Existing comment:
Site of Wells Fargo Express and Banking Company:
The Wells Fargo Company was organized in 1851 in San Francisco, amid the frenzied stampede for California's gold. Branch offices were quickly opened in the major island towns; Coloma's office was opened in 1852 in Bill McConnell's general store. An express wagon ran daily from here to Sacramento. When the competing Adams Express Company folded in 1855, Wells Fargo moved quickly and soon became the dominant banking and express company in the west. Each shipment, usually carried on a Concord stagecraft, was guarded by a rider well armed with a double-barrelled shotgun. |