Shotguns and Outlaws

Wells Fargo & Company’s Express was one of the most important businesses on the Western frontier. The company began as a local mail delivery service during the California Gold Rush in 1852, a time when the U.S. Post Office was all but nonexistent in the mining camps. Because Wells Fargo was safe and, unlike the Post Office, made all losses good, it grew rapidly throughout the West, connecting towns big and small, and eventually became the country’s largest express carrier. Robbers followed the money, and during the late 1850s stagecoach holdups became increasingly common in California. Wells Fargo began hiring armed guards, later called “shotgun messengers,” to accompany treasure shipments. Contrary to popular belief, they did not guard stagecoaches; they protected Wells Fargo’s strongboxes. And the title “shotgun messenger” did not come into popular use until the 1870s. Such terms as “riding shotgun” and “shotgun rider” were invented by 20th-century novelists and were unknown in the Old West.

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