I got to visit the Wells Fargo museum today before the conference started. I've always seen pictures of stage coaches on TV, but after seeing the seating inside of one, I will never complain about the seats in coach class on an airplane. At least airplane seats have padding, and the rides are for a relatively short amount of time. This stage coach had a row of seats down the middle between the bench seats in the front and in the rear - kind of like a modern day minivan. It took 25 days to travel from St Louis to San Francisco by stage, and that was considered "state of the art" (especially compared to a wagon train). When you think of those poor people riding with much heavier clothes, no heat or air conditioning, dust, and rutted roads - it's amazing anyone ever traveled west of the Mississippi. Did you know that Fargo, North Dakota was named for William Fargo, and that Wells College in Aurora, New York was founded by Henry Wells to encourage women to pursue a college education?
