I’m sure that most of us remember this song. Well, certainly we Iowans remember it.
O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street,
Oh please let it be for me!
O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street,
I wish, I wish I knew what it could be!
I got a box of maple sugar on my birthday.
In March I got a gray mackinaw.
And once I got some grapefruit from Tampa.
Montgom'ry Ward sent me a bathtub and a cross-cut saw.
Guess where we went next? Yep, the Wells Fargo Museum. It’s a small museum in the 1st floor of the Wells Fargo bank in downtown Phoenix. It might be small but it’s pretty comprehensive. It has a stage coach, natch, some strong boxes, a large collection of guns, some coach schedules, lots of quotations form those who traveled by coach, a replica office with office furniture and supplies from he 1880’s, and other artifacts which bring home the stage coach experience for all visitors. There is also quite a collection of western art especially by NC Wyeth and Remington.
Here’s a stagecoach from Wells Fargo. It is one of the Concord stages that were done up in yellow and deep red especially for WF. Note the ‘shocks’, the strands of leather stretched to try to give the coach some ‘give’ over the rocks and trail.
Each of these coaches was designed to hold 18 people, 3 on each side, 3 on a bench in the middle and the other 9 sitting somewhere else. Oh, yeah, don’t forget the luggage. Each person was allowed 25 lbs. but the trunk itself weighed 15 lbs. What to take cross country that weighs only 10 lbs? And, remember that clothing made of wool was much heavier and bulkier than clothing today. Here’s a display of an old trunk with articles that people might have taken on their journey across the country. Gotta have that top hat.
One of my favorite displays was a small stagecoach with 18 rag dolls. the object is to get the 18 rag dolls into the stagecoach in somewhat comfortable order. Not an easy task.
Stops were not as comfortable as they are today. Food was not plentiful, consisting mostly of beans and coffee. One passenger, Francis Brocklehurst, who rode the coach in 1859 described a meal this way: ‘We are now reduced to a diet of boiled black beans, washed down with a strong hot concoction called coffee without milk or sugar and drunk out of dirty tin cans.’
All these tell the story of how Wells Fargo started grew and became the bank that it is today. When gold was discovered in California, two men, Mr. Henry Wells and Mr. William Fargo, from New York realized that an express delivery and banking business could be a real hit. They opened for business in 1852 and established their reputation for speed, reliability, honesty and fairness to all. When trains eclipsed coaches, they adapted their business model to fit this new phenomenon. But - when WWI came the government nationalized the express delivery business as a wartime measure and 10,000 signs came down from Wells Fargo Express stores. Wells was left with a single bank in San Francisco. But it rebuilt its business, weathered the Great Depression and continued to grow.
Here’s the disclaimer: I worked for Wells for 10 years, long enough to retire.
By this time it was 3:30 and time for lunch. We had not had anything but a protein bar to eat since breakfast at 7:30. We were getting hungry. For our second restaurant of the day we chose the renown Pizzeria Bianco which was in another historic building right across a plaza from the Rosson Home. It has been rated as the best pizza in the US by Bon Appetit, Vogue and Rachel Ray. It has been recognized by Martha Stewart, Oprah, Gourmet and the James Beard Foundation. There have been other awards for this iconic pizzeria and its founder and chef, Chris Bianco, throughout the years. With this opportunity, how could we not eat here? From Matt’s to Chris’ a real gastronomic journey through downtown Phoenix.
We ordered the Margarita pizza for $15.00. It was cooked in a wood oven, came out and was put on the ledge where it waited for our waiter to notice it for close to 5 minutes. Finally the chef had to remind the waiter who finally brought it to our table. Now, there were only 3 other tables of customers there. Not overly busy. A 12” $15 pizza and it had 4, count them, 4 basil leaves. I’ll admit that the pizza tasted very good. Well, the sauce and crust tasted good, I had so few bits of basil that I can’t judge that. I don’t know if I would go there again, I might try another spot.
As we were leaving, I held the door open for a woman who was carrying 4 pizza boxes and 3 drinks. She looked at me and strode out the door. I then said, ‘You’re welcome.’ She turned and said, ‘Oh, I forgot. You took the words right out of my mouth.’
We then walked back through town to the light rail station. A good day, we enjoyed it a lot and it was time to head home.
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