Curriculum Guide - Wells Fargo History

Wells Fargo History Museum, Portland
Curriculum packet
© 2012 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. ECG 646703
Table of contents
Introduction
About this guide
1
Oregon’s Social Sciences Core Standards
2
Wells Fargo’s history
A brief history of Wells Fargo & Company
4
Primary versus secondary sources
6
Activity
1
: How did Wells Fargo’s business change over time?
7
Wells Fargo’s role in Oregon’s history
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 5
: How did the discovery of gold change Oregon?
: Agents for Oregon — new opportunities in a changing economy : The general store and Wells Fargo
: Creating a timeline of Wells Fargo’s history in Oregon
10
14
17
20
The stagecoach
Activity 6 : Primary sources on stagecoach travel
24
Activity
30
7
: How fast did the stagecoach travel?
Activity 8 : Poetry in motion — stagecoach haiku
31
Activity 9 : Stagecoach advertisement
32
Appendix
Post-tour classroom activities
Vocabulary list
Suggested reading
35
36
37
About this guide
Dear Teacher,
This is a brief outline of the information presented to students when they visit the
Wells Fargo History Museum. The goal is to help students meet Oregon’s Social Sciences
Core Standards while having a fun and memorable experience.
• Students will learn about the Gold Rush, a cause of settlement in the American West.
- Geography of the United States and Oregon: Territories and states
- Gold mining in California and Oregon
- The delivery of gold from the mines to the mint
- The role Wells Fargo played in the settlement of Oregon and the West.
• Students will learn about different jobs at Wells Fargo:
- Assayers, who figured out the value of gold
- Agents, who served customers from 1852 to 1918
- Messengers, who delivered anything and everything
• Students will compare and contrast major forms of 19th century
transportation and learn how Wells Fargo used stagecoaches,
steamers, and trains to connect communities.
- The stagecoach as compared to other modes of transportation
- How the stagecoach provided a communication link, speedy transportation,
and carried money, mail, and people.
- Travel conditions aboard the stagecoach contrasted with present-day
travel conditions
- Operation and details of the stagecoach
• Students will learn how population changes in the West required
innovation and invention.
- Communication challenges leading to the invention and use of
the telegraph
- The transcontinental railroad
This is Jack the Dog
Please feel free to contact me if you need high-resolution images or
additional resources about Wells Fargo history.
Sincerely,
Steve Greenwood
Museum Manager
He symbolizes the brave dogs
who guarded gold and other
valuables at Wells Fargo
offices everywhere.
Jack will appear throughout
the guide to help your
students with the activities.
Read the whole story about
Jack the Dog on page 5.
1
Oregon’s Social Sciences Core Standards
Activity
Page Historical
Knowledge
How did
Wells Fargo’s
business change
over time?
7
4.3
How did the
discovery of gold
change Oregon?
10
4.2
Agents for Oregon — 14
new opportunities in
a changing economy
4.2
The general store
and Wells Fargo
4.3
17
Historical
Thinking
Economics Social Science Math Language
Analysis
Arts
4.18
Creating a timeline 20
of Oregon’s history
4.6
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
24
8.6
How fast did the
stagecoach travel?
30
Poetry in motion —
stagecoach haiku
31
Stagecoach
advertisement,
1867
32
4.21
5.19
Writing,
Grades 4 – 8
6.1
Writing,
Grades 4 – 8
3.18
Wells Fargo’s history
3
A brief history of
Wells Fargo & Company
After the discovery of gold in California, Wells Fargo became a business that connected the East with remote
gold fields in the West. Henry Wells and William Fargo met in New York on March 18, 1852, and started
Wells Fargo to offer banking, express,* and mail delivery services to merchants and miners. Soon after,
on July 13, Wells Fargo opened offices in California. Before the year ended, Wells Fargo had 12 offices on the
Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
As miners moved north and east from California, Wells Fargo’s banking, express, and mail services went with
them. Wells Fargo’s success in California allowed the company to expand quickly. By October, the first Oregon
office opened in Portland. William Barnhart, Wells Fargo’s first agent in Oregon, was a respected member of
the community. He exchanged miners’ gold for coin, sent money over long distances, and arranged for the
delivery of anything and everything.
Wells Fargo offices earned a reputation for service and fairness to all who walked through their doors. In
1864, Henry Wells believed that: “There was one very powerful business rule. It was concentrated in the word
courtesy.” This idea was later written in instructions to company employees in 1888: “Proper respect must be
shown to all — let them be men, women or children, rich or poor, white or black — it must not be forgotten that
the Company is dependent on these same people for its business.”
By the 1860s, people wanted faster travel and mail service across the nation, and the stagecoach was the
swiftest way to span the distance. In 1866, Wells Fargo ran the largest stagecoach empire in the world through
a network that covered over 3,000 miles in the West. The six-horse Concord stagecoach became known as a
symbol of speed and reliability that connected Oregon’s communities.
When Californians and Oregonians turned to farming and manufacturing,
Wells Fargo continued to offer express services and used ships and trains to
deliver goods. Wells Fargo had offices throughout both states and went
“ocean to ocean” to New York in 1888. By the time the United States entered
World War I in 1917, Wells Fargo’s service included 10,000 national offices along
80,000 miles of railroad. The company also delivered overseas to Japan, Australia,
Hong Kong, Central and South America, and Europe. The company’s slogan, The Fargo Way, was a promise
that all customers’ business would be handled with care — and on time.
In 1918, the federal government took over all the nation’s express companies to move troops and cargo during
World War I. Wells Fargo’s signs came down across Oregon, and Wells Fargo was left with only one bank in
San Francisco.
After World War I, the nation grew at a rapid pace. Wells Fargo Bank continued
to support communities with banking services to merchants and farmers.
Wells Fargo met the growing need for auto, home, and business loans with
neighborhood branch offices and motor banking to serve a generation on the
move. In 1970, Wells Fargo continued its tradition of using the newest technology
with Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that gave customers access to account
information 24 hours a day. With the arrival of the digital age, Wells Fargo
became the first bank to offer secure Internet banking in 1995 and mobile phone banking in 2007.
The name Wells Fargo has excited our imagination for generations, offering secure banking and express
services for pioneers, travel by stagecoach, and Pony Express riders who connected America from coast to
coast. The story of Wells Fargo and its people continues today as Wells Fargo carries on its original vision of
helping satisfy all its customers’ banking needs.
*See Vocabulary list on p. 36.
4
A brief history of
Wells Fargo & Company
Henry Wells (1805 - 1878)
Born in Thetford, Vermont, Henry Wells moved
to New York State in his youth and worked for
a farmer and shoemaker. Seeing an opportunity
in the express business, he changed careers.
In 1841, he became an agent in Albany,
New York, for William Harnden, founder of an
express business. Wells made his reputation
for dependability when he delivered fresh oysters to Buffalo, New York.
As the express business expanded to the Midwest, Wells formed a
partnership with other expressmen to deliver gold, mail, and people.
In 1850, these partners started the American Express Company.
He became its first president, serving until 1868.
In 1852, Henry Wells and William Fargo founded an express company
called Wells, Fargo and Company to serve customers in Gold Rush California.
When he visited the company headquarters in San Francisco a year
later, Wells judged it a success and wrote, “This is a great country and a
greater people.”
Dedicated to educational opportunities for women, Henry Wells founded
one of the nation’s first colleges for women, Wells College, in Aurora, New York.
William G. Fargo (1818 - 1881)
Born in Pompey, New York, William Fargo
was the oldest of twelve children. At age
thirteen, he had a 40-mile mail route.
In 1842, Fargo met Henry Wells in Auburn,
New York, and entered the express business.
In 1850, Wells and Fargo founded the American
Express Company, with Fargo serving as its
president from 1868 to 1881. Six of Fargo’s brothers also worked for
American Express.
William Fargo saw opportunity on the Pacific Coast. In 1852, he and
Henry Wells started the express company Wells, Fargo and Company.
Fargo came to California by stagecoach in 1863 to promote a railroad
over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and to lay the foundation for
Wells Fargo’s stagecoach business. Fargo served as president of
Wells Fargo from 1870 to 1872.
About Jack
the Dog
There really
was a Jack the
Dog. He was
a 128-pound
mastiff
belonging
to John Q.
Jackson, Wells Fargo’s agent in
Auburn, California, in 1852.
Jack wasn’t the only dog working
in Wells Fargo’s offices. Down the
road from Auburn, in Iowa Hill,
T.S. Hotchkiss became
Wells Fargo’s agent. Hotchkiss
helped secure his office with a
large, powerful dog named Tiger.
“Tig” — as most townspeople knew
the dog — was trained to guard
the office safe, which he faithfully
did for several years until he died
in a fire that completely destroyed
the Wells Fargo office.
The image of a faithful dog
guarding a treasure box became
a universal symbol* of security and
service for the express business.
In 1893, a Wells Fargo employee
placed his bull terrier puppy
on top of a Wells Fargo treasure
box at the Midwinter Fair in
San Francisco’s Golden Gate
Park. This cute canine, identified
as Jack, became a part of
Wells Fargo history.
*See Vocabulary list on p. 36.
William Fargo was active in New York politics for many years and
served two terms as mayor of Buffalo. He was also a director of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, which led to the use of his name for the
town of Fargo, North Dakota.
5
Primary sources vs.
secondary sources
Many historians gather history from primary sources. A primary source is something from the time
in history you are studying. For example, a journal or diary written by someone from the time and
place you are studying is an excellent primary source.
Some examples of primary sources are:
• Photographs
• Maps
• A journal or diary
• Tickets for travel
• A letter written by someone during the time you are studying
• Envelopes and labels
• Original documents such as the Declaration of Independence
• Advertisements from the time
• Objects that show what life was like: sewing baskets, toys, etc.
Secondary sources are anything written or told about a time in history by someone who has already
studied it. It is secondary because the person telling the history did not live in that time. An example
of a secondary source is a book written about a time or place in the past.
Some examples of secondary sources are:
• History textbooks
• Magazine articles written about the time, such as a
history of children in the United States
• Text plates in museums containing information about
history
6
How did Wells Fargo’s business
change over time?
Directions:
Use the primary
sources to answer
questions about how
Wells Fargo’s business
changed over time.
Wells Fargo used
steamers to ship
millions of dollars
in gold down the
Columbia River.
It took a boat 1 — 2
months to travel
from coast to coast.
Wells Fargo used
stagecoaches to
deliver gold, letters
and packages, and
people. It took
about a month to
travel across the
country when
the stagecoach
was used.
Wells Fargo offered
banking services
from buying gold
dust to offering
checks. Wells Fargo
owned a bank in
Portland starting in
1894.
1
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.3
Wells Fargo managed the
Pony Express for its last
seven months in 1861.
It took the Pony Express
less than 2 weeks to deliver
letters across the country.
Railroads expanded
business and settlement,
and Wells Fargo used
railroads to deliver
anything and everything
between 1869 and 1918.
It took up to 4 days to
cross the country by train.
Wells Fargo used wagons
to deliver goods around
town between 1852
and 1918. After 1900,
Wells Fargo used electric
and gas-powered motor
trucks to deliver goods
around town. Horses
tired and needed more
care. Trucks were more
efficient, went longer
distances, and didn’t need
to be replaced as often.
Continued on next page ➔
7
How did Wells Fargo’s business
change over time?
1
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.3
1. List at least 3 types of transportation Wells Fargo used to deliver express.
2.What was the fastest way to travel across the country?
3.When Wells Fargo used the fastest transportation available, how did it benefit customers?
4.After goods arrived by steamer, stagecoach, or train, Wells Fargo used
and
to deliver express around towns.
Which was more efficient?
5.List 3 things Wells Fargo delivered.
6.Since 1852, Wells Fargo has taken care of people’s money by opening
.
Hint: It’s what Wells Fargo does today.
8
Wells Fargo’s role
in Oregon’s history
9
How did the discovery of gold
change Oregon?
2
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
Economics: 4.18
Social Science
Analysis: 4.21
Directions:
Read the primary and
secondary sources to learn
how the discovery of
gold changed Oregon.
After reading the sources,
match the word with the
best answer.
Oregon Spectator newspaper, August 10, 1848
“ . . . a terrible fever which has mostly depopulated all the seaport towns and caused a general rush to the
interior. It is not exactly the yellow fever, but a fever for a yellow substance called gold. An exceedingly rich
gold mine has been discovered in the Sacramento Valley, and all . . . have deserted their occupations and
rushed . . . to the mines to make their fortunes . . . San Francisco was entirely deserted, everybody having
gone mining . . . Shovels, spades, pickaxes, and other ‘digging’ implements* commanded enormous prices.
Many . . . were digging with knives, sticks and their finger nails.”
New York Times newspaper, October 13, 1854
“The whole country was thrown into a fever of excitement a week since by the publication of two letters in the
Portland Times, stating that rich diggings had been discovered on the Coquille River, near
Port Orford. For three weeks the mines were all the talk. The ocean steamers carried out two or three loads
of gold-hunters; large parties started out on horseback; the price of horses and mules went up . . . The return
steamers, however, brought back several long-faced gentlemen . . . The upshot about the Coquille mines and
nearly all other reported ‘rich diggings,’ appears to be that there is gold there. But it is hard to get . . .”
Gold in Oregon – Prospects of the Harvest.
New-York Daily Times newspaper, August 14, 1855
“It now is considered as a fixed fact that a portion of Oregon is as rich in mineral resources as California . . .
Hundreds are leaving the Willamette Valley, and as soon as harvest is over, hundreds more will go seeking
their fortune in the gold bearing country. James O’Neil, Wells, Fargo & Company’s agent for Oregon, has
dispatched a messenger, who will make a personal examination of the country, and give facts, on which all
may rely.”
*See Vocabulary list on p. 36.
Continued on next page ➔
10
How did the discovery of gold
change Oregon?
2
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
Economics: 4.18
Social Science
Analysis: 4.21
Oregonian newspaper, July 16, 1861
“The steamers from San Francisco bring large numbers, bound for the mines; and the overland
stage comes every day loaded with miners. Besides, we have reason to believe, that numbers
of miners from California, take the route East of the mountains, to Walla Walla. There will
probably be nearly or about 5,000 persons at the mines by October . . . ”
Oregonian newspaper, May 30, 1862
“Wells, Fargo & Company’s express brought it down upwards of 120 pounds of gold dust from
the mines on Tuesday last. Most of this dust came from Salmon River. The emigration to
Salmon River is still increasing — a much larger number of miners having passed through our
city this week than last . . . There cannot be less than 20,000 to 25,000 persons now in the
mines and on the road between this city and that point.”
Wells Fargo
The Gold Rush was a major event in U.S. history and caused one of the largest migrations ever witnessed.
The richest California claims had dried up before 1860, and cities as distant as San Francisco and St. Louis
tried to compete for the gold dust discovered upriver from Portland. Gold, it seemed, was everywhere in
Oregon. Thousands of people came down with “gold fever” and believed the cure was to leave their families
and friends and go west to the gold mines. In 1851, gold was discovered in the Rogue River Valley, leading
to a rush. Another gold rush took place in eastern Oregon in 1861 when miners struck it rich on the Powder
River and John Day River. Soon, Baker City and Canyon City, Oregon, had gold strikes. Other gold-seekers
pushed on into eastern Washington, and then Idaho, with Wells Fargo following to serve these miners and
merchants. Names like Walla Walla, Orofino, Lewiston, Florence, Placerville, Boise, and Silver City were
on every tongue. When gold was discovered in Oregon, steamboats carried passengers to the mines and
delivered gold to the mint. One steamboat company carried 10,500 people up the Columbia River in 1861
and 36,000 by 1864.1
iners used different ways to get the gold out of the ground. Miners panned for gold
M
in creeks, swung pickaxes, drilled holes, and tunneled into the ground. With hydraulic
mining, miners washed away great chunks of hillsides with powerful jets of water.
After miners discovered gold, they needed to exchange it for money. Some of the
mining camps grew into towns that served the needs of miners with grocery stores,
restaurants, dance halls, and entertainment. Wells Fargo’s trustworthy agents moved
into other Western mining camps and settlements and sent gold, mail, and express
by the fastest transportation available: stagecoach, steamer, and railroad. Thousands
of miners who found gold did not have an easy way to exchange it for money.
Wells Fargo and other express companies helped the miners by buying the gold and
transporting it from the mines to the mint. In 1863, Wells Fargo opened offices in
eastern Oregon and Idaho. Steamers carried gold from Lewiston, Idaho, and stops
down the Columbia to Portland, where ocean steamers hurried it to San Francisco.
At each stage, a Wells Fargo messenger was aboard and guarded the gold, goods, and
mail. Millions of dollars of gold came out of Oregon during the 1860s and 1870s.
1
http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=431
11
How did the discovery of gold
change Oregon?
2
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
Economics: 4.18
Social Science
Analysis: 4.21
Directions:
Match the word with the sentence that best describes it.
___Oregonian
A. the greed and desire to find gold as if sick with a fever
___Gold fever B. carried people to the mines over water and delivered gold to mint
___Price of horses and mules C. a place where miners found gold in Oregon in 1851
___Steamers D. a banking and express company that delivered gold, letters, and
packages, and anything and everything through Oregon and
the West
___Stagecoaches E. became a key industry in Oregon
___Migration F. the movement of people from one place to another
___Rogue River Valley G. a person who exchanged miner’s gold for money and arranged
for the delivery of gold, goods, and mail
___Wells Fargo H. a newspaper that started in 1850 and is still in business today
___Gold Rush I.went up because miners needed animals to haul supplies
and gold
___Agent J.carried people to the mines over land and delivered gold to
the mint
___Messenger K.was a migration of thousands of people to the mines in
California, Oregon, Alaska, and other parts of the country
___Mining
L. a person who guarded the gold, goods, and mail on stagecoaches,
steamers, and trains
Continued on next page ➔
12
How did the discovery of gold
change Oregon?
Order the events below by when they happened. #1 is already filled in.
2
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
Economics: 4.18
Social Science
Analysis: 4.21
- Miners needed the gold exchanged for money and Wells Fargo did this.
- Because people left, many of the towns were empty and became ghost towns.
- Newspapers spread the word about the discovery of gold in Oregon.
- Thousands of people migrated to the mines of Oregon seeking gold.
- Miners got the gold out of the ground and had money to spend.
- Some mining camps turned into towns that served the needs of miners with general stores, restaurants,
drug stores, and entertainment.
- Gold dried up and miners left and went to work elsewhere.
- People came down with gold fever upon hearing the news of gold in Oregon.
- Wells Fargo moved the gold from the mines to the mint, where it was turned into coins.
1. Gold discovered in Oregon.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
13
3
Activity
Agents for Oregon
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
Overview
In October 1852, William Barnhart opened Oregon’s first Wells Fargo office in Portland. A year later,
Wells Fargo’s San Francisco headquarters called upon Barnhart’s knowledge of honest businessmen in
the territory and asked him to open offices in Oregon City, Salem, and other towns. Between 1852 and 1918,
Wells Fargo hired over 400 agents for Oregon. The stories below describe the work of two Oregonians.
Read the stories of
the people below
and fill in the Venn
Diagram to learn
how their jobs were
similar and different.
Cornelius Beekman
Cornelius Beekman grew up in New York and moved to California in
1850 at the age of 22. He found work as a carpenter in San Francisco,
but was lured away to become a gold miner — first at Scott’s Bar and
then at Sawyer’s Bar.
Beekman decided to start his own business. He became an express
messenger and delivered gold, goods, and mail. For seven years,
he delivered express twice a week between Oregon and California.
Beekman was the only rider and charged one dollar for letters and
newspapers, and 5% for the transportation of gold. Alone, he delivered
more than $15 million in gold!
In 1863, Wells Fargo hired Beekman as its agent in Jacksonville,
Oregon. From that office, he shipped millions of dollars in gold
to San Francisco for minting. As a Wells Fargo agent, Beekman
exchanged miner’s gold for coin, sent money over long distances, and
arranged for the delivery of gold, goods, and mail. Beekman also sold
stagecoach tickets for the California Stage Company.
While working for Wells Fargo, Beekman became a banker and opened Beekman Bank. When Beekman
retired in 1912, his customers refused to withdraw their money, because they had such trust in his bank since
it survived hard times in 1873, 1893, and 1907. It was not until after Beekman’s death that his customers
closed their accounts. Cornelius Beekman served Wells Fargo as an agent for 42 years. As a Gold Rush miner,
lone rider, Wells Fargo agent, and solid financial man, Beekman’s life showed new opportunities in Oregon’s
growing economy.
Continued on next page ➔
14
3
Activity
Agents for Oregon
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
Wells Fargo has a long history of employing women,
echoing the words of Henry Wells, “Give her the
opportunity!” Henry Wells was a man not just of words
but also of actions when he founded Wells College for
women in New York in 1868. Just a few years later,
Wells Fargo hired Mary Taggart as its first female agent
to run the office in Palmyra, Nebraska, in 1873. Between
1873 and 1918, Wells Fargo hired over 400 women as
agents in 24 states, territories, and in Mexico. At least
45 agents in Oregon were women, including Emma
Howard (pictured) and Kate Buick. Hundreds more
women worked at Wells Fargo as auditors, clerks,
copywriters, stenographers, and telephone operators.
Many of Wells Fargo’s women agents in the field wore
other hats as railroad agents, telegraphers, or owners
of their own businesses. Today, about two-thirds of
Wells Fargo employees are women, who work for one
of the longest continuously operating companies in
the United States.
Kate Buick
Wells Fargo employed Kate Buick as its agent for Roseburg between 1898 and 1912. As a Wells Fargo agent,
Buick shipped gold, sent money over long distances, and arranged for the delivery of gold, goods, and mail.
The telegraph was a new invention that sent messages over wires and Oregonians began using this service
in 1863. Instead of taking weeks and months for information to arrive, the telegraph made it possible to
send and receive messages instantly. Kate learned Morse Code from her father and worked for the Southern
Pacific Railroad as a telegraph operator. In 1880, President Hayes visited Oregon, and a newspaper reporter
covering the President’s visit came to the telegraph office to wire his report back East. Kate started to tap the
message, but the reporter said that he preferred an adult send the message since she was only thirteen at the
time! Seeing her father overwhelmed with work, Kate persuaded the reporter to let her send the telegram.
Immediately, the reporter penciled an addition that announced to the nation that a young girl from Oregon
sent the telegram. Her niece, Veva Buick Poorman, further recalled in a 1973 interview that Kate Buick helped
the war effort by using her knowledge of Morse Code to instruct over 50 people during World War I.
Another story from Ms. Poorman described how Ms. Buick safeguarded Wells Fargo gold that had arrived on
the evening train, after the local bank had closed. Armed with a small pistol in her handbag, Ms. Buick carried
Wells Fargo gold home in a satchel, or, if it was too heavy, lugged the gold in a lunchbox. The next day, Kate
deposited the gold in the bank.
In 1918, the federal government took over all express businesses, including Wells Fargo’s, and started a
company called American Railway Express. Ms. Buick continued to work as an agent for Railway Express
into the 1950s.
15
The contributions of
Wells Fargo agents in Oregon
List Beekman’s jobs
3
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.2
List Buick’s jobs
What jobs
were similar?
16
The general store
and Wells Fargo
Directions:
Read the story about
general stores and
Wells Fargo and
answer the questions
at the end.
4
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.3
Before the days of supermarkets, Oregon pioneers purchased
goods through trade, cash, or credit at the general store.
Some general stores offered the service of delivering mail
and packages through Wells Fargo. In the 1800s, the general
store was not just a place for people to purchase goods or do
business — it was also a meeting place to get news and discuss
community events. If you had a store, it made sense to be where
customers went.
Wells Fargo’s first agent in Oregon was William H. Barnhart, who
also owned a general store. As an express agent, Barnhart bought
and sold gold dust, delivered letters and packages, and offered checks to make it easier to move money over
long distances. Another example was John Conner from Albany, Oregon, who served as a Wells Fargo agent
and ran a general store that dealt in general merchandise, dry goods, and “country produce.”
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Continued on next page ➔
17
The general store
and Wells Fargo
4
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.3
During the 1880s, John Day had the
largest population of Chinese in eastern
Oregon. Chinese merchants Lung On
and Ing Hay opened a general store
and drug store in the Kam Wah Chung
building in 1888. They served John
Day for over fifty years by selling goods
from China, canned food, bulk goods,
and tobacco. Their general store was
also an important place for socializing,
employment, and delivering goods
via Wells Fargo.
Alongside their general store, James Crawford and Charles
W. Slocum served as Wells Fargo agents in Vancouver,
Washington Territory, between 1864 and 1871. Slocum and
Crawford opened a general store at Third and Main Streets.
The meeting points moved as business changed with new
technologies in communication and transportation. Today,
Wells Fargo no longer delivers express to and from general
stores, but it does have banks located in over 500 grocery
stores throughout the West.
18
The general store
and Wells Fargo
4
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 4.3
Questions:
1.Based upon the reading, what was one place for people to buy goods, share news, and talk with members of
their community? Where do you meet friends in your community today?
2.If you had a business in the 1800s, why would you want to be located near where people went?
Look at the ads on the previous page to answer this and the following two questions.
3. List three items that each general store carried. Which general store carried more items?
4.Were both store owners agents for Wells Fargo? Why would the owner of a general store offer customers the
service of delivering letters and packages?
5.Which ad did a better job of persuading you that it is a good place to shop? Why?
Your general store —
creating an advertisement
Advertisements tell much
about how businesses promote
their products. Advertisements
for general stores were printed
in newspapers. It is your task
to draw and write an
advertisement to persuade
people to shop at your
general store.
19
Creating a timeline of Wells Fargo’s
history in Oregon
5
Activity
Historical
Thinking: 4.6
Directions:
Divide students into groups and have
them research Oregon’s history on the
Oregon Historical Society’s Timeweb
—http://www.ohs.org/education/
oregonhistory/timeweb/flash.cfm.
Have each group create a poster with
a timeline that shows Wells Fargo’s
history as a part of Oregon’s history.
Use the images and information below
to create your poster.
1852 Wells Fargo opened its first office on Front Street in Portland.
1859 Oregon became the 33rd state to join the United States.
1864 Wells Fargo had offices in Salem and Eugene.
Continued on next page ➔
20
Creating a timeline of Wells Fargo’s
history in Oregon
5
Activity
Historical
Thinking: 4.6
1864Wells Fargo started express service in eastern Oregon from The Dalles
through Canyon City and Umatilla by way of Baker City.
1866Henry W. Corbett ran the California-Oregon Stage Line and served as President of the
First National Bank of Portland between 1898 and 1903.
1868When the Columbia River froze so that steamers could not deliver letters and packages, Wells Fargo
messenger Thomas Cann cut his way through the snow-covered trail. He made 114 miles in 3 1/2 days.
1880 Wells Fargo had 50 offices in Oregon.
1883
Wells Fargo operated 75 express offices linked by steamer, railroad, and the famed California and
Oregon stage line.
Continued on next page ➔
21
Creating a timeline of Wells Fargo’s
history in Oregon
5
Activity
Historical
Thinking: 4.6
1894 Wells Fargo bought Portland’s Commercial National Bank to expand its financial services for
the Pacific Northwest.
1914
Wells Fargo Agent E. T. Watkins shipped 4,000 baby calves from Tillamook to the
Willamette Valley.
1917
Elk had almost disappeared from Oregon. In 1917, Oregon’s government called on Wells Fargo
to transport a large number of young elk from Portland to Klamath County, where state officials
released them.
1918 Wells Fargo had 147 offices in Oregon.
1933 Community banks across Oregon joined under the First National Bank of Portland banner.
1958To reflect the bank’s expansion throughout the state, the First National Bank of Portland
became the First National Bank of Oregon.
1961 First National Bank installed a computer.
1980s First Interstate’s “Day & Night Tellers” — today known as ATMs — were everywhere.
1981 First National Bank became First Interstate Bank.
1996 First Interstate Bank joined Wells Fargo to continue to serve Oregon.
22
The stagecoach
23
6
Activity
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
Directions:
Read the primary sources on stagecoach travel. After
answering the questions, write a paragraph that answers this writing prompt:
What was it like to travel on
the stagecoach?
Riding the Overland Stage (1861)1
Historical
Knowledge: 8.6
Social Science
Analysis: 5.19
Writing:
Grades 4-8
Starting out
Mark Twain and his brother discovered that
passengers were limited to only 25 pounds of baggage . . .
“Our coach was a swinging and swaying cage of the
most sumptuous description — an imposing cradle
on wheels. It was drawn by six handsome horses,
and by the side of the driver sat the ‘conductor,’ the
legitimate captain of the craft; for it was his
business to take charge and care of the mails,
baggage, express matter, and passengers. We three were the only passengers this trip. We sat on the back
seat, inside. About all the rest of the coach was full of mail bags — for we had three days’ delayed mail with
us. Almost touching our knees, a perpendicular wall of mail matter rose up to the roof. There was a great pile
of it strapped on top of the stage, and both the fore and hind boots were full. We had twenty-seven hundred
pounds of it aboard, the driver said.
We changed horses every ten miles, all day long, and fairly flew over the hard, level road. We jumped out and
stretched our legs every time the coach stopped, and so the night found us still vivacious and unfatigued.”
Traveling
The next day, the stage suffered a breakdown, forcing its passengers to evacuate while repairs were made.
The conductor laid the blame for the mishap on the extra weight of too many mailbags. After throwing half
the mail onto the prairie, the stage resumed its journey. . .
“Whenever the stage stopped to change horses, we would wake up, and try to recollect where we were —
and succeed — and in a minute or two the stage would be off again, and we likewise. We began to get into
country, now, threaded here and there with little streams. These had high, steep banks on each side,
and every time we flew down one bank and scrambled up the other, our party inside got mixed somewhat.
First we would all lie down in a pile at the forward end of the stage, nearly in a sitting posture, and in a
second we would shoot to the other end and stand on our heads. And we would sprawl and kick, too,
and ward off ends and corners of mail-bags that came lumbering over us and about us; and as the dust
rose from the tumult, we would all sneeze in chorus, and the majority of us would grumble, and probably
say some hasty thing, like: ‘Take your elbow out of my ribs! Can’t you quit crowding?’ . . .
“Riding The Overland Stage, 1861,” Eyewitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (1998).
1
Continued on next page ➔
24
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
The way station
6
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 8.6
Social Science
Analysis: 5.19
Writing:
Grades 4-8
Each evening, the stage announced its approach to a way station by the driver blowing a bugle. The way
station offered sparse comfort.
“The station buildings were long, low huts, made of sun-dried, mud-colored bricks, laid up without mortar
(adobes the Spaniards call these bricks, and Americans shorten it to ’dobies). The roofs, which had no slant to
them worth speaking of, were thatched and then sodded or covered with a thick layer of earth, and from this
sprang a pretty rank growth of weeds and grass. It was the first time we had ever seen a man’s front yard on
top of his house.
“The buildings consisted of barns, stable-room for twelve or fifteen horses, and a hut for an eating room for
passengers. This latter had bunks in it for the station-keeper and a hostler or two. You could rest your elbow
on its eaves, and you had to bend in order to get in at the door. In place of a window there was a square hole
about large enough for a man to crawl through, but this had no glass in it. There was no flooring, but the
ground was packed hard. There was no stove, but the fire-place served all needful purposes. There were no
shelves, no cupboards, no closets. In a corner stood an open sack of flour, and nestling against its base were a
couple of black and venerable tin coffee-pots, a tin teapot, a little bag of salt, and a side of bacon.
“By the door of the station keeper’s den, outside, was a tin wash-basin, on the ground. Near it was a pail of
water and a piece of yellow soap, and from the eves hung a hoary blue woolen shirt, significantly — but this
latter was the station-keeper’s private towel, and only two persons in all the party might venture to use it —
the stage-driver and the conductor.”
Continued on next page ➔
25
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
Memoirs of a youthful traveler
6
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 8.6
Social Science
Analysis: 5.19
Writing:
Grades 4-8
The story below was taken from an article written for the Los Banos Enterprise newspaper (June 30, 1968).
Ralph Milliken, Curator of the Los Banos Museum, interviewed Rebecca Yokum, who talked about her trip
as a teenager travelling on the stagecoach to California in 1860. Wells Fargo Bank published this story in a
booklet called The Overland Stage.
“Father was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. He went by stage to California in 1859. At first he wrote us
that we were to come to California by water by way of the Isthmus of Panama. ‘Don’t come by stage under any
circumstances,’ he wrote us. Later he sent us word that he was coming back to Missouri. Mother had made up
her mind that she was coming to California. She was a very determined woman and without waiting for father
to get back she prepared to set out without delay for California on the Butterfield Overland stages.
It was April 1860 when Mother wrote that we were coming. Our tickets were bought several days in advance
and called for our trip to begin in Springfield, Missouri, and end at Santa Clara, California . . .
Travel conditions
On the appointed day the stagecoach drawn by six horses came to a sudden stop at my grandfather’s gate.
The top of the stage was covered with men sitting back to back. Inside the coach were still more men. There
were three wide seats and one of these had been reserved for mother and us children. On the high seat in
front sat the conductor and the driver.
We were five that set out that Friday morning, my mother, my three brothers and myself . . . I was fifteen
and had on a very beautiful hat of which I was very proud. It had a wide brim and lots of flowers on it.
My youngest brother was three and was all decked out with the cutest pair of little red topped boots. The
stage was so crowded that mother had to hold him on her lap . . . Everything on the stage was so shiny and
new that we felt we were in a palace. The driver kicked off the brake and we were off for California with the
horses on the run.
Food and clothing
We had a large lunch basket filled with provisions to last us until we got well along on our way. In our trunk
we had enough clothing to last us for the entire trip . . . We soon found that the stage made no stops whatever
except to change horses. It ran continuously day and night. About every fourteen miles there was a stage
station. At those stations there were generally only men. The moment we rolled into the station the tired horses
were dragged away and fresh ones put in their places. Speed seemed to be the one and only thing the stage
people desired. As soon as the horses were securely fastened to the stage, away we would go on the run. Usually
the two horses in the lead were unbroken mustangs. Of course we didn’t sleep any the first night. But the second
night out I was that tired and I just had to sleep. When I awoke I found that I had fallen over in my sleep . . .
There were large steps on the side of the coach for the passengers to enter the stage. It was about ten o’clock
at night and we happened to set our lunch basket on the step for a minute. Some dog, or something, must
have grabbed it in the darkness, for when we looked for it our lunch was gone . . .
Continued on next page ➔
26
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
6
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 8.6
Social Science
Analysis: 5.19
Writing:
Grades 4-8
After the loss of our lunch basket we had to buy our meals at the stage stations. But I would just like to see
you eat what they served. Beans! Black bread! Often mother would pay a dollar for bread only to find that it
was spoiled. At the stage stations there were generally only men. Usually they would bring it [food] right to
the stage and hand it to us. There were only a very few times that we got to eat at a table.
When we had been about a week on our journey the stage company took off the Concord coach we had been
riding in and put us on board a two-seated mud wagon. There wasn’t near room enough for all the passengers
and some of the men were forced to wait behind for the next stage . . .
Stoic stagemen
The same conductor and driver went with us for a day or so at a time. We never changed conductors and
drivers at the same station. One of the men was always fresh. They were very stoical about things. It was
just a part of their business to take risks. When we arrived at a station one of them always stayed on the
stage with the passengers. The other tended to the stage business. Fresh horses were always ready for us the
minute we drove up. The horses were not given rest on the road between stations, but were rested for days at
stations. The horses always went on the run. We would never have gotten through if they hadn’t . . .
Crossing a river
Three or four times on the way we
changed stages. One time was at a
river. The water was high and the stage
couldn’t get across. The stage drove up
to the river bank, and we all got out. A
great mass of drift wood had been washed
down by the flood. We had to walk across
the stream on this drift wood. On the
opposite bank another stage was waiting
for us. Two men were helping me keep
my footing on the drift wood. I got smart
and jumped ahead. As I did so I slipped and fell into the water up to my waist.
To add to my discomfort, our trunk with all our extra clothes had been left behind several days before by the
stage company . . .
I never knew there were so many buffaloes in the world. We saw thousands and thousands of them. In going
through one herd they were so thick in front of us that the stage horses had to slow down and go on the walk.
Somewhere after we got into California we were all on forenoon going through mountains. The road was
very narrow and every few minutes the conductor would play a little tune on a bugle to warn any other
travelers that the stage was coming. The long notes on his bugle, echoing through the mountains sounded
very romantic.
Continued on next page ➔
27
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
Journey’s end
6
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 8.6
Social Science
Analysis: 5.19
Writing:
Grades 4-8
I was so tired I don’t remember how many days it was, but sometime after we got into California we reached
a town called San Jose. I know it was half past seven in the evening on the third day of May, 1860. It was dark
and cold. The lamp inside the coach was lit and the curtains all fastened down to make it as warm as possible.
We were again in a Concord coach and were sitting four in a seat. The coach was crowded.
My little brother was sitting in my mother’s lap. She had held him the entire twenty-one days of our trip.
The only sleep we had was what we could catch while the stage coaches traveled along with the horses
on the run. For three weeks, we had no change of clothing. We were little short of dead!
There seemed to be some sort of difficulty. The stage people came over to the stage and inquired if there
wasn’t a woman and some children to get off at San Jose. Mother replied: ‘No. Our tickets call for Santa Clara.’
While the stage was still waiting, a tall, strange-looking man with whiskers all over his face, stepped out of
the darkness. He poked his head through the curtains and peered into the coach. He looked us
over carefully in the dim light and then said firmly: ‘I guess you will get off right here!’ Then he smiled.
It was father.”
28
Primary sources on
stagecoach travel
1. In addition to people, what else did the stagecoach carry?
6
Activity
Historical
Knowledge: 8.6
Social Science
Analysis: 5.19
Writing:
Grades 4-8
2.How many pounds of luggage was each passenger allowed to bring?
3.Why do you think receiving letters meant so much to people who settled the West?
4.How often did the stagecoach stop?
5.What was a way station?
6.What did the way station provide for passengers when they stopped?
7. How are these primary sources similar and different?
29
How fast did the
stagecoach travel?
7
Activity
Math: 6.1
Using the math formula below, figure out how long it took the stagecoach to travel 2,800 miles from
St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, traveling at 5 miles per hour.
Time (in hours) = 2,800 (distance from St. Joseph to Sacramento)
5 miles per hour (rate)
How many days would this be?
Now figure out how long it would take to travel 2,800 miles today from St. Joseph, Missouri,
to Sacramento, California, traveling at 65 miles per hour.
Time (in hours) = 2,800 (distance from St. Joseph to Sacramento)
65 miles per hour (rate)
Finally, figure out how long it took the stagecoach to travel 710 miles from Portland, Oregon, to
Sacramento, California, traveling at 5 miles per hour.
Use the following formula
to calculate your answers:
Distance
Time= -------------------------------Rate
30
Poetry in motion —
stagecoach Haiku
8
Activity
Writing:
Grades 4-8
In the 1890s, large numbers of Japanese immigrated to the
Pacific Coast, and Wells Fargo offered express and banking
services to Japanese American communities. These new settlers
brought traditions from Japan. One tradition was Japanese
poetry called Haiku. The pattern for Haiku is the following:
Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables
Directions:
1. Brainstorm words that describe nature, such as trees,
mountains, the wind, dust, etc.
2.Make sure that you include some aspect of travel on the
stagecoach.
3. Narrow down your choice of words.
4. Count the syllables to follow the 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
5. Illustrate your haiku with a drawing.
Flower grower Sadakuso Enomoto used Wells Fargo to ship
chrysanthemums to New Orleans.
Example:
Dust swelling around
Sitting and jostling inside
Finally, Portland
Haiku is a form of
Japanese poetry that
uses a pattern to
describe nature.
31
9
Activity
Stagecoach advertisement
Social Science
Analysis: 3.18
Directions:
Look at the
advertisement
on the next page
and answer the
following questions:
1. What symbol is used in this advertisement?
2. What is the date on the advertisement?
3.How many towns did the stagecoach stop in? Using a modern-day map, locate as many of these stops
as you can.
4. Who might read this advertisement?
5. How long did it take to travel from Sacramento to Portland?
6. How much did it cost to travel from Sacramento to Portland?
7. How did the advertisement persuade you that riding the stagecoach was the best way to travel?
Continued on next page ➔
32
9
Activity
Stagecoach advertisement
Social Science
Analysis: 3.18
33
Appendix
34
Post-tour classroom activities
• Describe the differences and similarities between a Concord stagecoach and
today’s automobile.
• Illustrate a brochure to show gold miners what equipment they would need
and how to use it.
• Create the name of a mining camp and describe how it got that name.
• Write a letter to a friend back east describing your trip on the stagecoach.
• Discuss the services that miners needed in the mining camps. Design a
mining camp and include stores and offices for necessary services.
• Try your hand at Western art by creating an illustration of a scene you would find
in Oregon during the 1870s.
• List three ways Oregon changed as a result of the Gold Rush.
• Write a convincing argument that explains why going to California to search for
gold is a good idea.
• Write a story of Oregon, stagecoaches, mining for gold, or being a Wells Fargo
Messenger, and draw a picture to accompany it.
35
Vocabulary list
Word
Meaning
Agent
A person who worked for Wells Fargo and arranged for the delivery of gold, goods, and mail.
Argonaut
The gold seekers of 1848-49 were named after the passengers of the Argo, the ship on
which Jason, according to Greek mythology, sailed in his search for the Golden Fleece.
Boot
The front and back leather containers, resembling the toe of a boot, which are
attached to the body of a stagecoach to hold treasure boxes and luggage.
Emigrant
A person who has departed from a country to settle elsewhere.
Eureka
Greek for “I have found it!” The word later became California’s official motto.
Express company
A company that provides the service of receiving and delivering mail, packages,
and money. Fed Ex and UPS are examples of present-day express companies.
Implement
A tool.
Messenger
A person who guarded the express on the stagecoach, steamer, and train.
Morse code
A code consisting of variously spaced dots and dashes or long and short sounds
used for transmitting messages by visual or audible signals.
Nugget
A lump of precious metals, such as gold. Gold dust is made of fine particles,
not lumps.
Panning
A method for finding gold by using a metal pan in the water to separate gold from
sand and gravel.
Poke
Leather bag used to hold gold dust and gold nuggets.
Pony Express
A rapid postal and express system that operated across the West between 1860 and 1861
by relays of horses and riders.
Stagecoach
A coach or vehicle that travels long distances in segments or “stages”. A stagecoach
should not be called a wagon, buggy, cart, or carriage.
Symbol
Something that stands for something else; especially, something visible or tangible
that is used to stand for or suggest another thing that cannot in itself be pictured or
shown (e.g., the lion is often used as a symbol of courage).
Telegraph
A system for communication at a distance by electric transmission over a wire.
Thoroughbraces
Suspension system on the stagecoach. Leather shock absorbers located underneath
a stagecoach made the ride more comfortable.
Treasure box
Wooden container with iron bands and a padlock used to hold bags of gold nuggets
and gold dust.
36
Suggested reading
Picture books
• Nine to California by Sonia Levitin — Amanda travels by stagecoach, from Missouri to California,
with her four siblings and mother to join her father.
• Stagecoach Sal by Deborah Hopkinson
Fiction
• Jo and the Bandit by Willo Davis Roberts — En route to stay with her uncle in Texas in the late
1860s, twelve-year-old Jo experiences a stagecoach robbery and becomes involved with a reluctant
young outlaw aiming to change his ways.
• By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleishman — Jack and his aunt’s butler stow away aboard a ship
bound for California and the promise of gold.
•Seeds of Hope by Kristiana Gregory — A fictional diary account of fourteen-year-old Susanna
Fairchild’s life in 1849, when her father succumbs to gold fever on the way to establish his medical
practice in Oregon after losing his wife and money on their steamship journey from New York.
• The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung by Laurence Yep — A young Chinese boy nicknamed Runt
records his experiences in a journal as he travels from southern China to California in 1852 to
join his uncle during the Gold Rush.
Nonfiction
• Outrageous Women of the American Frontier by Mary Rodd Furbee
• Stagecoach: The Ride of the Century by Richard Mansir — Includes diary excerpts from children.
37