was much the same. Woodward was killed by the Indians just west of the Malad River in northern Utah. During the winter months the mail carriers from Sacramento witnessed their horses freezing to death in the Goose Creek Mountains and had to go the last two hundred miles into Salt Lake on foot. When the Sacramento mail carriers were forced to return on account of deep snow in the Sierra Nevada, Chorpenning sought and obtained permission to deliver the mails between the two termini by an alternate route.

The route chosen was that explored by Jedediah Smith from Salt Lake southwestward by way of Utah Lake, then by the Sevier River, across the mountain range to the Virgin River which he and his party followed to the Colorado River, across the Mohave Desert, and through the Cajon Pass into southern California. In their search for a "corridor to the sea" the Mormon pioneers had established outposts along this route that became known as the Mormon Trail connecting Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. The Salt Lake mails during the winter months were taken to the port at San Pedro and delivered north by ship and ultimately reached their destination in San Francisco or Sacramento, and the mail carrier thus fulfilled his contract.

The entrepreneurs of the express companies always sought to provide patrons with an alternative to shipping letters and packages by the United States mails. Wells, Fargo & Co. was established as a joint stock association in New York in March 1852, chiefly to take advantage of business opportunities in California. Business got under way by July and the company quickly made contracts with local express organizations to carry letters, treasure, and packages that had been entrusted to Wells Fargo. For example, the company announced that Frank D. Gilbert, a well-known messenger of the company, would leave Los Angeles on April 25, 1855, for San Bernardino and from there for Salt Lake City on May 1. Gilbert was to connect with Wells, Fargo & Co. in Los Angeles on the first day of each month thereafter and run the express through to Salt Lake City. Los Angeles newspapers immediately began advertising "Gilbert & Co.'s Salt Lake Express in connection with Wells, Fargo & Co." H. R. Myles served as agent of both companies.

Upon leaving San Bernardino this express route provided the small and somewhat isolated Mormon communities in southern Utah with service to Salt Lake City, southern California, and the world beyond. The carrier stopped at Coal Creek, Parowan, Red Creek, Fillmore City, Nephi City, Summit Creek, Payson, Springville, Provo City, and American Fork. This express service apparently continued until 1858.

Congress, meanwhile, was considering an improvement of the overland mail service to California. After extensive debate, the overland mail bill was enacted in March 1857. The legislation provided that the route would be chosen by the postmaster general who decided that the service should start in St. Louis and Memphis with converging lines to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and thence by way of El Paso, Tucson, Yuma, and Los Angeles to San Francisco. The following September a contract was made to deliver the mail over this route with the directors and large investors of the major express companies with eastern headquarters.

From the inception of the Overland Mail Company an interlocking directorate existed with Wells, Fargo & Co. Moreover Wells, Fargo served as the banker for the mail company in the Far West advancing the funds essential to opening the route west of the Rio Grande. As indebtedness mounted, the express and banking company was forced to remove John Butterfield as president and reconstruct the board of directors to protect its investment. Thenceforth, managerial responsibility, policy, and personnel decisions were dominated by the Wells Fargo directors on the board.

For an interlude of four years, 1858-61, the focal point of the nation's attention to overland communication and transportation was not on Salt Lake City. Some historians have suggested that the overland mail followed an oxbow trace through the Southwest because the postmaster general was a southerner and favored that section. He insisted that the decision was prompted by the weather conditions on the more direct route via Salt Lake that made it impractical for year-round travel. Many of the California newspapers suggested that the postmaster general was right. The San Francisco Evening Telegram reported on the horrible suffering of travelers in the mountains and on the plains in their journey from Salt Lake to the Missouri border when ten men and nine mules froze to death in a single night and suggested that "those who escaped would have almost preferred death to the indescribable suffering they were compelled to endure." The newspaper continued:

Some weeks ago we were made acquainted with the terrible results of a snow storm which overtook the overland mail coach in Sept. last [1858], after leaving Salt Lake. The sufferings of those accompanying the mail on that occasion were very great. A number of mules perished. . . .

We have now had enough of this terrible experience to satisfy any sane man that for all practical purposes the route by way of Salt Lake is a failure. We said as much when the Sept. storms were killing the animals and frightening the passengers nearly to death. The Nov. calamity, however, but places the selection of that route, for U.S. mail services, still farther from serious consideration.

We are in favor of just as many routes as can be opened to California. We do not think we can have too many channels of communication with the Atlantic side. But we have heard quite enough about this Salt Lake route. Too many valuable lives have already been sacrificed in an effort to bolster that route up. The road on the other side of Salt Lake has been found impassable, as early in the year as Sept. and after that period the journey involves the most fearful risks. It is high time we take the central route as it is — not as some would have it.

With the coming of the Civil War the spotlight controlled by those concerned with overland communication and transportation was again focused on Salt Lake City. The secession of the southern states precluded the operation of the mail route through Texas, and the exigencies of the war dictated that 2. daily mail service was needed to bind the communities in the Great Basin and on the Pacific Coast more closely with the Union. The big question was which company would obtain the contract. Russell, Majors, and Waddell, partners in the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company, had hoped to obtain the contract, having established the Pony Express in 1860 as a private venture without government subsidy to advertise their service and the importance of the central route. When the time came, Russell, Majors, and Waddell were in no financial position to undertake the assignment. The Overland Mail Company, having been forced off the oxbow route, was the only serious contender for the 1861 contract, providing not only for a daily overland mail but for a semi-weekly Pony Express, a joint undertaking supported by $1,000,000 a year by the federal government.

The contract stipulated that daily mail service was to be provided either from St. Joseph, Missouri, or Atchison, Kansas, and Placerville, California. In addition, the mails were to be delivered three times a week each way into Denver and Salt Lake City. Just as soon as the contract for the entire route had been signed at the post office, a subcontract was signed between the Overland Mail Company and the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company whereby the latter company was to provide service from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City, connecting there with the Overland Mail Company stages that would carry the mail and passengers over the western portion. Once again, Salt Lake City became the key location in the western transportation network.

As one historian has written, the financial fabric of the Overland Mail Company "was largely woven with skeins of Wells, Fargo yarn." The Overland Company had reserved the right to make an exclusive agreement with Wells, Fargo & Co. to handle all the express business coming from the east to points west of Salt Lake City and all express business originating in the west headed east. In addition, the Overland Mail Company intended to operate out of Salt Lake City only as far as Carson City. There, the Pioneer Stage Company, later owned by Wells, Fargo & Co., would run the stages for mails and passengers via Virginia City into Placerville, the western end of the route.

Responsibility for the Pony Express was transferred to the Overland Mail Company. Russell, Majors, and Waddell continued to operate the service east of Salt Lake and the Overland company to the west. The actual management of the Pony Express west of Salt Lake City was entrusted to Wells, Fargo & Co. in the interim of March to July 1861, between the signing of the mail contract and the date of its initiation as a government-sponsored endeavor. From July 1861 until its demise, Wells, Fargo & Co. through the Overland Mail Company was deeply involved in the ownership, expense, and supervision of the Pony Express west of Salt Lake City. Californians were disappointed that the Pony Express service stopped in Placerville, and Wells, Fargo & Co. immediately established a private pony express between that terminus and San Francisco with an integrated schedule to provide continuous through-service to Salt Lake City and beyond. After 1861 the offices, personnel, and services of the Overland Mail Company and Wells, Fargo & Co. in Salt Lake City were closely interrelated.

Salt Lake was also a transportation center of prime importance to the residents of the Pacific Northwest. Within three months after establishing offices in San Francisco, Wells, Fargo & Co. announced the opening of an agency in Portland, from that time forward the hub of the company's operations in the Pacific Northwest. Slowly but surely, transportation and communication facilities radiated out of Portland with the waterways providing the first avenues. When gold was first discovered in the Inland Empire of Idaho, the United States mails were delivered over the central route via Salt Lake to San Francisco, thence by steamer northward to Portland and up the Columbia to the mining camps. This round-about route was most unsatisfactory, and when gold was discovered in the Boise Basin, the residents there began to debate whether it was better to look to the Columbia River route and Portland or to Salt Lake City for transportation and communication services.

D. C. Patterson's Salt Lake City Express operated during 1863-64, bringing mails and newspapers from the east into Boise. Late in November 1863 the express rider was attacked by Indians and the service disrupted. As usual, weather conditions of midwinter further delayed deliveries. The express rider was overdue almost a month in January 1864 and reported on arrival that he had been on the road for twenty-eight days. Not until mid-March did the express arrive with a bundle of newspaper exchanges that had accumulated all winter in Salt Lake City. High winds, snow, and troublesome Indians had made the initial attempt to bridge the gap between Salt Lake City and Boise unreliable and unsatisfactory.

When the time came to negotiate a new mail contract in July 1864 Ben Holladay was selected to deliver the mails from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City and the Overland Mail Company from Salt Lake City to California. The western terminus was changed from Placerville to Folsom, closer to Sacramento. Holladay had controlled the eastern portion of the route since 1862 when he had taken over the stock, equipment, and tangible assets of the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company as a result of the latter company's indebtedness to him. In October 1865 Wells, Fargo & Co. established regional headquarters in Salt Lake at the principal midpoint on the overland mail route. Hiram S. Rumfield, general agent of the Overland Mail Company, served as agent of both firms, clear evidence of the financial and managerial relationship between them.

Holladay also obtained a mail contract for delivery from Salt Lake City to Walla Walla in the Pacific Northwest, bringing an end to Patterson's Salt Lake City Express. Scheduled to begin service on July 1, 1864, Holladay was only operating his stages as far as Boise a month later. From there he made a subcontract with George F. Thomas to carry on to Walla Walla. With the discovery of silver in southwestern Idaho came a shift of emphasis to the possibility of finding a more convenient and direct route for supplies and shipping treasure directly to California rather than going northward to the Columbia River, on to Portland, and south by steamer to San Francisco. Once the railroad was completed connections could be made both east and west. Thus threatened, the communities along the Columbia River agitated to strengthen the stage and mail service from Salt Lake. As a result, Holladay obtained a new contract in 1866 for a daily mail service from Salt Lake all the way to The Dalles via Walla Walla. Again, George Thomas operated beyond Walla Walla.

On November 1, 1866, there was a "grand consolidation" of the Holladay interests, the Overland Mail Company, Wells, Fargo & Co., and other stage companies into one giant enterprise controlling all transportation and mail facilities west of the Missouri River. In undertaking this vast responsibility and opportunity, along with other means of transportation, Wells, Fargo & Co. now looked to the north and northwest from Salt Lake City, into the Montana and Idaho territories as well as to the east and west.

Stages moved out of the Mormon capital for Virginia City, Helena, and on to the Missouri River at Fort Benton loaded with passengers, express, and mail that had arrived from both California and the Missouri-Kansas frontier. One Salt Lake newspaper reported the opinion of travelers that "the Montana coach route is the finest in the country." Wells, Fargo & Co. unquestionably experienced some difficulty in assuming responsibility from Ben Holladay for the Idaho stage routes in mid-winter, but by early summer the stages were running regularly between The Dalles and Salt Lake City.

A major change in personnel occurred in 1867 when Theodore F. Tracy, the former general agent of Wells Fargo's subsidiary, the Pioneer Stage Company in California, was appointed the general agent for Wells, Fargo & Co. in Salt Lake City to supervise both banking and express operations. The Salt Lake City newspapers carried stories about Wells, Fargo & Co., reporting that the "enterprising" company of "world renouned fame" had moved into a new building on Main Street and that "the arrangements for the transaction of the banking and express business are complete and the whole interior, as well as exterior, present an appearance worthy of the old and established firm." Even the display of the eight-horse team of Wells, Fargo & Co., with a big sleigh attached, traversing the principal streets of the town during the first week of January 1867 attracted a great deal of attention. The editor of the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph commented, "We thank the gentlemen concerned therein for a call to the Telegraph office and an invitation to take a ride. We regretted being unable to accept the courtesy.

Recognizing the growing importance of Salt Lake City as a banking and transportation center, Wells Fargo made plans for a new building. The Vedette reported:

We were shown, yesterday, the plan for the new building about to be erected by Wells, Fargo & Co. on third East street, between what is known as Brigham and Theatre streets, (called, we believe, South Temple and First South Temple streets). These buildings are intended for the use of the express company. The building containing the coal, iron, lumber, wood, horses, harness, paint and blacksmith shops is to be 180 feet by 26 feet. The stables adjoining are to be 80 feet by 34 feet. The erection of these buildings will add much to the value of property in that portion of the city.

The Northern Division of Wells Fargo's stage and express network was supervised by William H. Taylor, a popular and innovative employee. When he found the road between Salt Lake City and Weber in an unsatisfactory condition, he rerouted the stages by way of Ogden. New and shorter routes were located from Salt Lake into both Bannock and Virginia City, Montana. The Montana Democrat proclaimed, "Since Mr. Taylor's arrival, and control of the line, matters have greatly improved. We have heard encomiums on all sides of the excellent management on the part of Superintendent Taylor." The Montana Post agreed, "Under his efficient management the express line from Salt Lake City to Benton approaches near perfection in speed, safety, and regularity and accommodative spirit manifested toward persons."

At the time of the "grand consolidation" Wells, Fargo & Co. assumed responsibility for the operation of two east-west routes. One known as the Platte route ran from the settlement at North Platte where the terminus of the Union Pacific was located, and a second line known as the Smoky Hill route, for a time the responsibility of the United States Express Company, a Wells Fargo ally, from the terminus of the Eastern Division of the Union Pacific, later known as the Kansas Pacific. Both routes converged on Denver. All passengers, mail, and express brought into Denver over both of these routes west were transported on Wells Fargo stages to Salt Lake City and California points. West of Denver the stages to Salt Lake ran north through Boulder and La Porte to Wyoming and then followed the route across Wyoming and the Continental Divide to the Green River, Fort Bridger, and on into Salt Lake City. The total distance between Denver and Salt Lake City was 596 miles or 789 miles from the railhead of the Union Pacific. There were fifty-one stage stops, twelve of which were home stations providing meals and/or lodging. Wells Fargo published a card of distances to provide potential travelers with complete information about the journey.

By no means did Wells, Fargo & Co. escape criticism for its handling of the United States mail. A cry of outrage came from the editor of the Vedette in Salt Lake City:

On Saturday last we received a bushel of mail matter, or thereabouts, from America, by Wells, Fargo & Co. ... It was a nasty looking lot of information, and the latest dates were March 9th. We don't object to their making corduroy bridges of our eastern exchanges, to safely cross stage passengers and express matter, over the bad sloughs on the road, if they won't use them more than thirty days at a time.

Thereafter, scarcely an issue appeared that did not criticize the company. The stages were coming regularly to Salt Lake from Denver full with passengers and express but with no mails. Some two hundred sacks were said to be strewn on the route for lack of room, the express company was deemed a miserable failure as mail carriers, and the Vedette suggested the contract should be given to "some enterprising, honest company." The impact of these attacks was widespread. In Idaho both the Owyhee Avalanche and the ldaho World reprinted every tirade and added editorial comment. Tiring of the criticism, the ldaho Tri-Weekly Statesman in Boise came to the defense of Wells Fargo. The same division of opinion existed in Montana Territory where the Helena Herald led a vicious attack upon Wells Fargo, and the Virginia City newspapers — led by the Montana Post — defended the company and explained that the problems with the mail service were beyond its control. An intense feud resulted. There were also differences of opinion in Utah Territory where, in contrast to the extreme hostility of the Vedette, the Telegraph began to display greater understanding of the problems of handling the mail. In Denver the Rocky Mountain News, whose editor thought Wells Fargo could do no wrong, exploded in anger at the New York Tribune for its eastern attitude toward the uncertainty of the delivery of mail and its newspapers in the West. The basic problem lay in the uncertainty and irregularity with which the railroads delivered mail matter to their respective termini. In addition, the Indians had completely disrupted all service on the Smoky Hill route, and large quantities of mail had been destroyed or delayed east of Denver.

Not everyone was critical of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s service. The editor of the Salt Lake Reporter commented:

The exactness with which Wells, Fargo & Co.'s coaches arrive and depart, upon time, is particularly commendable. Yesterday while in the office of the Company, we were informed that the Northern Stage was due at three o'clock. It then wanted but one minute of that time. The hands of the clock had no sooner indicated the hour of three, than the stage drew up before the door, punctual to the minute. The management of the various stage lines, and the business W.F. & C, is entrusted to skillful and competent men; which makes them superior to any other Express Company in the United States.

The company was also aware of the importance of public relations. Salt Lake had planned a celebration on July 4, 1868. The press reported:

The establishment of Wells, Fargo & Co. in this city was represented on the streets early in the day, by a turnout often magnificent grays, attached to a carriage draped with American flags, and driven by Charles S. Burnett, who handled the ribbons beautifully. During the forenoon the employees of the company, and a number of citizens occupied the carriage and rode through the streets. In the afternoon Crezall's band was driven around and delighted the ears of the citizens with fine music. The turnout was a splendid tribute to "the day we celebrate."

Two months later a Salt Lake newspaper commented,

We omitted to mention yesterday, in our notice of the Episcopal Sunday School Pic-nic, that Wells, Fargo & Co. furnished one of their fine coaches and four horses for the occasion. The coach was decorated with small flags, red and blue cloth was also arranged in festoons upon each side.

The expiration date of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s contract to carry the overland mail on the central route was October 1, 1868. To provide mail transportation between that date and the joining of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, which then was not expected to occur until June 30, 1870, the postmaster general, on March 8, 1868, advertised for proposals to carry the mails between the termini, at the time a distance of 1,095 miles, on a daily basis both ways. The specific provision provided that the compensation of the mail contractors would be reduced pro rata as the distance shortened between the termini of the two railroads. Five bidders answered the advertisement. Wells Fargo's bid of $1,314,000 was two and a half times that of the next highest offer. An outcry came from the western press.

Wells Fargo officials knew that Congress was under pressure from the Mountain States to reduce postage rates on newspapers, magazines, and books to the same level that was applied for their transportation to the Pacific Coast by ship. The company's bid was made with that possibility in mind, while the competitors did not consider the change. When, in June 1868, Congress repealed the provision requiring full letter-rate postage on all mail including newspapers, magazines, and books sent by the overland route, it was clear that there would be an increase of several hundred percent on the amount of mail the contractor would have to carry. The lowest bidder refused to undertake the contract. Soon it was obvious that only Wells Fargo had the equipment and facilities to undertake the new volume of mail that had increased from 600 to 4,000 pounds daily. The figure agreed upon was $1,750,000. Once again the press wrote of extortion and described the transaction as an outrage.

A congressional investigation by the Committee on Public Expenditures concluded that it was the Congress, not the postmaster general, that should assume the blame for unreasonably increasing the volume of mail. Moreover, the railroads were building faster than anticipated, shortening the time that Wells Fargo could benefit from its investment in expanding the number of coaches and amount of stock on its line necessary to undertake the contract. As the distance between the termini was shortened, Wells Fargo's payments were reduced accordingly. The committee concluded that the cost to the government would be about $500,000, a far cry from the $1,750,000 contract figure.

During the debate over the contract the Union Pacific had established a new terminal town at Benton, where the rails crossed the North Fork of the Platte River, 120 miles from the previous station at Laramie, and 700 miles from Omaha. Simultaneously, the Central Pacific completed a new section to Wadsworth Station, 32 miles east of Reno, Nevada. The stages ran from Wadsworth to Benton, only 376 miles from Salt Lake City. "The staging will then, it is expected, only occupy three days from that point to this city," suggested the Telegraph.

On October 1, 1868, Wells, Fargo & Co. lost the contract to deliver the mails between Salt Lake City and The Dalles to C. M. Lockwood. The Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman of Boise reported the departure of Wells Fargo's division agents and drivers with the stages belonging to the company: "We are indeed sorry to lose the association of these gentlemen. . . . We learn that they proceed to Salt Lake, and from thence to other fields of labor, which will be assigned them by the company."

Wells, Fargo & Co. engaged in fast and furious staging operations in 1868 between the railroad termini and along the feeder lines in Nevada, Montana, and Colorado. By January 1869 the company's stages began leaving Salt Lake City at 4 A.M. to connect with the Union Pacific at Evanston. The trip took twenty hours unless sleighing was good and then it could be reduced to sixteen hours.

On the overland route west of Salt Lake, Howard Egan, who was under contract to Wells Fargo, located a new stage route from Humboldt Wells to Bear River north by way of Promontory City; and in February Wells Fargo placed stages on this route, which saved several hundred miles of travel between the railroad termini and significantly reduced the time of the trip across the continent. For the first time in almost twenty years through travelers did not always come through Salt Lake City. However, Wells, Fargo & Co. maintained connections between the city and the railroad. During the winter Salt Lake papers reported the snow was two feet deep on the summit of the Wasatch Mountains west of Park City. Wells Fargo's sleighs ran the distance from the Park to the head of Echo Canyon. Any delay was not with the stagecoaches but with the Union Pacific trains blocked by snow.

By April 1869 Corinne had replaced Salt Lake City as the transportation center in Utah. Wells Fargo announced that the new railroad town would become its terminal point for the stages running northward into Montana. The company continued to maintain stagecoach service between Corinne and Salt Lake City. A great flux of visitors to the "City of the Saints" during the summer of 1869 taxed Wells, Fargo & Co.'s coaches to the utmost capacity. The heavy traffic justified a reduction of the fare between Corinne and Salt Lake City from $4.50 to $1, and it was reported in the newspaper that "every Mormon, big and little, [was] enjoying a trip to the railroad."

In February 1869 John Hailey, veteran Idaho stageman, purchased CM. Lockwood's contract for mail service between Salt Lake City and The Dalles. Convinced that Corinne was too far to the east on the railroad for the most advantageous connection with the communities of Idaho and eastern Oregon and Washington, he moved his depot on the railroad to Indian Creek and made the distance from there to Boise on his Idaho and Oregon Stage Line in forty hours. As in the case of Salt Lake passengers headed for Montana who had to take the short stage to Corinne, Idaho travelers had to get to and from Indian Creek.

Once the railroad was completed the stagecoach era of Wells, Fargo & Co. drew rapidly to a close. The company's board of directors had earlier, on May 16, 1868, voted to sell the overland stagecoach network fashioned at the time of the "grand consolidation." The company sold its stage lines in Utah and Montana to J. T. Gilbert and O.J. Salisbury on August 1, 1869. A few days later, August 18, came the terse announcement that Wells, Fargo & Co. had sold their repair shops and office buildings that originally cost $15,000 to Brigham Young for $30,000. Wells Fargo officials quickly corrected this report stating that the original cost had been $50,000. In October the company sold its stage lines in Colorado to John Hughes & Co. but retained its express business.

Throughout the years Wells Fargo made a significant contribution to the Utah economy. One Salt Lake newspaper item of August 1869 is sufficient to illustrate the point:

From the beginning of the Overland Mail Company's business in this city to the present time, including the more distinctive firm name of Wells, Fargo & Co., they have probably paid over five millions of dollars for grain, etc. to our citizens. During all that time and with all that business, we never hear of but one man who ever complained of them. They have promptly and fully met the demands made upon them, and have maintained an excellent name. We will miss the stage company.

Amid the rapidly changing company's responsibilities, the key to its success in Salt Lake City was its personnel. As mentioned earlier, Wells, Fargo & Co. had an express agent in Salt Lake City by September 1865 when Hiram S. Rumfield, already an experienced agent for the Overland Mail, assumed responsibility for the express service of the company. In his unique published correspondence Rumfield reveals the cordial relationship that existed between the Mormon community and the employees of the Overland Mail in contrast to the Mormon attitude toward the subcontractors William H. Russell and associates on the route east of Salt Lake City. "The Mormons have always been hostile in feeling toward the Eastern Division and its management," he wrote. The explanation was clear. From the very beginning of Salt Lake City the Mormon leaders were eager to develop mail lines running both east and west. In October 1856 Hiram Kimball had been awarded a contract to deliver mail east to Leavenworth, Kansas. Brigham Young offered to equip three hundred miles of the route. Enthusiasm ran high in Salt Lake City, for the Mormons expected to make each station along the line an agricultural center where stock could be raised and emigrant trains assisted. Then came the Utah War between the Mormons and the federal government. The mail contract was annulled. Rumfield wrote friends summarizing the decline of the eastern sector of the overland route and the necessity for Holladay to take over as described earlier. In contrast, the western sector of the road commanded the "undivided confidence, friendship and affection" of the Mormons. Rumfield explained:

The principal part of our supplies — amounting in the aggregate, since the first day of July last [1861] to several hundred thousand dollars, — have been purchased in this valley and paid for with glittering gold! Our dealings with them have been conducted upon principles of firmness and justice. While we permit no person in the service of the company to deal unfairly with them, we will submit to no wrong in turn. We do not hesitate to employ a Mormon, — or rather, in this respect, make no distinction between "Saint and Gentile," other things being equal. Whenever a dispute arises between us and any of the people concerning a matter of consequence, whether involving money or otherwise, we at once refer the case to Brigham who never fails to hear patiently and decide with wisdom and impartiality.

The Overland Mail Company adopted a somewhat paternalistic policy toward the Indians along the route west of Salt Lake. "The poor Indians along the lines are quiet and well disposed," he wrote. "They regard the Overland Company as their best friend." In November 1862 the company bought 400 head of beef cattle to sustain the Indians through the storms of winter on the bleak desert. Working on the principle that it was better to feed than to fight, Rumfield commented, "The same policy on the Eastern Line would have saved many lives and delays it was subjected to last spring and summer."

Rumfield enjoyed the confidence of Brigham Young and regularly conferred with him and other leaders of the community. One such occasion is worthy of note:

Heber C. Kimball — brother Heber, as he is familiarly called by the "saints," paid me a visit last week, and in conversation gave the most gratifying assurances of the good feeling cherished by his people towards the company. It was the first and only interview I have had with him — the first time he ever entered this office. Like Brigham, he is seldom seen on the streets, except on Sunday, on his way to or from the Tabernacle. Our interview took place in the back office — was strictly private — and continued about an hour. Not a word was said upon the subject of religion — the Mormon religion especially. When the old man was ready to depart he arose from his chair, and placing his right hand on my head, in the most solemn tone and manner pronounced a blessing — almost in the exact words of the old Apostalic Benediction. The proceeding was so unexpected that it startled me. He noticed my momentary confusion and seeming to think I doubted his sincerity took my hand in his own and looking square in the face, said, — "No one can justly accuse Heber of hyprocrisy — I always speak as I am moved by the Holy Spirit; my blessing was from the heart — from the the heart. . . ." He then brushed the tears from his eyes — for by this time his feelings had entirely overcome him — and, with a hearty and emphatic "God bless you," took his departure.

Theodore F. Tracy, appointed January 1, 1867, was the first in a line of distinguished Wells Fargo agents to manage both the express and banking business. Tracy had come to California in 1853 and for the next four years gained extensive experience in the express business working for various companies operating between Placerville and Carson Valley, Nevada. From the first he was an entrepreneur, organizing his own Carson Valley Express, but in 1857 he went to work for Wells Fargo as agent in El Dorado and the next year in Placerville. He also managed the Pioneer Stage Company and served as a director of the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad. Tracy was elected city treasurer and in 1863 chosen mayor of Placerville. When Wells, Fargo & Co. selected him to go to Salt Lake City, the Mountain Democrat stated, "We have always regarded him as one of the fixtures of Placerville — as one of her most popular and cherished citizens, and we cannot part with him without a feeling of sadness and sorrow." From Salt Lake City T. F. Tracy had supervisory control of Wells Fargo's Overland Express, that portion of the business that extended eastward from Salt Lake City to Omaha, Nebraska, and northward into Montana and Idaho, and his movements and the information provided by him about the status of transportation were found in nearly every issue of the Salt Lake papers.

The Salt Lake agency included several additional employees. The chief clerk, Henry D. Sherwood, took a leave of absence to go to Colorado in search of improved health in July 1869, and Wells Fargo, always ready to transfer personnel, sent for H. P. Parsons, the agent in Virginia City, Montana, to substitute. Soon Nat Stein arrived in Salt Lake to take over so Parsons could return to his post. Nat's brother, Aaron, was already working for Wells Fargo in Salt Lake. On his arrival the Salt Lake Reporter commented, "Nat's friends, and that's everybody in this vicinity, will be glad to learn that he returns in good health. He will remain here until Mr. S. returns and perhaps long enough thereafter to allow his 'match brother' Aaron Stein, Esq. to make a visit east." The Stein brothers were exceptionally well liked in Salt Lake City. On one occasion the Reporter noted:

Aaron Stein, Esq., our ever genial and pleasant friend of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s office in this city left us Tuesday morning for the East. May the 'car of progress' roll him safely and speedily into 'America' beyond the mountains. While we do not wish to deprive him the pleasure of a prolonged stay with his friends, we trust to see him back in 'Zion' before the warm breath of spring fans the verdure of the fields.

Sherwood returned to Salt Lake on August 15 but was too ill to resume his duties, and by the end of October he had died, receiving a glowing tribute in the Salt Lake newspapers. 47 Another Wells, Fargo & Co. employee in Salt Lake City on many occasions was James J. Tracy, the general superintendent of the stage department. On one of his periodic tours of inspection the Reporter commented, "Mr. Tracy is one of the most popular and efficient officers of this favorite Express Company, and we are glad to say that he is in good health and enjoying himself." The report was too optimistic, for within a week he was confined to his room with mountain fever and for the next month bulletins were released to the public on the status of his health.

Company records indicate that Theodore Tracy's salary as agent was $150 a month. He left the company in 1873 to form a partnership with Charles F. Smith in Theo. F. Tracy & Co., Bankers. G. L. Greathouse became Wells Fargo agent in July 1873, serving for four or five months until he was replaced by Henry W. Wadsworth. Like his predecessor, Wadsworth hailed from California, having served as Wells Fargo agent in Yreka. He remained in Salt Lake as agent during 1873-76 and was then transferred to San Francisco as treasurer of Wells, Fargo & Co. and cashier of the bank, a position he held until 1903.

John E. Dooly was named Wells Fargo express agent and cashier of the Wells Fargo Bank in Salt Lake City in 1876 and represented the financial interests of the company in Utah until 1902. Dooly had arrived in California in 1863 at twenty-one years of age and two years later had obtained a position with Wells Fargo in Sacramento where he remained until 1869 when he was transferred to Truckee on the Central Pacific Railroad. Leaving Truckee in 1872, he visited Europe and on his return the next year was appointed Wells Fargo agent in Ogden, at the time only a transfer point. Throughout his years in Utah Dooly was interested in banking and real estate promotion in addition to his work with Wells Fargo. He established the first bank injunction City, known as J. E. Dooly & Co., was one of the organizers of the Utah National Bank of Ogden, and was identified with real estate promotion in the Dooly Block in downtown Salt Lake City, the Syndicate Investment Company, and the John E. Dooly Company. Not only a businessman, Dooly was extremely active in public affairs, serving as president of the Salt Lake City Board of Education, regent of the University of Utah, chairman of the Territorial Board of Equalization, chairman of the Board of Public Works, chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, and member of the city council. He also held memberships in both the Alta and the Commercial clubs of Salt Lake City. He and his wife lived in a spacious home on the southeast corner of South Temple and Fifth East streets. Salt Lake City newspapers paid him glowing tributes at the time of his retirement in 1902.

No Hollywood movie director or television script writer can create a myth concerning the experiences of those traveling on Wells Fargo stagecoaches in the Great Basin more exciting than the reality. Employees endured great physical hardship in the continuous struggle of man against nature that was part of the frontier experience. In December 1868, for example, a Wells Fargo driver abandoned his stage at Fort Bridger and hitched his horses to a bobsled in hopes of making it through the snow to Muddy Station en route to Salt Lake City. A search party found him almost frozen by the side of the road, and six weeks later both his feet were amputated. Spring brought the hazards and inconvenience of floods. In April 1868 mail stages were stopped by high water at Bitter Creek, Utah Territory, en route to Salt Lake City. The utter absence of timber there with which to make a raft to float two waiting stages across prompted Wells Fargo's determined employees to tear down a portion of the nearest station to get the job done. Once this obstacle was overcome the drivers discovered that the ice on Smiths Fork had begun to move and carried away the bridge. Later a new track had to be broken through the mud from Fort Bridger to the Weber River. Once the two stages arrived in Salt Lake City, they brought five days' mail. A Salt Lake newspaper reported that the Wells Fargo stagecoaches headed east in January 1869 went only as far as Hardy's Station and that passengers would find sleighs there waiting their arrival. "The nerves of the timid traveler will be considerably improved by this information," observed the editor of the Salt Lake Telegraphy

Then as now accidents threatened the lives and limbs of employees and passengers. In September 1867 one Salt Lake paper routinely reported, "The eastern stage, which came in about nine o-clock last night, reports some mishaps on the line. At Rock Creek the stage was upset and one of the passengers had his leg broken, while another suffered severe injuries." The stagecoach driver always appeared to be the most vulnerable when accidents occurred. The Salt Lake Telegraph reported the details of a fatal accident:

About 8 o'clock on Wednesday evening last, as Wells Fargo & Co.'s coach was coming down Yellow Creek Hill, 8 miles east of Echo Canyon, the wheel horses became refractory and the driver asked Murphy, who was sitting beside him, to take hold of the wheel lines, as he was unable to control the team. Murphy said, after the accident, that he pulled the horses off into the ditch, thinking it was better to capsize the coach than let the teams run away. When the driver saw the danger, he called 'Look out; we are going,' and made a spring, it is supposed for the purpose of stopping his team while on the ground. In doing so his feet either got caught in the lines, or he staggered and fell, upon striking the ground, for when he was found the railing of the coach lay embedded in his temples, which killed him instantly. There were nine passengers on board, none of whom were injured, excepting General Clampitt and J. Q. Knowlton, who are neither seriously hurt. The driver, Shade Collier, was about 30 years of age, and has been known as a good and careful driver. No blame whatever can be justly attached to him.

A month later a Salt Lake City newspaper reported, "Bill Long, the stage driver who left this city with the eastern bound stage on Saturday evening last, fell from his seat almost a quarter mile this side of Hardy's station, in Parley's Canyon, and was rather badly bruised. No bones were broken and the man is doing well. His place was supplied by another driver and the stage proceeded without delay." Mishaps even occurred within the city. As Wells Fargo's stage was moving away from the Ogden Hotel and the passengers were arranging their seats, a traveler, who resided in Montana, accidently discharged his gun with the contents passing through his right leg. He had to be carried into the hotel and when it was discovered that his leg was broken the stage departed without him. Another unusual incident took place at Wanship where a Utah citizen owned an old camel that was seen by the stagecoach horses. Predictably, they became frightened and unruly, a situation that came close to being disastrous. However, the principal loss was a delay that prevented the stagecoach from arriving in Salt Lake City on time.

Far more important in establishing Wells Fargo as a symbol of the Wild West were the activities of thieves and knights of the road. One such incident can serve to illustrate many others. When the stagecoach headed eastward from Salt Lake City was robbed just west of the Laclede station, four bandits took $42,000. Wells, Fargo & Co. immediately advertised a reward.

$15,000 Reward!

One of our coaches was robbed, on the night of the 25th instant, near Laclede Station, Eastern Road, by four men.

WE WILL PAY $10,000 FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE CONTENTS OF THE TREASURE BOX

And in proportion for any part thereof:

AND $5,000 FOR THE ARREST OR CONVICTION OF THE ROBBERS OR PROPORTIONATE AMOUNT FOR ONE OR MORE OF THEM

DEAD OR ALIVE

Wells, Fargo & Co. Salt Lake City, August 26, 1868

Laclede station was in southern Wyoming, eighty-five miles east of Green River. Four men and a boy, all "veiled," perpetrated the robbery. The only people on the coach were the driver and a company blacksmith. Neither was injured. The robbers left the U.S. mail untouched but loaded the Wells Fargo express box on a horse and headed up a ravine in a northeasterly direction. The robbery was promptly reported at the next station, and when the westbound coach arrived at the spot the passengers alighted and spread out in search of the treasure box which they found rifled a mile and a half away in a ravine. The $42,000 treasure was mostly in gold bars, but greenbacks were also taken. Any letters in the express box that looked as if they might contain money were broken open, but the others were left untouched. The robbers, including the boy, were cool and efficient in going about their business, according to reports. All the Salt Lake newspapers reported this incident, and the news was republished throughout the American West. The Weekly Montana Democrat suggested, "Hemp and hot lead should be brought into immediate requisition." Before long a break came in the case. The boy, who had strayed from his bandit companions, was captured in the mountains adjoining the railroad route by a search party. Shortly thereafter the other culprits were rounded up.

Indians did attack the Pony Express and stagecoaches, burn the way stations, disrupt the mails, and harass the passengers. Throughout the 1860s the United States Cavalry or the local militiamen rode to the rescue and often punished the Indians mercilessly, if circumstances permitted it. Just as the Pony Express and Wells Fargo's stagecoaches were symbols of the Wild West to the white man, the pony and the stagecoaches were symbols of westward expansion and cultural disruption to the Indians.

The Paiutes near Pyramid Lake in Nevada went on the warpath in May 1860, defeating a military command. The Sacramento Union suggested, "If no peace is negotiated, small parties will be in danger from predatory bands of Indians, and they may render it very difficult to keep the mail route from Carson Valley to Salt Lake open and stocked for the Pony Express and mail coaches." Relief parties sent out from Carson City found stations halfway to Salt Lake City destroyed, the keepers killed, horses driven off by the Indians, and the service disrupted. They met the Pony Express accompanied by U.S. troops along with sixty emigrant wagons transporting Mormon families numbering 250 to 300 men, women, and children from Salt Lake to California. For three months the military found it necessary to escort the Pony Express west of Salt Lake City until peace was restored.

Wells Fargo inherited a significant Indian problem when it became the sole owner directly responsible for the overland route in 1866. In spite of the company's good intentions, service along the Platte route was erratic. In May 1867 the Rock Creek station on the eastern end of the line was burned by Indians who took away eight horses. Men at the station were unhurt. Troops were immediately dispatched and a Wells Fargo official announced, "The utmost caution will be observed, and no passengers will be exposed to danger, but the stages will continue to push through." The entire line was immediately stocked for a double daily service and a large supply of guns purchased and distributed to each station where six employees were to defend against attack. Even so, the next month Indians attacked the company's stations to the east and west of the North Platte crossing and drove off the stock. Near Cheyenne toward the end of August 1868 Indians scalped a man and drove off thirty horses and mules. That same evening they drove off all the stock from Wells Fargo's herd camp twenty miles below Cheyenne.

On the Smoky Hill route the Indians burned three stations and drove off all the cattle and horses east of Denver in May 1867, and then two of Wells Fargo's fast freight drivers were found mortally wounded by the side of the road a short distance from Denver. "Where are the troops?" asked the Vedette. In June 1867 the stage was passing an old abandoned station on the road in eastern Colorado when thirty mounted Indians concealed behind the adobe walls opened fire. The stage driver, sitting alone on the box, fell to the ground and was scalped on the spot. His body was later found riddled with bullets and arrows. One of two company stock-tenders was shot and scalped, while the other made his escape. The Indians seized eight horses and mules and cut away all the leather found on the coach. They slit open the mailbags, rifled all letters and packages sealed with red wax that indicated their value, and scattered the remaining contents. An elderly passenger, an itinerant preacher, crawled to safety down the road embankment, jumped into a nearby stream, and was carried to safety by the current. Later he was rescued by soldiers escorting immigrants.

No wonder the mails were sometimes late in arriving in Denver and Salt Lake City. Problems were so difficult on the route between these two communities in May 1867 that the division agent telegraphed the Denver office not to send any passengers on the stagecoaches until further notice. The Salt Lake City coach occasionally came into Denver two or three days behind time because of Indian troubles on the road. The company announced that Indians had taken over 155 head of stock from the stations between Denver and Salt Lake City and resolved to send out men to protect the line. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver printed a telegraphic dispatch stating, "Indians are thicker than gnats at buffalo time."

Despite such incidents, Wells Fargo continued to operate on the Smoky Hill route during 1869. In January Indians attacked one of the stagecoaches on the route, and both the messenger and the stage driver were killed. An elaborate funeral was held in Denver. The stages of various lines were draped in black for the procession, and the services were attended by company officials and their wives.

It is not surprising, then, that

Events such as these established the image of Wells Fargo in the wild and romantic west. . . . The individuals responsible for creating this picture were the newspaper editors who published the hundreds of journals that appeared in the Far West. . . . From their viewpoint and that of their readers, these reports represented hard reality and no myth. . . . The picture the newspapers created has taken on a mythical cast only as it is viewed from the perspectives and prejudices of our own times.

Turning to a more stable and continuous activity of Wells, Fargo & Co. — banking — the historian should note that in addition to the headquarters in San Francisco, the company maintained banking offices in New York, Portland, Denver, Virginia City, Carson City, and Salt Lake City. It began providing services in the Salt Lake City area in 1865 when it purchased Holladay and Halsey's bank. As soon as Ben Holladay had obtained the United States mail contract in 1864, he and his Salt Lake agent W. L. Halsey had formed a partnership to be bankers, dealers in exchange and gold dust. From Salt Lake they had moved into the Pacific Northwest, establishing an office in Virginia City, Montana Territory.

In the 1860s the Wells Fargo Bank in Salt Lake City was largely responsible for handling shipments of gold and silver from the mining districts to eastern depositories. This activity was well publicized. A reporter for the Deseret News was shown 200 ounces of gold, worth approximately $5,000, that arrived at the Wells Fargo Bank from the Sweetwater mines in Wyoming in September 1868, reportedly only a third of a week's run from the Miner's Delight Ledge. In March 1869 a silver brick weighing over a hundred pounds and with an assay value of $1,865.64, manufactured at the Eberhardt Mine, White Pine, Nevada, was on display prior to its shipment east. The Telegraph reported, "There are fifteen similar bricks now in Wells, Fargo & Co.'s office, waiting to go East." The Reporter commented, "This, to our knowledge, is the largest specimen of silver brick ever exhibited in the city, and, we think, a display of a few more of the same kind would have a salutary effect upon those who impose every obstacle within their reach to prevent the development of our mines."

The first Salt Lake City Directory and Business Guide in 1869 stated, "The Banking Companies doing business in Salt Lake City are those of Wells, Fargo & Co., whose general agent for all purposes in this region is Theodore F. Tracy, Esq.; and Hussey, Dahler & Co., managed by Warren Hussey, Esq.; the latter having purchased the 'Miners' National Bank.' Both are undoubted in credit and reliability." By 1874 Wells Fargo Bank had competition from the Deseret National Bank, the First National Bank, the Salt Lake City National Bank, Walker Brothers, White & McCornick, and Zion's Trust and Savings Bank. While confining its banking to Salt Lake City, Wells Fargo had established express offices in Corinne, Alta, Ophir, and Ogden.

Ten years later, the Utah Gazetteer reported six banks still operating in Salt Lake City, the majority of which were private banks. The Salt Lake City Directory for 1890 advertised that the Wells Fargo Bank (i.e., all of its branches) had capital of $6,250,000 and a surplus of $4,000,000. Historians of Utah banking have suggested that by 1891 the assets and volume of business of the Salt Lake branch of Wells Fargo Bank were comparable to those of the San Francisco headquarters. 87 By 1892-93 the bank subscribed to a half-page advertisement on the cover of the city directory, noting that the surplus had now risen to $5,483,393.

From offices at 123-125 South Main, exchange, banking, and express services were offered the public. Collections could be made throughout the United States or with the company's branch in London; money orders could be handled by telegraph; and, not to forget its past, the company was still giving "special attention to the purchase and sale of ores and bullion."

Several changes were made in the depression year 1893. The express office of Wells Fargo was moved to 58 West Second South with A. G. Clark as agent; John Dooly continued as cashier of the bank but had also become the president of the Utah Title Insurance and Trust Co. For emphasis the company's advertisement was printed on purple paper.

Wells Fargo's banking business began to boom at the end of the 1890s. John Dooly engaged in correspondence with J. T. Hammond, the Utah secretary of state, and systematically filed a statement of condition at the end of each calendar year. Assets for the whole bank, including the amount of loans, bonds, stocks, and warrants, real estate, furniture, and funds due from other banks and bankers, were enumerated. On the liability side of the ledger were the paid up capital, deposits, surplus, and undivided profits. The total of the balance sheet increased yearly, rising from $15,508,700 in 1898 to $16,814,532 in 1899 and $17,915,490 in 1900. The surplus fund was stabilized at $5,750,000, but the undivided profits steadily rose every year from $780,657 in 1898 to $1,820,927 by 1900 to $4,506,785 by the middle of 1902. Deposits also steadily increased from $8,508,700 in 1898 to $10,604,448 in July 1902.

Then in the midst of the financial success a scandal rocked the bank. Investigators discovered that the long-term assistant cashier and the paying teller, also a member of the Salt Lake City Council, were guilty of embezzlement and that the defalcations had been going on for many years. Throughout July and August 1902 sensational newspaper stories appeared in the Salt Lake newspapers, chiefly in the Tribune. Headlines announced the disappearance of the bank teller, who reportedly left his home carrying a gun and headed for nearby hills. His friends feared he had taken his life and immediately instituted a systematic search. The next day he returned and told of his contemplated suicide while hiding in a cave and watching his friends searching for him. Rumors circulated during the first days of July that anywhere from $20,000 to $90,000 had been stolen. Cashier Dooly offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the teller but refused to make any official announcement about the loss or those responsible for it.

As the investigation progressed, the assistant cashier continued to report to work. For forty-eight hours bank officers and employees maintained silence, much to the consternation of both the Deseret News and the Tribune. On July 3, 1902, both the assistant cashier and the paying teller were charged with embezzling $60,000. Tribune headlines told of how the paying teller had left his home and gone to the Knutsford Hotel to surrender to authorities; the assistant cashier was found hiding in the attic of his home. Both men were jailed and their bonds set at $30,000 each. The delay in the arrest had been caused by the official investigation of a Wells Fargo detective who had thoroughly examined the books and reported that these two employees and they alone were responsible for the embezzlement. The defalcation had extended over a period often years by drawing money from accounts of out-of-town depositors who left large amounts in the bank and seldom drew upon them. The guilty had periodically telegraphed themselves for a portion of these funds, drawn a check for the amount requested, given it to the bookkeeper for recording against the depositor's account, and later obtained the check and destroyed it. When the depositor came for his money, they withdrew enough from another account to cover the missing funds, "robbing Peter to pay Paul."

The statute of limitations protected them from liability for the first six years of their activity, leaving them liable for only the last four. The Elks tried unsuccessfully to raise bail for the paying teller, one of the their members. However, bail was reduced to $25,000.

In time Dooly explained that he had become suspicious three weeks before the arrests and had sent to San Francisco for Darrell A. Hare to conduct a quiet investigation. Once the evidence was gathered, Dooly told Hare, "We will count the cash tomorrow" in a voice that could be heard by the assistant cashier who notified his associate, the paying teller, that the "jig" was finally and conclusively over."

On July 9, 1902, Homer S. King, manager of Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco, arrived in Salt Lake City accompanied by Frank B. King, his son and the bank auditor, and immediately began an investigation in consultation with Dooly, the accused assistant cashier, the chief of Wells Fargo's detective service in San Francisco, J. N. Thacker, and representatives of the bonding company. The Deseret News welcomed his arrival saying, "Mr. King is ... a very pleasant man to talk to which is a delightful relief from the growl that usually goes out from those connected locally with the case when approached regarding it." The editor was annoyed that the two prisoners continued to hold receptions for their friends, chiefly lawyers and city councilmen, in the county jail and had their meals delivered either from home or restaurants.

The legal proceedings continued until July 20 when both men pleaded guilty, were sentenced to four years in the Utah penitentiary, but would be eligible for release through good behavior in two years and ten months. The public considered the sentence very light, and the Deseret News was dissatisfied. "The whole story has not yet been told," commented the editor. "The mantle of silence will probably cover over everything else that pertains to this scandal which for some weeks has agitated the public mind." The Salt Lake paper thought influence had been used to get the offenders to plead guilty, procure a negotiated light sentence, and thereby avoid unfavorable publicity. There appeared to be one law for the well established and another for the common citizens.

John Dooly had submitted his resignation upon the discovery of the theft, which was finally found to be $101,000, and two weeks after the affair was settled it was accepted. F. L. Lipman, the assistant cashier in the San Francisco bank with twenty years of experience, temporarily took charge of the Salt Lake bank. The press expressed regret at Dooly's departure, praising him in glowing terms and emphasizing that he was in no way involved in any malfeasance but that as chief administrative officer he was officially responsible.

Deposits in the Wells Fargo Bank that had reached approximately $10,600,000 just prior to the scandal dropped slightly by the end of the year. However, public confidence in the bank was not shaken, for by the end of 1903 deposits again totalled over $10 million. The company advertised itself as the "Oldest and Strongest Bank in Utah" with "Unsurpassed Facilities for Transacting Business in All Parts of the World." Two years later, the company advertised that its capital, surplus, and profits had risen to more than $16.6 million.

On the heels of this renewed success the officers of the bank, as part of a larger corporate reorganization, elected in April 1905 to sell the Salt Lake branch to Walker Brothers, Bankers, who paid a $50,000 bonus for good will. However, Wells Fargo continued to operate an express business in the state until 1918 when the federal government forced the consolidation of all the major domestic express companies into the American Railway Express. B. D. Caldwell, company president in New York, notified the Utah secretary of state that Wells Fargo would "retire from business in the State of Utah, from and after midnight of June 30th, 1918."

A dozen years after the company closed its express operation in Salt Lake City the Deseret News recalled its role in the developing West:

Wells Fargo & Co. was a well known institution throughout the west fifty years ago, and nowhere was its importance realized better than in the farming communities and mining camps of the intermountain region.

Then the newspaper quoted from an article that had appeared in its pages fifty years earlier:

The great benefit of that world-famed carrying company, to the whole region of the west in particular and the entire country in general, is recognized by every journal of importance. We cordially add our words to the great mass of testimony in favor of the great firm, which has done immense and incalculable good by its efficient express system, the only means by which hundreds of newly formed towns and mining camps have been kept in communication with the civilized world.

With these comments the Deseret News voiced what was commonly acknowledged in the state, that Wells, Fargo & Co., despite some difficult moments, had played a significant and positive role in the history of Salt Lake City and Utah for over sixty years.

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