Pony Express
Ivy Bradley
Ms. Adleburg
AML 2010
20 November 2012
The Developing Mail System
The 1860 innovation the Pony Express was a business venture for founders William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell. The growing Western United States was unable to communicate with the already established Eastern United States; making the Pony Express an essential need for Americans. Though communication links were already established from the East Coast as far as Missouri, anything from Kansas or further westward was a dilemma. The dilemma of communication links between the East and West was the key aspect for the evolvement of the Pony Express and the treacherous but courageous career of heroes on horseback. The Pony Express eventually ended when telegraph lines were extended to the coast providing dots and dashes of instantaneous communication (Chiaventone 28).
According to Fred Reinfeld’s “Pony Express,” in 1860 half a million Americans lived West of the Rocky Mountains; of those Americans 300,000 lived in California (Reinfeld 9). Two thousand miles of mountains, plains, and desserts separated these Americans from the rest of the United States. To link California to the Missouri frontier, adventurous businessmen, William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell created the Pony Express (Reinfeld 21). The encounters that a Pony Express rider endured were treacherous; in the summer they encountered the possibility of heat exhaustion and dehydration and in the winter barricades of snow made it barely possible to cross mountain passes. In addition to the uncontrolled climate misfortunes, there was the possible threat of Indian attacks (Reinfeld 9). In 1839, a Swiss adventurer, John Sutter, arrived in Monterey California, which at that time was under Mexican rule. Sutter accepted Mexican citizenship and in turn Alvarado, the Mexican governor, granted him land near present day San Francisco (Reinfeld 9). Though Alvarado questioned Sutter’s mere presence, he was
Ms. Adleburg
AML 2010
20 November 2012
The Developing Mail System
The 1860 innovation the Pony Express was a business venture for founders William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell. The growing Western United States was unable to communicate with the already established Eastern United States; making the Pony Express an essential need for Americans. Though communication links were already established from the East Coast as far as Missouri, anything from Kansas or further westward was a dilemma. The dilemma of communication links between the East and West was the key aspect for the evolvement of the Pony Express and the treacherous but courageous career of heroes on horseback. The Pony Express eventually ended when telegraph lines were extended to the coast providing dots and dashes of instantaneous communication (Chiaventone 28).
According to Fred Reinfeld’s “Pony Express,” in 1860 half a million Americans lived West of the Rocky Mountains; of those Americans 300,000 lived in California (Reinfeld 9). Two thousand miles of mountains, plains, and desserts separated these Americans from the rest of the United States. To link California to the Missouri frontier, adventurous businessmen, William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell created the Pony Express (Reinfeld 21). The encounters that a Pony Express rider endured were treacherous; in the summer they encountered the possibility of heat exhaustion and dehydration and in the winter barricades of snow made it barely possible to cross mountain passes. In addition to the uncontrolled climate misfortunes, there was the possible threat of Indian attacks (Reinfeld 9). In 1839, a Swiss adventurer, John Sutter, arrived in Monterey California, which at that time was under Mexican rule. Sutter accepted Mexican citizenship and in turn Alvarado, the Mexican governor, granted him land near present day San Francisco (Reinfeld 9). Though Alvarado questioned Sutter’s mere presence, he was
Cited: Corbett, Christopher. “The Pony Rides Again (and Again).” American Heritage. 60.1 (2010): 38. History Reference Center. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. ---. “Riders of Destiny the Pony Express.” Wild West. 18.6 (2006): 44-52. History Reference Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. Chiaventone, Frederick J. “Taking Stock of the Pony Express.” Wild West 22.6 (2010): 28-35. History Reference Center. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Di Certo, Joseph J. The Saga of the Pony Express. Montana: Mountain, 2002. Print. Reinfeld, Fred. Pony Express. London: U of Nebraska, 1966. Print.