|
Picture of the day -
August 9, 2006
A 19th Century Wells Fargo Run
Click photo to enlarge
At one time or another, you have probably seen an armored car
driving around town delivering money to or from a bank or business.
These days, technologies such as GPS, video & audio surveillance,
and instant two-way communications have made the armed courier
business the best it has ever been at safeguarding its employees and
the treasure they are hired to move from one location to another. In
fact, armored car heists are now so rare that they always make big
news when they occur. But that wasn't always the case...
Back in the early days of American commerce, transporting cash,
gold and other valuable items was quite a risky job. There were no armored cars - in fact,
there were no cars at all! Money and other valuables were simply
picked up and placed inside a horse-drawn wagon, and a crew of two
or more heavily-armed men would haul it to wherever it needed to go.
The problem was, bands of thieves - who were even more heavily armed
and in larger numbers than the men in the wagon - would find out when and where they could
attack one of these shipments and lie in wait for them to drive by.
They would stop the wagon and seize the booty (and often the entire
wagon), then either leave the men to walk to the nearest town or
simply shoot them on the spot so there would be no witnesses to the
crime.
Even though the pay was high for anyone who was brave enough to take
the job of armed courier, finding people who were both willing and
qualified to do it wasn't easy. Long days and a short life
expectancy awaited those who agreed to climb into a Wells Fargo
wagon, but a brave few did it anyway...and they helped build the
United States Of America into the financial powerhouse that it is
today.
Picture Of The Day Homepage |
Submit
a photo
More Interesting Articles
|
|
|