A short-lived system of postal service in the United States, the Pony Express delivered mail on horseback between Missouri and California. The service lasted for only about a year and a half in the early 1860s. Nevertheless, the Pony Express is well remembered as part of the lore of the American West.
Background
In the early 1800s not many people lived in the western United States. This changed with the discovery of gold in California in 1848 and in Colorado and Nevada in 1859. Within a short period thousands of explorers had come to the region in search of riches. Around the same time, Mormons migrated to Utah. By 1860 some 40,000 members of this religious group had settled in the area. The population of Oregon also greatly increased.
Mail took a long time to reach these people. In 1851 the United States government arranged to send mail to California and Oregon by sea. However, it took about a month for a letter to travel from New York to California. Then a stagecoach service was begun, but this took 25 days. The people in the West demanded faster mail service.
The service
The idea of using fast horses or ponies to carry mail may have come from F.X. Aubrey, who hauled goods down the Santa Fe Trail in freight wagons. The Santa Fe Trail was an important commercial route during the mid-19th century. On his trips from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Aubrey left horses along the trail with traders and friendly Indians. On his return by horseback he changed a tired horse for a fresh one.
The firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell decided to set up a horseback mail service to California. Along the trail they built 157 stations. There was one about every 10 or 15 miles (16 or 24 kilometers). Five hundred fast horses, some hardly tamed, were bought and placed in corrals at these stations. The route was about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) long. Riders changed horses six to eight times between stations and normally took about ten days to cover the distance.
A rider carried about 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of letters. The mail was carried in the pocket of a mochila, a leather covering for the saddles. When a rider dashed up to a station, he took the mochila from his tired animal and threw it over the saddle of the waiting horse. Within seconds he would be on his way again.
The first pony left St. Joseph, Missouri, on April 3, 1860. On April 13 the people of Sacramento, California, saw the cloud of dust that signaled the safe arrival of the rider. Sometimes the riders met trouble along the way. Indians sometimes burned down the stations, and thieves stole horses. The famous rider William (Buffalo Bill) Cody once rode 320 miles (510 kilometers) when he found the stations burned and the relief riders gone. Floods and snow could also make the trip difficult. Only one load of mail was lost, however.
The Pony Express provided an important link with the West, but it did not earn enough money. It was closed down when a telegraph system was completed in October 1861. In all, the horses had galloped 616,000 miles (991,000 kilometers) back and forth over the trail.