Wells Fargo

by Ralph Moody, Victor Mays (Illustrator)

Henry Wells (1805–78) and William Fargo (1818–81) first worked together when they broke the Post Office monopoly on mail service along the Erie Canal in the 1840s. In 1852 they incorporated Wells, Fargo & Company and went into the express business in California, carrying gold, letters, packages, and freight between the mining regions and the financial centers of the East. They registered the miners to receive deliveries, guarded the gold-dust shipments, apprehended stage robbers, recovered stolen gold and silver, and established a reliable, conservative banking house in the world’s wickedest city, San Francisco. They survived the collapse of the mining industry, the great California panic of 1855, the depredations of bandits such as Rattlesnake Dick and Black Bart, the dominance of the railroads, and the San Francisco earthquake and fire. Acclaimed Western writer Ralph Moody tells the exciting story of Henry Wells and his drivers, messengers, and riders; his accountants, managers, and detectives; and how they built a lasting empire in a business most entrepreneurs thought too risky to try. Moody, author of more than a dozen books on Western subjects, gives an action-packed account that readers young and old will enjoy.

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Ralph Moody was an American author who wrote 17 novels and autobiographies about the American West. He was born in East Rochester, New Hampshire, in 1898 but moved to Colorado with his family when he was eight in the hopes that a dry climate would improve his father Charles's tuberculosis. Moody detailed his experiences in Colorado in the first book of the Little Britches series, Father and I Were Ranchers.

After his father died, eleven-year-old Moody assumed the duties of the "man of the house." He and his sister Grace combined ingenuity with hard work in a variety of odd jobs to help their mother provide for their large family. The Moody clan returned to the East Coast some time after Charles's death, but Moody had difficulty readjusting. Following more than one ill-timed run-in with local law enforcement, he left the family home near Boston to live on his grandfather's farm in Maine. His later Little Britches books cover his time in Maine and subsequent travels through Arizona, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Kansas—including stints as a bust sculptor and a horse rider doing "horse falls" for motion pictures—as he worked his way back toward Colorado while continuing to support his family financially.

Moody's formal education was limited, but he had a lifelong interest in learning and self-education. At age 50, he enrolled in a writing class, which eventually led to the publication of Father and I Were Ranchers. In addition to the Little Britches series, Moody wrote a number of books detailing the development of the American West. His books have been described as crude in the language of the times but are highly praised by Moody's readership and have been in continuous publication since 1950.

After a period as livestock business owner in rural Kansas, Moody sent to Massachusetts for his former sweetheart, Edna. They married and moved to Kansas City. They had three children.—Source

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the beginning of this book which went into the technology and social issues of the drivers and builders. Once it started talking about the long political struggle of various routes, I lost interest. Perhaps that is because I have no first hand knowledge of the regions through which the wagons road. Perhaps it is just another in a long list of documentations of government corruption and mess. Whatever the reason, I was fascinated and intrigued by the beginning,but the second half left me leaving this continually on my shelf. I could not finish it.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite kind of book...well thought out business practices that were adhered to despite competition and gold rush fever. Add the risk of constant robbery to a business plan and you must have the foresight to implement a way to thrive in spite of the conditions. I loved the stagecoach holdups and how the team of Wells Fargo detectives tracked them down and sent a message that no theft from WF would go unpunished. The solving of Black Bart's 6 year career as a highwayman was riveting.

I would read again.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I so enjoyed Little Britches that I continued with another Ralph Moody story. This does not have nearly the charm of that book, but it has a clean, simple style that is enjoyable. It is nice to learn more about California history, as I have now been living here for the past 6 years.