A black and white image of a parked stagecoach with Wells Fargo & Co. written on the front. Two horses are at the front, three men stand beside it, three people are sitting at the front, and one man is standing on the back of the coach.
A Wells Fargo wagon in St. Louis, where Ollie Ziegler was a wagon driver.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives
A black and white image of a parked stagecoach with Wells Fargo & Co. written on the front. Two horses are at the front, three men stand beside it, three people are sitting at the front, and one man is standing on the back of the coach.
A Wells Fargo wagon in St. Louis, where Ollie Ziegler was a wagon driver.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives
History
June 29, 2018

Enlisting the stagecoach during WWI

Find out why Wells Fargo & Co. closed more than 10,000 express offices around the country 100 years ago.

On June 30, 1918, staff at Wells Fargo & Co.’s express office at 60 E. 8th St. in New York City gathered outside on the sidewalk to take a nostalgic photograph. It was the last day any of them would work for Wells Fargo. At midnight, the federal government’s wartime merger of the major domestic express businesses would be complete.

When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, it thrust itself into the War to End All Wars, a global conflict the world had never seen. The stakes of World War I were high, and it became very clear that the United States had a pressing problem to solve: getting much needed supplies and equipment to the soldiers who so urgently needed it.

A black and white image shows a group of almost 20 men standing in front of a building that says: Wells Fargo & Co. Two women are shown standing to the left. The handwritten caption at the bottom says: Last day of the Wells Fargo at 606 8th St.
Staff from Wells Fargo & Co.’s express office in New York pose one last time under the company sign on June 30, 1918.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Supporting the war effort

An image with a black background has: Fargo Tomatoes in large letters. A blue line across the bottom says in black font: Grown in Mexico, distributed by Nogales-Arizona, with a diamond-shaped logo that reads Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo continued moving agricultural produce across international borders, as shown on this label for a crate of tomatoes from Mexico.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

At the time, Wells Fargo had become a household name for service and dependability. Its express business moved packages, merchandise, and valuables that needed to travel quickly, safely, and with special handling. Although ending its express services was necessary to serve the greater needs of the country, it was also an emotional change for the thousands of men and women who worked for Wells Fargo.

A black and white image shows five women standing in front of a door. They all have their hair up and wear a white blouse and different long skirts. The one in the middle holds a diamond-shaped sign that says: Wells Fargo & Co Express.
Wells Fargo employed more than 35,000 women and men in its express business in 1918.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

In a book of memoirs, wagon driver Ollie Ziegler reflected back on his long career as a teamster in St. Louis and nostalgically remembered his time in Wells Fargo’s express service. He wrote, “My experiences have been many and varied. But today, as all this passes before me again, there is one period that I think of more than any other — that of my employment with the old Express Company. The men and boys I knew and worked with, the equipment, and many of the happenings are still green in my memory. And deep inside, always when it comes to mind, are the pangs of nostalgia for something that has passed and will never be again.”

A black and white image shows 14 men. Seven of them are standing behind the other seven who are sitting on a curb. Most are wearing a type of uniform or suit.
Some of Wells Fargo's 35,000 express business employees in 1918.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

On July 1, 1918, Wells Fargo turned over all its equipment and property used in its nationwide express business to American Railway Express, including thousands of wagons and motor trucks, horses, 175 refrigerated railcars, buildings, furnishings, and leases. American Railway Express attempted to quickly adopt a new identity, painting its fleet of wagons and motor trucks a drab battleship gray.

A black and white image shows a truck with the word Corporacion on the front and side parked in front of a building. The building has a sign that reads: Wells Fargo & Co of Cuba.
After exiting the domestic express business in 1918, Wells Fargo & Co. continued offshore express and travel operations in Mexico and Cuba for several more decades.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Many of Wells Fargo’s 35,000 express employees continued in the business as part of the American Railway Express workforce of 125,000. The experience in delivering packages quickly and reliably was essential during the war. Burns Caldwell, Wells Fargo & Co.’s president, chaired the board of the new American Railway Express company.

Wells Fargo’s express era

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When Wells Fargo was established in 1852, it operated in California, the Oregon Territory, and New York.
By 1870, Wells Fargo’s presence more than doubled, having expanded to 11 states and territories, including the Hawaiian Islands.
Eighteen years later, Wells Fargo’s presence covered more than half of the United States.
Before June 30, 1918, Wells Fargo had an express office in almost every state, with 10,000 offices and 35,000 express employees.
Wells Fargo’s express operations around the country ended abruptly after the federal government’s wartime merger of major domestic express businesses. Its banking business continued in San Francisco.

After the war

Following the Allied victory in World War I, pressure for a nationally coordinated shipping infrastructure eased, and the nation’s railroads returned to private ownership in 1920. Although there had been speculation that the wartime consolidation would later result in postwar re-privatization of express companies, Washington bureaucrats soon realized the nationwide express industry was a complex network that proved hard to untangle once combined. Whereas railroads had clearly identifiable assets like tracks, bridges, and routes, the express service was primarily an industry operating on existing railroad infrastructure.

And so, the American Railway Express continued on as a part of the daily commercial life of thousands of cities and towns. American Railway Express changed its name to Railway Express Agency in 1929 and remained in business until the mid-1970s, when the declining fortunes of railroads and rise of interstate highways and semi-trucks put it out of business for good.

A black and white image shows a group of people inside a building. There are glass countertops that most people are leaning over and looking inside at the items. A stagecoach sits parked at the back of the room, and two people are inside.
Wells Fargo did more than remember the past. The bank realized that it was the continuation of a legacy of service, trust, and pioneering spirit and created a public museum, shown here in 1936.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Over its long history, Wells Fargo has seen many changes. But few changes altered the business so fast or so thoroughly as the end of the express era at the stroke of midnight on June 30, 1918.

A black and white sketch shows a tall building with cars, people, and other buildings nearby. At the top left corner it says: Wells Fargo Nevada, Since 1852. The bottom of the sketch says: Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank of San Francisco.
Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank carried on the Wells Fargo name in banking, and even adopted the diamond sign symbol of the old express company.
Photo: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives
Written by: Marianne Babal
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