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Sale 90: Gems of Philately

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Western Express Covers

Lots 44-53 Lots 54-60

Lot 54    

Overland Mail & Express Co., Barlow & Sanderson, Proprietors… Principal Office, Pueblo, Col., stagecoach company printed corner card with six-horse stagecoach illustration (no imprint) on cover to Nasby, Missouri, light "Villa Grove, Col, Aug 13" cds and 1879, 3¢ green with target cancel, with original letter on Overland Mail And Express Co. printed letterhead with 188_ date blank but datelined simply "August the 13", letter is from a man working as a driver to his mother back home and reveals "I am getting $80 still and if I had tended stock I would only have gotten $25."; slightly reduced at right, stains and small edge faults, Fine.
Estimate    $400 - 600.

Bradley Barlow and Jared L. Sanderson were "stagecoach kings" before and long after the more famous Ben Holladay ventured into and out of the business. For over three decades, Barlow and Sanderson's company controlled important transportation routes in Colorado and across the southwestern United States from Missouri to California and as far north as Oregon and Idaho. As railroads were built across the west in the 1870's and 1880's, Barlow and Sanderson concentrated on providing feeder service. The company held numerous mail contracts in various states and territories. Barlow retired from a lifelong career in the stage business in 1878. Sanderson continued to crack the whip until 1884.

Realized: $575

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Lot 55    

Overland Mail Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, stagecoach company printed corner card on cover to Tiffin, Ohio, decipherable Salt Lake City cds tying 1861 1¢ blue + 3¢ rose, pair (s.e. at left) + 1863, 2¢ black completing the triple 3¢ rate; cover a bit reduced at left, Very Fine.
Scott No. 63+65+73    Estimate $500 - 750.

The Overland Mail Company was granted the first daily mail contract on the Central Overland Route effective July 1, 1861.

Realized: $525

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Lot 56    

D.C. Patterson & Co's Boise And Salt Lake City Express, oval handstamp plus Paid, One Dollar, Jun 25, 1864 company cds on cover to Branchport, New Jersey, entered the mails with "Brigham City, Utah, Jul 9" cds and franked with 1861, 3¢ rose canceled by target handstamp; cover reduced at right just into the stamp, F.-V.F.
Scott No. 65    Estimate $1,500 - 2,000.

Patterson's Boise Express ran overland in 1863 and 1864 from Bannock City (also known as West Bannock and later Idaho City) through unsettled Indian country to Utah Territory. Patterson's intent was to provide a direct connection to the Central Overland Route for letters going to and from the eastern states. The need for Patterson's service to Utah diminished when a mail contract between Salt Lake City and Walla Walla via Boise City was awarded in 1864.

Realized: $1,050

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Lot 57    

Sanderson & Co. Overland Stage & Express Co., Principle Office, Pueblo, Col., printed corner card with illustrated design showing Six-Horse Stage on Mountain Road, Stage with "Overland U.S. Mail, S. & Co." imprint, on cover bearing 3¢ green (184) cancelled by cork duplexed with "Globeville Cal. Feb. 6" cds to Chicago Ill., Feb. 11th receiving backstamp; cover edge faults and small mend top right, Fine, a rare modified design from the final years of the Barlow and Sanderson stage line empire.
Estimate    $400 - 600.

Established by Vermont men, Jared L. Sanderson and Bradley Barlow during the Civil War, the Barlow-Sanderson Overland Mail Company first carried the mail and operated a stage line between Sedalia and Warrensburg, Missouri and by 1863, was also operating a line from Kansas City, Missouri to Fort Scott, Kansas. In 1866, they began to expand westward and transferred their headquarters from Kansas City to Junction City, Colorado. By 1867, the two entrepreneurs had established a route from Missouri to California over the Santa Fe Trail and changed the name to the Barlow and Sanderson Company. The company continued to grow in Colorado, becoming the largest stage line in the area and in 1874, the headquarters moved to Granada, Colorado. Two years later, despite rumors of bribery and corruption within the company, the stage line continued to expand. However, buy 1878, Bradley Barlow withdrew and the name of the company changed to J.L. Sanderson and Co. Overland Stage and Express Line.

Realized: $425

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Lot 58    

Wells, Fargo & Co., Downieville, Sep 1, oval handstamp on 1864, 3¢ pink entire with Wells Fargo printed frank, to Rensselaer, Indiana with "Wells Fargo & Co Mail This At NY" sender's endorsement, instead entered the mails with "St. Louis, Mo., Sep 22" cds and quartered cork duplex cancelling, carried outside the mails on the Central Overland Route rather than on the ocean route via Panama; small edge tear at top, F.-V.F., a rare usage.
Estimate    $150 - 200.

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Lot 59    

Wells, Fargo & Co., Helena, Montana, Sep 8, 1867, double circle handstamp on 1864, 3¢ pink entire with Holladay Overland Mail and Express Company printed frank used posthumously, Meussdorffer correspondence to San Francisco, original business letter accompanies, docketing at left; tiny opening edge tear at upper right, Very Fine.
Estimate    $300 - 400.

Realized: $550

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Lot 60    

Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express, New York, Aug 2, double circle handstamp on 1864, 6¢ pink legal size entire with Wells Fargo "Atlantic Express" printed frank, to Chrysopolis, Cal. with "Overland" sender's endorsement, evidently carried through to California and then missent to Copperopolis with Copperopolis and Visalia Wells, Fargo & Co. oval transit handstamps, dated "August 18, 1866" on reverse and forwarded with "Via Aurora" pencil endorsement appended on the front, sent back on the overland route to Nevada, entered the mails with "Aurora, Nev., Sep 25" cds for delivery to Chrysopolis; reduced sides and edge repairs, Fine and an outstanding usage.
Estimate    $300 - 400.

A HIGHLY UNUSUAL WELLS FARGO MISSENT AND FORWARDED USE.

Wells Fargo's lines reached Aurora in Nevada but not so Chrysopolis and a number of other California mining camps and towns on the remote eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Aurora and Chrysopolis are both ghost towns today. The site of Chrysopolis is now in Inyo County, which was created out of Coso County the year this cover was sent. Coso County was created two years before and included parts of Tulare and Mono Counties but was never organized.

Realized: $2,800

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Lots 44-53 Lots 54-60

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