Pony Express debuts
On this day in 1860 the first Pony Express mail traveling by horse and rider relay teams simultaneously leaves St.Joseph Missouri and Sacramento California.Ten days later on April 13 the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento beating the eastbound packets arrival in St.
Joseph by two days and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery.Although ultimately short-lived and unprofitable the Pony Express captivated Americas imagination and helped win federal aid for a more economical overland postal system.It also contributed to the economy of the towns on its route and served the mail-service needs of the American West in the days before the telegraph or an efficient transcontinental railroad.The Pony Express debuted at a time before radios and telephones when California which achieved statehood in 1850 was still largely cut off from the eastern part of the country.
Letters sent from New York to the West Coast traveled by ship which typically took at least a month or by stagecoach on the recently established Butterfield Express overland route which could take from three weeks to many months to arrive.Compared to the snails pace of the existing delivery methods the Pony Express average delivery time of 10 days seemed like lightning speed.The Pony Express Company the brainchild of William H.Russell William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors owners of a freight business was set up over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail across the present-day states of Missouri Kansas Nebraska Wyoming Colorado Utah Nevada and California.
Riders who were paid approximately 25 per week and carried loads estimated at up to 20 pounds of mail were changed every 75 to 100 miles with horses switched out every 10 to 15 miles.Among the riders was the legendary frontiersman and showman William Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917) who reportedly signed on with the Pony Express at age 14.The companys riders set their fastest time with Lincolns inaugural address which was delivered in just less than eight days.The initial cost of Pony Express delivery was 5 for every half-ounce of mail.
The company began as a private enterprise and its owners hoped to gain a profitable delivery contract from the U.S.government but that never happened.With the advent of the first transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861 the Pony Express ceased operations.
However the legend of the lone Pony Express rider galloping across the Old West frontier to deliver the mail lives on today.
