Lot
4034 
Jones & Cartwright Transportation Line, Leavenworth., Pikes Peak., boxed illustrated corner card showing Freight Wagons Traveling West To Colorado Territory With Snow Capped Pike Peak in the Distance, on cover to Winfield, Va., franked with 1857, 3¢ dull red (small edge nick at right) tied by "Leavenworth City, Kans, Dec 13" cds, Very Fine. Scott No. 26 Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
THE ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE OF THE JONES & CARTWRIGHT TRANSPORTATION LINE ILLUSTRATED CORNER CARD COVER.
MATCHING LETTERHEAD DESIGN IS ILLUSTRATED IN J. ROSA'S BOOK WILD BILL HICKOK: SHARPSHOOTER AND U.S. MARSHAL OF THE WILD WEST ON PAGE 28.
John Stycks Jones, of the Jones & Russell's Pike's Peak Express Co., and Joseph F. Cartwright, both from Pettis, Missouri, formed the Jones & Cartwright Transportation Line, a large freight company in 1858 to carry supplies across the plains. Their first trip was of 156 wagons, the freight delivered to Camp Floyd, Utah, 40 miles from Salt Lake City. When gold was discovered in Colorado, they commence business in the region. A Denver City correspondence, dated August 17, 1859 states "At this time Jones and Cartwright purchased the Pollard House in Auraria for $3,000, as a wholesale store, thereby inaugurating the freighting firm of Jones & Cartwright (in Colorado), forwarders between Leavenworth and Denver. Their first train of some thirty wagons arrived August 24, to supply the wholesale and retail business of this firm."
Both Jones & Cartwright Transportation Line and Jones & Russell's Pike's Peak Express Co. where in operation at the same time. On September 12, 1859, a coach arrived at Leavenworth after a six-day trip from Denver with $9,000 in gold addressed to eleven consignees, of which the firms of Jones & Cartwright and Jones, Russell & Co., received the major portions.
According to J. Rosa "Wild Bill Hickok: Sharpshooter and U.S. Marshal of the Wild West", a gentleman named James Hickok (a.k.a. Wild Bill Hickok) moved to Olathe, Kansas Territory and joined Jones & Cartwright Transportation Line as a teamster, leading the team of mules, horses and oxen to Denver City and back.