Wells, Fargo & Co. Stagecoach and Train Robberies, 1870-1884: The Corporate Report of 1885 With Additional Facts About the Crime

In January 1, 1885, Wells, Fargo & Company’s chief detective James B. Hume and special agent John N. Thacker published a report summarizing the company’s losses during the previous 14 years. It listed 313 stagecoach robberies, 23 burglaries, and four train robberies but included little or no details of the events themselves, focusing instead on physical descriptions of the robbers. Widely circulated, the report was intended to assist law enforcement in identifying and apprehending the criminals believed still to present a danger to the company. The present volume revisits each crime, updating Hume and Thacker’s original report with rich new details culled from local newspapers, personal diary entries, and court records.

R. Michael Wilson has been researching and writing about the history of the American West for more than a decade. A retired law enforcement officer, he is the author of numerous books on crime and capital punishment. He is a member of the Wild West History Association, and Western Writers of America.