The Pony Express - History

Most people who have read about the history of the western United States have heard of the Pony Express.  Considering that the private mail service only operated for 19 months, that's something remarkable. Yesterday, 3 April, was the first day (in 1860) of the Pony Express's operation.  It was a private delivery service, carrying messages, newspapers, and mail. Officially operating as the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1859, in 1860 it became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company.  The company was founded by William H Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B Waddell, all well known in the freighting business.
   From 3 April 1860 until October 1861, the Pony Express became the West's most direct means of east-west communication before the transcontinental telegraph was established on 24 October 1861. The company was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the US, and it reduced the amount of time for messages to travel between the east and west coasts to about 10 days.
   Russell, Majors, and Waddell organized and put together the Pony Express over two months in the winter of 1860.  They assembled 120 riders, 184 stations, 400 horses, and several hundred personnel in January and February 1861. By using a short route with mounted riders instead of teamsters in wagons or stagecoaches, they proposed to establish a fast mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.  They hoped to get the mail through in 10 days - many people swore that was impossible.  The initial price for mail delivery was set at $5 per 1/2 ounce (14 grams), it dropped to $2.50, and by July 1861, the cost was $1.  The men who owned the Pony Express hoped to win an exclusive government contract, but that never happened.
   Alexander majors was a religious man and was resolved to overcome all difficulties. Each rider who signed on to work was given a special edition Bible and they were required to sign the following oath:  "I, ____ _____, do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect  I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God."
   The Pony Express demonstrated that a unified transcontinental system of Communications could be established and operated year round. The approximately 1,900 mile-long route (3,100 kilometers) roughly followed the Oregon and California Trails to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, and then the Mormon Trail (known as the Hastings Cutoff) to Salt Lake City, Utah.  From there it followed the Central Nevada Route to Carson City, Nevada before passing over the Sierra into Sacramento, California.
   William Russell, the senior partner of 'Russell, Majors, and Waddell' and one of the biggest investors in the Pony Express, used the 1860 Presidential election as a way to promote the company and how fast it could deliver the U. S. mail.  Prior to the election, Russell hired extra riders to ensure freshness of horse and rider along the relay route.  On 7 November 1860, a Pony Express rider departed Fort Kearny, Nebraska (the end of the eastern telegraph line) with the election results. Riders sped along the route, over snow-covered trails and into Fort Churchill, Nevada (the end of the western telegraph line).  California's newspapers received word of Abraham Lincoln's election win only 7 days and 17 hours after the East Coast newspapers. It was an unequaled feat of daring and speed at that time.
   During its brief time operating the Pony Express delivered about 35,000 letters between St. Joseph and Sacramento.  But they did not get the government contract they had hoped for. It was given to Jeremy Dehut in March 1861, after her took over the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Line by Congress. Then Ben Holladay took over the Pony Express stations to use as stagecoach stops.
   Shortly after the contract was awarded the start of the American Civil War caused the stage line to stop operating.  From March 1861, the Pony Express ran mail only between Salt Lake City and Sacramento.  Two days after the transcontinental telegraph line reached Salt Lake City, Utah, and connected Omaha, Nebraska and Sacramento, California, the Pony Express announced its closure.  The date was 26 October 1861.
   In 1866, after the Civil War was well over, Ben Holladay sold the Pony Express assets along with the remnants of the Butterfield Overland Stage to Wells Fargo for $1.5 million.
   When replaced by the telegraph, the Pony Express quickly became romanticized - and it became a part of the lore of the American West.  Its use of young men as people of ability, integrity and endurance, plus the use of horses, especially mustangs, was seen as evidence of rugged American individualism and spirit.