Table Of ContentWells, Fargo & Co.
Stagecoach and Train
Robberies, 1870–1884
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Wells, Fargo & Co.
Stagecoach and Train
Robberies, 1870–1884
The Corporate Report of 1885
with Additional Facts About the
Crimes and Their Perpetrators
JAMES B. HUME and
JOHN N. THACKER
Edited and expanded by
R. MICHAEL WILSON
REVISED EDITION
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Hume, James B., ¡827–1904.
Wells, Fargo & Co. stagecoach and train robberies, 1870–1884 :
the corporate report of 1885 with additional facts about the crimes
and their perpetrators / James B. Hume and John N. Thacker ;
edited and expanded by R. Michael Wilson. — Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Previously published: Las Vegas, Nev. : Stagecoach Books, c2007, under the title Wells, Fargo & Co.
report of losses from stagecoach and train robbers, 1870 to 1884.
Original report published in 1885 under title: Report of Jas. B. Hume and Jno. N. Thacker,
special officers, Wells, Fargo & Co.’s express.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-4855-5
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
1. Stagecoach robberies—West (U.S.)—History—19th century. 2. Train robberies—
West (U.S.)—History—19th century. 3. Brigands and robbers—West (U.S.)—History—19th century.
4. Criminals—West (U.S.)—Identification—History—19th century. 5. Wells, Fargo & Company—
History—19th century. 6. Express service—West (U.S.)—History—19th century. 7. West (U.S.)—
History—1860–1890. 8. Stagecoach robberies—West (U.S.)—History—19th century—Sources.
9. Train robberies—West (U.S.)—History—19th century—Sources. 10. West (U.S.)—History—
1860–1890—Sources. I. Thacker, John N. II. Wilson, R. Michael, 1944– III. Hume, James B.,
1827–1904. Wells, Fargo & Co. report of losses from stagecoach and train robbers, 1870 to 1884.
IV. Hume, James B., 1827–1904. Report of Jas. B. Hume and Jno. N. Thacker, special officers, Wells, Fargo
& Co.’s express. V. Title. VI. Title: Wells, Fargo and Co. VII. Title: Wells, Fargo & Company.
HV6661.W47H86 2010 364.15'52097809034—dc22 2009051627
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2010 R. Michael Wilson. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover: top leftHenry Wells, founder; William G. Fargo, founder;
Wells Fargo Express Co. Deadwood Treasure Wagon and Guards with $250,000 gold
bullion from the Great Homestake Mine, Deadwood, South Dakota (Library of Congress)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Stagecoaching . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Report Summary . . . . . . . . . . 9
THE ROBBERS’ RECORD . . . . . . 13
Appendix: Additional Robbers
and Their Crimes . . . . . . . 241
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
v
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Preface
Wells, Fargo’s chief detective James B. Hume was hired in 1871, and 14 years later he
and detective John N. Thacker published a report of the losses to the company during
Hume’s tenure. The summary takes up only three pages and, like the rest of the 91-page
report, consists mostly of a listing of events rather than a presentation of details. This is
not surprising when one considers that the report covers 313 stagecoach robberies, 23 bur-
glaries, and four train robberies involving Wells, Fargo & Company property.
A glance at the report reveals that the detectives had an underlying motive because it
is better considered as a textual “mug book” of road agents (robbers) arrested, convicted
and sent to prison. The listing of their exploits seems almost incidental. The report was
widely circulated to western lawmen to help them identify these robbers should they again
engage in robbing stagecoaches or trains or burglarizing businesses. For decades this report
served as the only treatment of stagecoach robbery and thereafter was addressed piecemeal,
first in Old West magazines and then as chapters in books of general interest.
Hume and Thacker organized the bulk of the report, the 83-page “Robber’s Record,”
alphabetically by the last name of the robber. For those men still alive by late 1884 the phys-
ical descriptions are precise. The section begins with the caveat: “Note—The age, as given
in describing robbers, is fixed at the date of this publication—1885.” What Hume and
Thacker failed to include was a detailed account of each robbery or burglary so that law-
men could identify a specific modus operandifrom future crimes, something we know today
is an important part of an investigation.
This book expands upon the original Wells, Fargo report and provides the details of
each crime for which a road agent went to prison or was killed in the act. The primary
source for researching stagecoach and train robberies and burglaries are contemporary news-
papers, and we are indebted to the many editors who saw that the thrilling details of a crime
caught the attention of the public. The more thrilling, fascinating, and mysterious the story
the greater the readership of that edition, and all the better for subscriptions. There were
a few instances for which personal diary entries or personal accounts were found, and court
records sometimes provided important information on a crime and trial. Even then many
of these sources were also found in the local newspapers of the time. When more than one
culprit was involved the details are found under the name of the first or main criminal, and
the names of his partners in crime will refer the reader back to that case history.
The entries in the Appendix detail stagecoach robberies which were excluded in the
original Robbers’ Record; they were only listed in the summary pages at the beginning of
the report under such headings as “Number of Wells Fargo Guards Killed,” “Number of
Passengers seriously wounded,” etc. Rather than disrupt the flow of the original Robbers’
Record these events were addressed in alphabetical order in the Appendix.
1
2 Preface
Of course there were far more stagecoach and train robberies and burglaries in the West
between 1856, when the first stagecoach was robbed in California, and 1916, when the last
stagecoach was robbed in Nevada, than the Wells, Fargo report documents. Since these
crimes did not involve Wells, Fargo property, they did not make it into the report.
Introduction
Before 1849 express companies were active throughout the East and Midwest, but there
was only one small concern operating on the Pacific Coast, and C. L. Cady’s Express was
announced in the Californiannewspaper on April 24, 1847. The need for express businesses
changed dramatically when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill on January 24, 1848. There
was an immediate need for expanded operations to bring in the mail to miners in isolated
gold camps and to bring out the gold to a place from which it could be processed or shipped.
Several express companies sprang up quickly, but the Adams Express Company, by 1852,
had established itself as the major express company in California and by 1854 dominated
the Pacific Coast. The men behind Wells, Fargo & Company, Henry Wells and William G.
Fargo, carefully watched the situation in California and finally opened their Pacific express
business in 1852. Their first public notice appeared in the New York Timeson May 20, 1852:
WELLSFARGO& CO. CALIFORNIAEXPRESS
Capital $300,000
A joint stock company. Office 16 Wall Street
... This company having completed its organization as above is now ready to undertake the
general forwarding agency and commission business; the purchase and sale of gold dust. Bullion
and specie, also packages, parcels and freight of all description in and between the City of
New York and the City of San Francisco, and the principal cities and towns in California ...
A similar notice appeared in the Alta Californiain early 1852, before the company had
opened an office and even before its representative arrived on the Pacific Coast. Once estab-
lished, the company quickly grew and soon adopted a policy of acquiring its smaller com-
petitors. As early as November 1852 it bought Gregory & Company Express; in September
1853 it acquired Reynolds, Todd & Company Express; and in July 1854 it added Hunter &
Company Express. That left it with only one major competitor in the West, Adams Express.
In California the drought of 1854 brought mining to a halt. Water was necessary for
placer mining so, with a drought at hand, many miners sat about idly during much of that
year. Consequently there was far less gold to be shipped by express while merchants and
financial concerns overextended credit to the miners. The Adams Express Company con-
centrated upon its waning express business in association with Page, Bacon & Company, a
banking firm which was located in the same building. The parent bank of Page, Bacon was
in St. Louis, and it had invested heavily in the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. When that
venture failed the parent bank was forced to close its doors. The San Francisco branch had
just sent $1 million in assets to the parent bank, so, when word of the St. Louis closure
reached San Francisco on February 23, 1855, the local bank was unable to meet the demand
and had to close its doors. Adams Express Company at San Francisco followed suit, never
to reopen.
3
