The Pony Express' Significant Role in American History
October 22, 2012
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a mail delivery system in the West. It allowed people who went west for various reasons to get mail from family and friends or from businesses from the East. Before the Pony Express mail traveled either by boat which took a month or by stagecoach. The need for a fast mail delivery system was always there ever since the civil war when Union wanted those in the West to be on their side. The need increased however when it took President James K. Polk six months to send a letter to California and the fact that around this time there was a Gold rush and thousands were moving to the west hoping to strike gold.
It all started with Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors who had already owned a freighting service for cargo and people decided to make mail delivery system. They already had a mail system between The Missouri river and Great Salt Lake City. Russell wanted to open a bigger mail service however and backed by Senator Gwin he was determined to open a mail service by April 1860 which gave them about sixty days to complete it.
The route of the Pony Express would be from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California. In March 1860 the first ads for the Pony Express were sent out and the First deliveries started in April 1860. A two thousand mile track which delivered mail within ten days the fastest being seven days and 13 hours. The way it was set up was that there was relay stations where riders can change their horses or vice versa. Every horse rode about ten to fifteen miles and riders themselves rode for seventy five to one hundred miles before changing. Most of the riders were male and had to weigh 125 pounds or below and the horses were trained to have excellent endurance and were fed grain instead of grass to help with their endurance but cost a lot more money. The riders had to ride in dangerous conditions. Some these conditions included the weather like rain or snow and
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a mail delivery system in the West. It allowed people who went west for various reasons to get mail from family and friends or from businesses from the East. Before the Pony Express mail traveled either by boat which took a month or by stagecoach. The need for a fast mail delivery system was always there ever since the civil war when Union wanted those in the West to be on their side. The need increased however when it took President James K. Polk six months to send a letter to California and the fact that around this time there was a Gold rush and thousands were moving to the west hoping to strike gold.
It all started with Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors who had already owned a freighting service for cargo and people decided to make mail delivery system. They already had a mail system between The Missouri river and Great Salt Lake City. Russell wanted to open a bigger mail service however and backed by Senator Gwin he was determined to open a mail service by April 1860 which gave them about sixty days to complete it.
The route of the Pony Express would be from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California. In March 1860 the first ads for the Pony Express were sent out and the First deliveries started in April 1860. A two thousand mile track which delivered mail within ten days the fastest being seven days and 13 hours. The way it was set up was that there was relay stations where riders can change their horses or vice versa. Every horse rode about ten to fifteen miles and riders themselves rode for seventy five to one hundred miles before changing. Most of the riders were male and had to weigh 125 pounds or below and the horses were trained to have excellent endurance and were fed grain instead of grass to help with their endurance but cost a lot more money. The riders had to ride in dangerous conditions. Some these conditions included the weather like rain or snow and
Cited: "History of The Pony." About The Pony Express. Spirit of the Pony Express LLC, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. . "Pony Express History." Pony Express History. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. .