Ben Holladay

American businessman Date Of Birth : 1819-10-14T00:00:00Z Date Of Death : 1887-07-08T00:00:00Z

Benjamin Holladay (October 14, 1819 – July 8, 1887) was an American transportation businessman responsible for creating the Overland Stage to California during the height of the 1849 California Gold Rush. He created a stagecoach empire and is known in history as the “Stagecoach King”.
A native of Kentucky, he also was hired as a private courier to General Alexander Doniphan of Missouri. Doniphan refused point-blank to carry out orders to kill the Mormons during the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Through Holladay’s friendship with Brigham Young, Holladay established a profitable freighting contract to Salt Lake City. His transportation empire later included steamships and railroads in Oregon.

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