Summer 2025 | July 18-20, 2025

With red “40” cents rate marking for transcontinental carriage in effect from July 1, 1847 through June 30, 1851. The Reynold's company handstamp indicating express company carriage to Stockton. The cover with age discoloration.

An early California usage connecting to Hodgkins’ formative years as a Gold Rush expressman, when he began working for Reynolds’ Express in 1851, delivering mail and gold dust throughout the Southern Mines.

In May 1876, Henry Wells encouraged Pilsbury "Chips" Hodgkins to host a reception to commemorate his 25 years as an expressman. In response, Chips had invitations specially printed featuring four illustrations, each depicting a different mode of transportation he used throughout his career.
This cover is one of the envelopes, carried outside of the mails, that once carried an invitation While the image of a miner on a mule was commonly associated with Gold Rush-era mining scenes, in this context, it symbolized Chips himself on his early routes, delivering mail through rugged terrain on his white mule. Enclosure not included.

Postmarked “Mason N.H. Sept 5, 1859” with manuscript routing “Overland via Los Angeles” and addressed to the iconic Wells, Fargo & Co. expressman, "Chips" (Pilsbury Hodgkins) in Stockton, California. Manuscript cancel on indicia; cover shows some staining but otherwise an attractive cover.

Pilsbury “Chips” Hodgkins was a Maine-born ship carpenter turned Gold Rush expressman. Arriving in San Francisco in 1849, he mined in Tuolumne County.
Chips worked for several express companies, including Reynolds’ Express, before becoming a longtime Wells Fargo & Co expressman. From 1857 to 1869 served as Wells, Fargo’s messenger on the Stockton–San Francisco route. Over his career, Chips reportedly carried millions in gold.