The origins and
the reason for a horse-and-rider mail delivery system between east
and west can be summed up in two words: slow mail. Prior to the Coach
and Pony Express mail delivery, time from the east to the west--by
ship down the Gulf of Mexico, across Panama by mule, then by ship
again up to San Francisco--might take six weeks, and if the winds
were off, eight weeks.
With the discovery
of gold in California in 1848, and the increasing political tensions
of the 1850s which led to the Civil War, it became imperative to keep
the far West in the Union by providing a more dependable source of
information from the East. News was very slow in reaching eager California
readers, and a standing joke of the time was that events in the East
had already been forgotten by the time they were known by those out
West.
The Vision
The solution
to this problem came from a businessman of vision, William Russell.
Russell owned a stage and freight company based in Leavenworth, Kansas
(with partners A. Majors and W.B. Waddell). While on a promotional
trip to Washington to help his ailing freight line, Russell and Senator
William Gwin of California discussed the possibilities of an Express
Mail Company to deliver mail to California by the Central Route along
the Oregon and California Trail. Initially the stage express line
was comprised of fifty coaches and extended about eight hundred miles.
By February 1860, when the line was extended from Salt Lake City across
Utah and Nevada to California, efficiency had improved the mail delivery
time to a respectable number of days. However, financial losses were
staggering, no government subsidies came through, and something was
needed to promote the Central Route.
Finally it was
decided: light, tough young men would be selected and hired to ride
the best and fastest horse-flesh money could buy. There were to be
eighty riders. Four hundred other men were to run the way stations,
some of which already existed for the coach line.
The Route
The proposed
route was brutally simple; west out of St. Joseph, up the Platte and
Sweetwater rivers, through South Pass and the Rockies to Salt Lake
City, out across the Utah and Nevada deserts, up and over the Sierra
Nevada and into California, as fast as man and animal could go, day
and night.
Light and
Tough
In the interest
of speed, careful consideration was given to weight. Riders had to
weigh less than 120 pounds. Only twenty-five pounds were allowed for
equipment which included four mail pouches sewn on leather thrown
across the saddle, a light rifle, and Colt revolver. Each mail delivery
was limited to twenty pounds; total weight on the horse: 165 pounds.
Riders wore a
bright red shirt and blue pants. They carried a small brass horn to
signal their coming, which was later eliminated when it was discovered
the hoof beats did the same thing. Each rider was issued a Bible to
sustain their courage and hardiness to make the ride through potentially
dangerous country of Indians, bandits, deadly blizzards and murderous
heat.
Fading Hoofbeats
Although the
Pony Express lasted only 19 months, the associated glamour, both fact
and fiction, has assured it a large and lasting chapter in the history
of the West. In October 1861 the Pony Express was officially terminated.
It became obsolete by the advent of the telegraph system. Messages
that took eight weeks by ship, or eight days by the Pony Express,
now took only four hours by wire.
While the Pony
Express never did operate at a profit, it would be wrong to call the
dramatic venture a failure. California stayed firmly with the Union
during the Civil War thanks to correspondence carried by the Pony
Express. In all, a dramatic thundering page had been written in American
History, and on a quiet day, you can stand along the trail and still
faintly hear the hoofbeats.
Pony
Express Facts
* St.
Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA Distance: 1900 miles
* Number of Stations: 190 (peak operation) Note: Utah Territory
(Utah, Nevada and W. Colorado) were 65 of the 190
* Number of Horses: 420 (peak)
* Number of Riders: 80 (peak)
* Average Speed: 7 miles per hour
* Average Time: 10 days
* Fastest time: 7-1/2 days (Lincoln's Inaugural Message)
* Distance per Rider: 60-120 miles each
* William C. "Buffalo Bill" Cody: Rode 322 miles in
21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 horses.
* Home Stations: 60 miles apart
* Swing Stations: averaged 11 3/4 miles apart
* Rider Salary: $120-$125 per month
* Station Personnel: 2 agents, l station keeper, and l assistant
