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N0KFQ > TODAY 03.04.16 16:16l 58 Lines 2741 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 89436_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Apr 3
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 160403/1415Z 89436@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1860
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 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento,
beating the eastbound packet's 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 America's 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
snail's 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 company's riders set their
fastest time with Lincoln's 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.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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