The 1863 C.C. Beekman Bank was Jacksonville’s original Wells Fargo agency and the oldest financial institution in the Pacific Northwest. But surely there were financial institutions before 1863! What gives?
Cornelius C. Beekman came to Jacksonville in 1853 as an express rider for Cram, Rogers & Co., transporting goods and gold between Jacksonville and Yreka, and riding the 67 miles over the Siskiyous 2 to 3 times a week. When the company failed in 1856, he bought their stables and corral for $100 and established Beekman’s Express. He also bought a safe to house gold dust between trips, and that made him a “financial institution.”
Beekman continued riding the Jacksonville-Yreka route 2 or 3 times a week until 1863 when he became the Wells Fargo agent, a relationship he maintained until 1905. U.S. government parcel post did not exist until World War I. If you had anything other than mail to ship, it went by an express service. Beekman’s Express had been one of many small point-to-point express companies. Wells Fargo was one of the “big boys,” and as a Wells Fargo agent Beekman had an assured income for the duration of the relationship.
Only one other large express company that originated in the 1850s remains in service today—American Express. Ironically, Henry Wells and William G. Fargo were 2 of the 3 individuals who merged their New York express companies in 1850 to create American Express. Wells and Fargo created Wells Fargo in 1852 when the other company directors refused to extend American Express service to California, and Wells Fargo became the main express company on the West Coast, later expanding into the rest of the country and Europe.