October 8, 2008

MBack in the 1800s, John Butterfield was one of Oneida County’s most prominent businessmen. In fact, by the 1850s, Butterfield had a national reputation, something he achieved by helping tame the Wild West. And when Butterfield went west, he brought Boonville’s name with him.

John Butterfield is on my mind because of all the news about financial problems in the banking industry, including reports involving a merger of banking giants Wells Fargo and Wachovia.

Several reports in recent days have highlighted the history of Wells Fargo and its founders, Henry Wells and William Fargo, and told of how they also formed American Express, which started as a freight company but evolved into a gigantic financial company.

Overlooked in the reporting is John Butterfield, who started his business with one horse and one wagon, which he used to haul freight around Oneida County.

So to make the record a bit more complete, at least in our neck of the woods, I offer you this, which is part of an article I wrote about Butterfield long ago:

“Butterfield had little formal education, but had good business sense, knew how to make a profit and was a genius at organization. He was quick to realize the potential of express service and started transporting freight to and from Utica’s railroad station. The business expanded and soon his company was transporting freight and passengers throughout the northeast.

“In 1858 Butterfield won the government contract to deliver mail three times a week between Missouri and California. It seemed an impossible task…”

It seemed impossible because much of the 2,800 mile route between Missouri and California was unmapped and untamed. To win the government contract, Butterfield had to get the mail from San Francisco to St. Louis in 24 days or less. Butterfield’s Overland Mail Company delivered its first pouch of mail and its first six passengers on Sept. 17, 1858, a trip which took 23 days and 4 hours.

Butterfield later joined Henry Wells and William Fargo and formed American Express. Butterfield was the company’s first president and the office headquarters was in Utica.

And how did Butterfield bring Boonville’s name out west? 

When he and his Overland Mail Company were trying to win that government contract, much of that 2,800 mile route was through untamed country. There were no places to get meals or fresh horses or to rest for the night. So Butterfield built relay stations. In fact, Butterfield built about 150 relay stations in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Butterfield gave names to those relay stations. He named them after places he was familiar with back home in Oneida County and the surrounding area, places where he had delivered freight.

So relay stations out west were named Utica, Whitesboro, Deerfield, Albany, Syracuse, Oneida, Mohawk, and - thank you John Butterfield.

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Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and THE GRIFF.