Adventures of Wells Fargo
The Wells Fargo Stagecoach

Nothing is more evocative of the Old West than a stagecoach. In the heyday of overland staging, the 1850s and 60s, Wells Fargo boasted a line of 1,500 horses and 150 Concord coaches. Stagecoaching was not the sole province of Wells Fargo, nor was it Wells Fargo's only business enterprise. Nevertheless, Wells Fargo was the largest express company of the time and stagecoaching was the backbone of the early express companies.

Today, the Wells Fargo stagecoach is one of the most visible corporate logos in America. But what makes it unique is its tangible connection to the Old West. It reaches beyond its meaning as a corporate symbol and links us to a time when the heroic seemed commonplace.

Interest in the American West swings between faddish intensity and blasé tolerance. Very often, however, despite the particular mood of the times, an appreciative murmur will ripple through a parade crowd as a stagecoach passes in review. More often than not that stagecoach is Wells Fargo's, a legendary vehicle born of a legendary time.

Concord coaches were built by the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire. Abbot and Downing were, individually and in partnership, famed coach builders and their Concord coach was the top of the line. Stylish enough to project the elegance of a carriage and sturdy enough to take relentless pounding, the Concord coach was the favorite of Wells Fargo men and was more than match for some of the wildest of the West's wild trails.

Wells Fargo owns a number of antique Concords which are on display in our history museums in San Francisco, Los Angeles,Sacramento and San Diego. But the coaches normally used for parades and other civic events are meticulous reproductions built by Jay Lambert of Red Bluff, California and Dave Middleton of Riverside. Abbot-Downing blueprints are followed and many of the same tools are used as over one hundred years ago. The workmanship is precise and in it the spirit of the hand-crafted originals is immediately apparent.

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