ter this, Wells Fargo and the other express companies operating in the West relied almost entirely on the stagecoach for the transportation of gold dust, bullion, and express packages. In California the stage lines ran directly to the latest discovered diggings, and among the obstacles to be faced were mountains, narrow pack trails, and rivers. The first stage line in California was started by John Whistman in the fall of 1849, and it ran between San Jose and San Francisco. A second company started by Ackley and Maurison ran between the same towns and had more modern equipment, and it ran Whistman out of business. Many other lines followed. Wells Fargo was content to ride the stages, for the company owned none of its own. Wherever the stage lines went, Wells Fargo rode along with an armed messenger beside the driver to guard its shipments. In the 1860s the company began to buy stage companies and was for a short time the proprietor of the greatest stage empire in the country.
Wells Fargo was becoming a very successful company by the time it started buying its own stage lines. The company was powerful in California in 1855, but by 1860 it was a virtual monopoly. In 1855 there were 55 offices, and by 1860 there were 147. The capitalization over the same period increased from $600,000 to $1,000,000. The main competitor had been the Pacific Express company, and by 1860 it had been forced out of business. This had been accomplished with rate cuts, and this was as short-lived rate war as Wells Fargo simply had too many resources to be challenged. Wells Fargo continued to have as its specialty the transport of gold, though mining had declined somewhat after 1855. Wells Fargo still carried most of the gold available. The panic of 1855 marked the end of the go
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