- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Printing edition (25 Feb 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743213602
- ISBN-13: 978-0743213608
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 16 x 2.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,670,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West
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Product Description
Review
Michael Carlson "Financial Times" (London) This lively history...is as much a story of corporate machinations back East as it is of adventure in the West....One relishes the anecdotes about heroes who ought to be better remembered.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Sweeping in scope, as revealing of an era as it is of a company, "Stagecoach" is the epic story of Wells Fargo and the American West, by award-winning writer Philip L. Fradkin.
The trail of Wells Fargo runs through nearly every imaginable landscape and icon of frontier folklore: the California Gold Rush, the Pony Express, the transcontinental railroad, the Civil and Indian Wars. From the Great Plains to the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean, the company's operations embraced almost all social, cultural, and economic activities west of the Mississippi, following one of the greatest migrations in American history.
Fortune seekers arriving in California after the discovery of gold in 1849 couldn't bring the necessities of home with them. So Wells Fargo express offices began providing basic services such as the exchange of gold dust for coin, short-term deposits and loans, and reliable delivery and receipt of letters, money, and goods to and from distant places. As its reputation for speed and dependability grew, the sight of a red-and-yellow Wells Fargo stagecoach racing across the prairie came to symbolize not only safe passage but faith in a nation's progress. In fact, for a time Wells Fargo was the most powerful and widespread institution in the American West, even surpassing the presence of the federal government.
"Stagecoach" is a fascinating and rare combination of Western and business history. Along with its colorful association with the frontier -- Wyatt Earp, Black Bart, Buffalo Bill -- readers will discover that swiftness, security, and connectivity have been constants in Wells Fargo's history, and that these themes remain just as important today, 150 years later.
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First Sentence
IMAGINE A business that combines the communications aspects of letter mail, e-mail, faxes, and the telephone; the transportation of heavier goods by parcel post and express mail, such private carriers as United Parcel Service and Federal Express, and an armored car service; and the plethora of financial arrangements supplied by modern intrastate, interstate, and international full-service banks. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
IMAGINE A business that combines the communications aspects of letter mail, e-mail, faxes, and the telephone; the transportation of heavier goods by parcel post and express mail, such private carriers as United Parcel Service and Federal Express, and an armored car service; and the plethora of financial arrangements supplied by modern intrastate, interstate, and international full-service banks. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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6 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Excellent history of Wells Fargo
1 Nov 2006
Format:Paperback
Wells, Fargo and Co., the freighting and banking company, got its start in 1852 at the height of the Gold Rush period in California. It bought out a number of smaller stagecoach lines running between towns and mining camps in the gold fields and eventually established a monopoly in the business in the area. To finance its business ends, the company also started a banking business, with profits being obtained from the gold dust being shipped from the gold fields on its stagecoaches. Packages, gold, mail, and finally passengers were soon being hauled throughout central California and points east by Wells Fargo stages. The company was also very involved with the Overland Mail Company, operating all its express services west of Salt Lake, and even administered to the fabled Pony Express along its route across the central plains for a few years before its demise. With the coming of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Wells Fargo was able to expand its express business while the stagecoach operations disappeared.
Philip Fradkin tells the story of the Wells Fargo company superbly and with careful attention to historical accuracy. He relates many stories of stagecoach holdups, of what it was like traveling by stage in the West, and what the stage stations were like - all told with flair and excitement. And the business operations of the company, especially after the merger with the American Express Company and into the twentieth century, are explained fully without becoming deadly dull. Fradkin's scholarship is praiseworthy in his use of original source material, especially company records and the files of the Wells Fargo Historical Services department. It's an enjoyable book and is the definitive book on the company today.
Philip Fradkin tells the story of the Wells Fargo company superbly and with careful attention to historical accuracy. He relates many stories of stagecoach holdups, of what it was like traveling by stage in the West, and what the stage stations were like - all told with flair and excitement. And the business operations of the company, especially after the merger with the American Express Company and into the twentieth century, are explained fully without becoming deadly dull. Fradkin's scholarship is praiseworthy in his use of original source material, especially company records and the files of the Wells Fargo Historical Services department. It's an enjoyable book and is the definitive book on the company today.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great Historical book
11 Jan 2007
Format:Paperback
Great history on not only Wells Fargo but the early growing west. Very well written.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Needed a Bit More Focus...
6 Sep 2004
Format:Paperback
Stagecoach was an attempt to cover the history of the Wells Fargo company. Frankly, it read a little bit like it was the product of the Wells Fargo pr Department, but the real "problem" is that the author tried to cover both the days of the Historic Wells Fargo entity AND the mergers which led to the present day bank. In doing this, the author ended up really giving the short shrift to both.
The author also made some rather "strange" errors. For example, on p182 the author wrote:
"Sometimes small amounts of salt were added to the ice to slow the melting process.." Uh.. no. Salt water melts at a lower tempature. That's why it is used in the winter time to melt ice on streets and why it is used in Ice Cream freezers as well. Adding salt to the ice melts the ice FASTER (but also imparts more cool, faster...)
I would hope that this author were to revisit this subject and produce a new edition which focuses and expands on the pre-split Company and ignores, or at best relegates to a footnote, the Norwest merger...
The author also made some rather "strange" errors. For example, on p182 the author wrote:
"Sometimes small amounts of salt were added to the ice to slow the melting process.." Uh.. no. Salt water melts at a lower tempature. That's why it is used in the winter time to melt ice on streets and why it is used in Ice Cream freezers as well. Adding salt to the ice melts the ice FASTER (but also imparts more cool, faster...)
I would hope that this author were to revisit this subject and produce a new edition which focuses and expands on the pre-split Company and ignores, or at best relegates to a footnote, the Norwest merger...
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