Looking down the road a bit, 2014 will mark 150
years since the Fish Bros. Wagon Company began building vehicles. While Fish family members eventually split
from the Racine firm to create another Fish Bros. company in Clinton, Iowa,
both brands can claim roots to 1864. Other
prominent early wagon makers with anniversaries in 2014 include Kentucky Wagon
Company (135 years), Winona Wagon Company (135 years), Troy Wagon Company (125
years), Florence Wagon Company (125 years), and the Pekin Wagon Company (165
years).
One of the earliest vehicle manufactories west of
the Mississippi, the Mitchell Wagon Company, also celebrates a milestone in
2014. Established in 1834 by Henry
Mitchell, the firm enjoyed a lengthy run well into the 20th century
with automobiles being a part of their offerings for over two decades. Their
line of horse drawn vehicles included dozens of wagon styles ranging from farm, freight, ranch,
business and log wagons. They also built stage wagons, spring wagons,
carriages, phaetons, buggies, buckboards, and express wagons. In its heyday, production capacity equaled as
much as 40,000 vehicles per year.
With
next year marking 180 years since the founding of the firm, Mitchell brand
vehicles continue to be extremely popular with collectors and enthusiasts. Just
as the vivid paint and artistically-applied logos once represented a product highly
desired for freighting, staging, cattle drives, and emigrant travels, that same
legacy of leadership survives today; marking a time when good people plus good
ideas, long hours, and lots of hard work had a way of opening doors of
opportunity. Thankfully, some things
never change.
