Auction Detail

Wells, Fargo & Co, Pony Express, $1.00 red, four mostly large even margins, on red PAID / Wells, Fargo & Co. printed frank 10c green star die stationery cover, postmarked "St. Joseph Mo. / Sep / 14", adhesive tied by faint "Wells, Fargo & Co / Carson City" oval, date indistinct, to Philadelphia, some light uniform wear from use, small gum adhesion on stamp, entire repaired at left, else scarce and fine.  (FWK Census E152).  This cover, a way letter, was carried on the eastern journey of the Pony Express, departing San Francisco on Saturday, August 31, 1861, arriving in St. Joseph two weeks later on September 14. It is one of only five way letters recorded carried during the Fourth Rate Period, and the only recorded example carried on this trip.

Wells, Fargo & Co, 1861, 10c green entire (U18), with printed “1/2 Ounce Paid from St. Joseph to Placerville per Pony Express” printed frank in red, script “Agent of Pony Express” alongside, indicia cancelled with black four-ring target, postmarked with “New-York / Oct / 26” double-circle c.d.s., circular “Pony Express / The Central Overland California & Pikes Peak / Express Company / Oct 31 / St. Joseph” datestamp, to De Witt, Kettle & Co in San Francisco, with embossed return address of the company’s New York office on back flap, endorsed “the last kick of the Pony” in manuscript at top, docketed on reverse “the last ‘Pony Express’ received” and dated “Rec’d Nov. 21st 1861”, small piece torn from back corner, some light uniform aging, a striking cover, intended for the final westbound journey of the Pony Express. (FKW Census W70).

Note: The completion of the telegraph line to New York in October, 1861, heralded the end of the Pony Express as the most effective method for the time-sensitive conveyance of news. The cover here, postmarked in New York only a few days after completion of the telegraph, was sent with the intention of transport by Pony Express; news of the service’s cancellation had likely not yet been received. Frajola, Kramer, and Walske conclude that this cover would have been part of the mails which were bagged in St. Joseph by the Express agent as pony mail, but put on the daily overland mail stagecoaches from Atchison. Though ultimately not delivered via Pony Express, it remains a fascinating and remarkable cover, and an artifact of the final days of an iconic era of American history.

Wells, Fargo & Co, Virginia City Pony Express, 1862-4, 25c blue, margins touching on two sides, large at foot, showing frameline of adjoining stamp, tied to 3c pink Wells, Fargo & Co postal stationery cover with printed frank by blue oval "Wells, Fargo & Co / Gold Hill Utah / Express", to Yreka, California, docketing indicates receipt on May 3, 1863, a pleasing and very fine entire of great scarcity; ex Emerson, Knapp.
After the termination of the transcontinental Pony Express, Wells, Fargo & Co. established an express route from San Francisco to Virginia City, Nevada Territory. To denote payment, Wells Fargo issued three new stamps, a 10c brown, 25c blue, and 25c red, similar in design to the earlier issues used on the Pony Express.  The docketing of this cover of May 3, 1863, falls in the period in which the 25c adhesive would have paid the single letter rate, which had been increased from 10c in February.
Gold Hill, Utah, was on the Virginia City route, and the "Utah" cancellation continued to be used even after the Gold Hill region became part of the Nevada Territory, which it had two months to the day of this cover was posted.

Wells Fargo & Co, Virginia City Pony Express, 1862-4, 25c red, straddle pane strip of four, plus two singles, these with two large margins at left, all with other margins clear to into frameline, tied to cover by blue circular "Wells, Fargo & Co Express / 20 APR" c.d.s., to the Clerk of the District Court, County of Storey, Virginia City, Nevada Territory, partial notary's embossed seal on reverse, clerk's docketing on back indicates receipt on April 22, 1864, the likely enclosed heavy legal documents accounting for the $1.50 franking which paid for 3 oz, cover reduced at left and right, reverse with significant adhesions, adhesives with various faults including horizontal fold and some tears, among the largest frankings extant, covers with seven and eight 25c red adhesives having been offered in previous "Erivan" sales, a most remarkable Virginia City Pony Express cover.