Pony Express

Here Comes the Pony! Spreading the News The Pony Express has f a s c i n a t e d A m e r i c a n s For millions, email and the Internet have replaced letters and newspapers. But, how did w e communicate 50,100, or 600 years ago? A t right are highlights of some key people, inventions, and technologies t h a t changed h o w w e spread the news. since its f i r s t riders h i t leather in A p r i l 1860, h e a d i n g w e s t f r o m St. Joseph, M i s s o u r i , a n d east f r o m San Francisco, California. This i n n o v 4-J O 1- c "C <u Q) = +; H I a p e r m a n e n t place in t h e history o f t h e A m e r i - g c += < can West. The l e g e n d o f " t h e Pony," as it w a s £2 o o affectionately k n o w n , may o v e r s h a d o w its brief ative overland mail service lasted only 19 months, but it created an i m m e d i a t e sensation a n d w o n Johannes Gutenberg invents a printing press w i t h metal, movable type. The press enables the mass production of documents t h a t spread news and exciting ideas of the Renaissance. James Watt perfects the steam engine. Benjamin Franklin becomes first Postmaster General under Continental Congress. Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont begins passenger and mail service on the Hudson River. 1830-1832 U.S. rail service begins from Baltimore t o Ellicott's Mills, Md., 16 miles west. Steam locomotive sets record speed of 30 miles per hour. Mail delivery by rail begins in Pennsylvania. of t h e Pony Express h e l p e d spread i m p o r t a n t 5S 1837-1844 1860-1861 1868 1869 1876-1877 1896-1901 1903 1906-1915 1926-1927 1946-1948 1960s 1970-1980s 1990s 2002-2003 Samuel Morse develops telegraphy, a method of sending electronic messages over wires. Morse patents dot-and-dash alphabetic code. First U.S. news sent by telegraph: Henry Clay is Whig party nominee for President. Pony Express begins mail service April 1860 between St. Joseph, Mo. and San Francisco, Ca. Transcontinental telegraph lines completed, October 1861. The Pony delivers last mail November 1861. First successful telegraph cable operates between England and Canada, w i t h land lines t o U.S. Transatlantic news is delivered at speed of t w o words per minute, beating the next fastest method—10 days by f t steamship. Union Pacific and Central Pacific connect rails at Utah's Promontory Summit. Transcontinental t r a i n service begins for passengers and mail. Alexander Bell invents telephone. Thomas Edison records and plays back sounds cut into grooves on a wax cylinder. First recorded words: "Mary had a little lamb." Eadweard Muybridge demonstrates high-speed photography. Guglielmo Marconi tests and patents wireless telegraphy (radio); transmits signals from England to Newfoundland. Proves messages can be sent on electromagnetic waves, roughly at speed of light. Valdemar Poulsen develops magnetic recordings, basis for today's data storage on disk. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt sends first public wireless message (to England's King Edward VII), sparking a revolution in global communication. Orville and Wilbur Wright take turns flying first motordriven airplane at Kitty Hawk, N.C Last flight of the day: 852 feet in 59 seconds. Lee DeForest invents triode vacuum tube amplifier; makes possible longdistance telephone calls; paves way for sending voice by radio. Woodrow Wilson, calling San Francisco f r o m White House, says, "It appeals to the imagination to speak across the continent." Sparton Corporation introduces electric radio. AT&T demonstrates television—team in New York hears and sees Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover from Washington, D.C. Hoover says, "I am glad to welcome television as the latest product of scientific discovery." Researchers build ENIAC, the first all electronic digital computer with input, output, and memory; it has 18,000 vacuum tubes and fills several rooms. First live telecast of baseball's World Series: New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers. Scientists invent transistor, setting stage for microelectronics. "Live via satellite." Telstar 1, first active telecommunications satellite, ushers in era of real-time global TV transmissions. Department of Defense develops Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANet), an information networking system, precursor of the Internet. Altair Microcomputer Kit—first personal computer—is marketed to home enthusiasts. Radio Shack introduces first ful'y assembled personal computer w i t h keyboard and monitor. BITNET (Because It's Time NETwork) provides file transfers and email. Computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee develops World Wide Web. Entire encyclopedia stored on CD-ROM. Wireless applications allow access to the Internet via cell phones. Instant messaging skyrockets. Millions worldwide use email and the Internet. In U.S. more email messages sent than postal mail. FCC reports 122.4 million wireless phone subscribers in U.S. Networks send more than six trillion bits of data per second over fiber-optic lines, about one million images per second. I s 9. z . Devils Gate, a cleft carved by the Sweetwater River, is 370 feet deep, 1,500 feet long, and about 50 feet wide. Riders passed this Wyoming Territory - > landmark at milepoint 829 on their way west. Chimney Rock was one of the most famous landmarks along the trail—a wonder of nature and an important milepost, 556 miles west of St. Joseph, ,Mo. news, shrink a c o n t i n e n t , and b i n d a n a t i o n t h a t a ZffiD 1769-1807 history, b u t t h e b o l d f o u n d e r s and brave riders * 2E JJ — ° 5 1454 w a s being t o r n a p a r t by civil war. u- Z> Riders heading West from Utah's Boyds Station faced a long stretch across the lower Great Salt Lake Desert and the distant Deep Creek Range. East of Fort Churchill Pony riders and horses endured a treacherous expanse with no water. The Sacramento River X J: X : , - : ,. waiting paddle steamer who delivered it to ©Jeff Gness Russell, Majors & Waddell in I860: entrepreneurs of the Pony Express. A mochila fit over the saddle. Four, locked Johnny Fry, 1860, one of first pockets held mail. Bible inscribed: "Pre- westbound Pony riders, sented by Russell, Majors & Waddell.' ©St. Joseph Moseuo JOo/PusseS Wsdoelj, Fry, saddle " '• Overland Mail T h e idea behind t h e Pony Express, a horseback relay mail service, goes back t o a t least ancient Rome and Persia. In 13th-century China Marco Polo described a "system o f posthorses by w h i c h t h e Great Khan sends his dispatches." Oregon mis- (A CD sionary Marcus W h i t m a n in 1843 p r o p o s e d u s i n g horse relays t o deliver mail f r o m the Missouri River t o t h e Columbia River in 40 days. QL I But in 1845 it still t o o k six m o n t h s X I UJ t o g e t a message f r o m President I James K. Polk t o California. By t h e i migrated West, and they w a n t e d c ^^ 1 late 1850s a half million people had "The pony-rider was usually a little bit of a man, brimful of spirit arid endurance." C v, o Q. § Mark Twain 1 in a. up-to-date news f r o m h o m e . Somet h i n g had t o be d o n e t o d e l i v e r mail faster and t o improve c o m m u n i c a t i o n in t h e e x p a n d i n g n a t i o n . • .• s.'ioe Js.edon,..' cslesoon/Bible N e w s f r o m h o m e ! The emigrants w h o moved West in t h e mid-1800s anxiously a w a i t e d mail f r o m h o m e . But mail t o o k months t o arrive, and by t h e n t h e news was o l d . Westerners d e m a n d e d better mail service. Congress established postal service t o t h e Pacific Coast in 1847 and, in 1851, set t h e rate f o r a half-ounce letter at t h r e e cents f o r delivery if less t h a n 3,000 miles and six cents if it w e n t f a r t h e r . Private contractors h a n d l e d t h e business, w h i c h required h u g e g o v e r n m e n t subsidies. W i t h t h e discovery of g o l d , f o l l o w e d by statehood, California's population mushroomed, increasing t h e urgency f o r better c o m m u n i c a t i o n . In 1848 t h e U.S. Post Office a w a r d e d a c o n t r a c t t o t h e Pacific Mail Steamship Company t o carry mail t o C a l i f o r n i a . The mail t r a v e l e d by ship f r o m N e w York t o Panama, moved across Panama by rail, t h e n by ship again t o San Francisco. The goal, getting a letter f r o m t h e East in three t o f o u r weeks, was seldom met. The g o v e r n m e n t s t r u g g l e d t o improve transcontinental mail service. In 1855 Congress even appropriated $30,000 t o see if camels could carry mail f r o m Texas t o Calif o r n i a — t h e y proved impractical. John Butterfield w o n a $600,000 contract in 1857 t h a t required mail delivery w i t h i n 25 days. His overland stagecoach service began in 1858 on a 2,800-mile r o u t e t h a t left Fort Smith, A r k . and reached San Francisco via El Paso, Tex. and Yuma, in Arizona Territory. Despite its length and scarcity o f water, no s n o w b o u n d mountains blocked this route. Powerful southern political interests kept g o v e r n m e n t subsidies o n these southern trails. W i t h civil""*" war t h r e a t e n i n g t o close southern routes, n o r t h e r n politicians sought . a central route. Benjamin F. Ficklin had carried U.S. A r m y dispatches f r o m Utah Territory and proposed t h a t the g o v e r n m e n t could provide express mail service using a horse relay. California Sen. W i l l i a m G w i n backed t h e idea. Three Crossings, Wyoming Territory. The Pony Express station at Rock Creek, Nebraska Territory. Planning the Pony Express Seize t h e O p p o r t u n i t y William H. Russell of t h e f r e i g h t i n g f i r m of Russell, Majors & W a d d e l l created the Pony Express almost by accident. Russell, W i l l i a m B. W a d d e l l , and Alexander Majors w e r e Missouri business partners w i t h vast experience hauling cargo and passengers—and a great interest in g o v e r n m e n t mail contracts. Their f i r m already provided mail and stagecoach service b e t w e e n t h e Missouri River and Salt Lake City. Russell f e l t t h a t a horse relay, a Pony Express, w o u l d p r o m o t e his company and gather congressional support t o w i n t h e mail contract f o r a central overland route. He was c o n f i d e n t this expensive advertisement w o u l d pay o f f in t h e long run, a l t h o u g h Majors and Waddell w e r e n o t so sure. W i t h t h e backing o f Senator Gwin but t o t h e dismay of his partners, Russell c o m m i t t e d t o o p e n i n g t h e express mail service p n t h e central r o u t e in April 1860. ""he t h r e e partners started a n e w f i r m , t h e Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express Company (C.O.C.& P.P.)—the official name of t h e Pony Express. Russell raised money in N e w York a n d political support in W a s h i n g t o n , D.C.; Majors m a n a g e d daily o p e r a t i o n s ; a n d Waddell ran t h e h o m e office. The company had 67 days t o hire riders, station keepers, and mail handlers and buy horses, f o o d , and o t h e r supplies and distribute t h e m t o stations across t h e route (some w e r e not yet built or even located). Majors organized t h e route into five divisions, n u m b e r e d east t o west. The first leg ran f r o m St. Joseph, Mo., t o Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory on the Platte River. The second w e n t t o Horseshoe Station near Fort Laramie, W y o m i n g Territory. These traced t h e route of t h e Oregon and C a l i f o r n i a trails, w i t h a d i p i n t o today's Colorado at Julesburg. The third t o o k t h e emigrant trail t o Fort Bridger a n d t h e Salt Lake Valley Fish Springs Station, Utah Territory Great Race Against Time God Speed to the Boy and the Pony in Utah. The f o u r t h , t o cross t h e Great Basin, f o l l o w e d a r o u t e opened in 1858 by James Simpson * t h a t ran south of t h e Great Salt Lake desert t o Roberts Creek Stat i o n , n o r t h of today's Eureka, Nev. The f i f t h leg was t h e t o u g h e s t o f t h e trip, crossing t h e Nevada desert and rugged Sierra Nevada, finally a r r i v i n g at Sacramento a n d San Francisco, Calif. C.O.C.& P.P. established h o m e stations every 75 t o 100 miles (to house riders b e t w e e n runs) a n d smaller relay stations every 10 t o 15 miles (to provide riders w i t h fresh horses). The names of some of t h e Pony stations—Kearny, Chim ney Rock, Scotts Bluff, Fort Laramie, Sweetwater, Fort B r i d g e r — w e r e already famous in w e s t e r n history. M a n y w e r e u p g r a d e d f r o m existing stagecoach stations, b u t some stations w e r e b u i l t f r o m scratch. The o p e r a t i o n e x p a n d e d f r o m 8 6 , stations on t h e Pony's first r u n 147 stations by m i d - 1 8 6 1 . " M e n W a n t e d ! . . . Men familiar w i l t r t t h e m a n a g e m e n t of horses, as hostlers or riders on t h e Overl a n d Express Route via Salt Lake City. . . Wages $50 per m o n t h . " Sacramento Union, March 19,1860 So announced newspaper ads. Hires ranged f r o m teenagers t o about a g e 40. W e i g h t restrictions w e r e strict. Riders had t o w e i g h less t h a n 120 pounds and carry 20 pounds of mail a n d 25 pounds of e q u i p m e n t . Some riders w e r e given an inscribed leather Bible (see far left). Employees t o o k this o a t h : " W h i l e I am in t h e e m p l o y o f A. M a j o r s , I agree n o t t o use p r o f a n e l a n g u a g e , n o t t o get drunk, not to gamble, not t o t r e a t animals cruelly, and n o t t o d o a n y t h i n g else t h a t is i n c o m p a t i ble w i t h t h e c o n d u c t o f a g e n t l e m a n . A n d I agree, if I violate any of t h e above conditions, t o accept my discharge w i t h o u t any pay f o r my services." The j o b was exacting and n o t f o r t h e f a i n t of heart. The c o m p a n y e m p l o y e d b e t w e e n E0 and 100 riders and several h u n dred station workers. Riders earned wages plus room and board. They j o k e d t h a t t h e company's initials, C.O.C.& P.P., stood f o r "Clean O u t of Cash & Poor Pay." The Pony employed some characters—not all living up t o t h e p l e d g e o f o b e d i ence a n d abstinence b e f i t t i n g a g e n t l e m a n . Division Superintendent Jack Slade ran w i l d w h e n d r u n k but " k e p t t h e road cleared of robbers and horse thieves." Some say Assist a n t S t a t i o n Tender James Butler " W i l d B i l l " Hickock s h o t a g e n t David McCanles and t w o others at Rock Creek Station in Nebraska. "Buffalo B i l l " Cody never rode f o r the Pony Express, but he used his W i l d West Show t o p r o m o t e t h e Pony's legend and romance. Horses w e r e selected f o r swiftness and endurance. Russell advertised for "200 grey mares, f r o m f o u r t o seven years old, not t o exceed fifteen hands high, w e l l broke t o t h e Four riders from the Pony Express. saddle and w a r r a n t e d sound.'* The company b o u g h t 400 t o 500 horses, m a n y t h o r o u g h b r e d s f o r eastern runs and C a l i f o r n i a mustangs f o r w e s t e r n stretches. Horses averaged 10 miles per hour, at times g a l l o p - i ing up t o 25 miles per hour. During his route of 75 t o 100 miles a rider changed horses e i g h t t o 10 t i m e v M a i l t r a v e l e d in four, locked leather boxes sewn o n t o t h e cor- .v ners o f a leather mochila ( k n a p sack) t h a t f i t over t h e saddle. The design a l l o w e d f o r fast removal . and placement o n a fresh horse. The, exchange of horses a n d mail was^ m o r e casual t h a n legend has i t . * " Riders often stopped t o eat or d r i n k a n d stretch t h e i r legs, b u t M a r k Twain w r o t e t h a t the "transfer d f i j rider and mail-bag was made in t h e t w i n k l i n g o f an e y e . " Twain also ; r e p o r t e d t h a t f r o m his stagecoach he " h e a r d only a w h i z and a hail, a n d t h e s w i f t p h a n t o m of t h e desert was g o n e b e f o r e w e c o u l d get our heads o u t of t h e w i n d o w s . " The First Rides On April 3, 1860, a f t e r . w e e k s of f r e n z i e d p r e p a r a t i o n , t h e day f o r t h e first rides .arrived. The St. Joseph Daily Gazette declared it w o u l d " f o r w a r d , Jay t h e first Pony Express, t h e first and only newspaper which goes o u t , and w h i c h w i l l be t h e first paper ever t r a n s m i t t e d f r o m t h e Missouri t o California in e i g h t days." This Pony Express Edition t l s o a n n o u n c e d , "The first pony w i l l start this a f t e r n o o n at 5 p.m. precisely." The w e s t b o u n d rider actually left at 7:15 p.m. reportedly 'carrying five telegrams, 49 letters, and newspapers printed on lightw e i g h t paper "as airy and t h i n as g o l d leaf." The eastbound mail l e f t San Francisco at 4 p.m., traveling by t h e p a d d l e steamer Antelope t o S a c r a m e n t o . From Sacraj m e n t o , rider Sam Hamilton blazed east, c h a n g i n g horses six times, a n d passed t h e mochila t o Warr e n Upson w h o t o o k t h e mail over T h e Sierra Nevada in a blizzard. East and w e s t b o u n d riders passed each o t h e r o n April 8, west of today's Farson, W y o . Bands, banners, bells, and occasionally "a w i l d cavalcade of m e n " greeted riders along the way. A f t e r covering nearly 2,000 miles, t h e eastbound mail reached St. Joseph on April 13. The recept i o n was t u m u l t u o u s , w i t h bands and c h e e r i n g p e o p l e l i n i n g t h e streets. In Sacramento a m o u n t e d escort and cannon fire greeted t h e Pony rider. The w e s t b o u n d mail arrived in San Francisco about 1 a.m. on A p r i l 14. Thousands of people t u r n e d o u t t o w a t c h t h e Antelope arrive w i t h t h e first mail. The crowd lit bonfires and held a boisterous celebration. The Pony Express charged five d o l lars per half-ounce f o r mail (about $85 in today's money), later reducing t h e fee t o one dollar. A t first the Pony ran once a w e e k in each d i r e c t i o n . Starting in July 1860 it ran a second weekly t r i p , delivering mail in 10 days or f e w e r b e t w e e n St. Joseph and San Francisco. Ruby Valley, Nevada Territory. An Enduring American Only once d i d t h e mail n o t g o t h r o u g h . The service suspended operations f r o m May t o late June 1860 d u r i n g an Indian uprising. Over t h e w i n t e r Paiutes in Nevada endured harsh weather and faced starvation. They blamed t h e t h o u sands of miners w h o destroyed Indian f o o d and w a t e r sources as they dug f o r g o l d and silver. Tensions grew, and t h e Pony became a t a r g e t . Paiutes razed relay stations, killed employees, and drove off horses. The disrupted service b r o u g h t heavy financial losses t o t h e already struggling company. The greatest challenge t o t h e Pony proved t o be not Indians but w i n - , ter weather. Freight roads t o t h e Nevada mines kept Sierra Nevada passes open d u r i n g much of t h e winter, b u t snows t h a t buried t h e high country b e t w e e n Salt Lake and Fort Laramie o f t e n proved t o o much f o r a single rider. Still, delivery c o n t i n u e d even d u r i n g January w i t h only a four- t o six-day delay. Risky Business—Legendary Payoff The Pony Express was as risky a venture as any t a k e n on t h e f r o n tier. Russell, Majors & Waddell had survived o n loans made against its g o v e r n m e n t debts since 1858, and t h e company was essentially bankr u p t w h e n it launched C.O.C.& P.P. Russell c o u n t e d on w i n n i n g t h e central overland mail contract t o revive t h e company's fortunes, b u t Congress adjourned in June 1860 w i t h o u t t a k i n g action. Russell t r i e d t o save t h e business by secretly borr o w i n g bonds t h r o u g h a friend in a g o v e r n m e n t agency. The story became public in December 1860, leading t o a scandal and Russell's arrest. He beat the embezzlement charges, b u t t h e t r o u b l e s spelled disaster f o r t h e Pony Express. W i t h t h e start o f t h e Civil War in 1861 Congress a p p r o p r i a t e d money t o s u p p o r t t h e o v e r l a n d mail, a f t e r t h e secession of Texas closed t h e southern routes. But t h e contract w e n t t o Butterfield's Overland Mail Company n o t t o t h e Pony Express. Legacy Officially t h e Pony Express ceased operations w i t h t h e completion of the transcontinental telegraph on October 26, 1861. The Pony made its last run on November 20, 1861. It c o m p l e t e d some 300 runs each way over 600,000 miles and carried more t h a n 33,000 pieces of mail. The Pony's achievements in spreading news and u n i t i n g t h e n a t i o n were significant. By early 1861 w a r b e t w e e n t h e N o r t h and South seemed certain. Whether California decided t o remain in t h e U n i o n depended, in part, on policies presented in A b r a h a m Lincoln's inaugural address. The Pony delivered Lincoln's March 4 message t o Calif o r n i a in t h e fastest t i m e ever— seven days and 17 hours—bringing news t h a t h e l p e d t h e state stay loyal. In April 1861 t h e Pony delivered w o r d of t h e outbreak of t h e Civil War. Until t h e Pony's last run in November 1861 it b r o u g h t news o f battles and lists of dead and w o u n d e d t o anxious westerners. In its 19 months t h e Pony Express c a p t u r e d t h e hearts a n d i m a g i n a t i o n of p e o p l e a r o u n d t h e w o r l d a n d m a r k e d a m i l e s t o n e in our nation's communication system. The abiding fascination w i t h t h e Pony's story is one of its e n d u r i n g legacies. The Pony Express lives on t o d a y — i n books and movies a n d w i t h t h o u sands of people w h o love its history. Each year since 1978 t h e National Pony Express Association rides t h e t r a i l in a 10-day, round-the-clock, non-stop event. More t h a n 500 riders f o l l o w a 1,943-mile r o u t e t h a t is close as possible t o t h e o r i g i n a l ' t r a i l . Today Pony riders use shortw a v e radios a n d cell p h o n e s t o spread t h e news of t h e i r journey. In 1861 newspapers paid t r i b u t e t o t h e Pony's accomplishments: "You have served us w e l l . " The Sacramento Daily Bee b i d " F a r e w e l l Pony!" and saluted t h e "staunch, wilderness-overcoming, s w i f t - f o o t ed messenger" t h a t had " d r a g g e d in your t r a i n t h e l i g h t n i n g itself." The Pony Express National Historic Trail, authorized by Congress in 1992, is administered by the National Park Service and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and private landowners. More Information National Park Service National Trails System Salt Lake City P.O. Box 45155 324 South State Street Salt Lake City, UT 84145 www.nps.gov/poex Bureau of Land Management National Historic Trails 1501 North Poplar Casper, WY 82601 www.blm.gov USDA Forest Service Intermountain Region Federal Building 324 25th Street Ogden, UT 84401 www.fs.fed.us National Pony Express Association P.O. Box 236 Pollock Pines, CA 95726 www.xphomestation.com/npea.html Internet Information www.nps.gov/poex www.nps.gov/poex/hrs/hrs.htm www.xphomestation.com www.americanwest.com/trails www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/pony.html www.usps.com/history www.sfmuseum.org www.ponyexpress.org "The mosquitoes were so thick that it jj/as difficult to tell whether the man was white or buick~77TT~ |r"~ USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region 1323 Club Drive Vallejo, CA 94592 www.fs.fed.us "j5 Pony Express Trail Association 139 San Antonio Way Sacramento, CA 95819 "We had orders on that first run to do our level best J made the run in mighty good Tiinerxmsid'eringThTlIistance, but I killed the poor horse in doing it." »GPO:2003-496.196/4G476 Printed on Recycled Paper "Passing by Marysville.... we forded before sunset, h%e "Big Blue," a well-known tributary of the Kansas River. It is a pretty little stream, brisk and clear as crystal.. r v George Washington Perkins, rider Jay G. Kel ley, rider • "The little [horse] who came down in the Sacramento boa this morning shoved a continent behind his hoofs so easily..." San Francisco Bulietin, April 14,4860 Sir Richard F. Burton, English writer i8<|o "Later I got itfrom some friendly Indians that there -fntdbeena trap set to catchan Express Rider for the * purpose of seeing what he carried to make him travel sofast." "One of the hardest rides lever had made was when 1 carried President Lincoln's inaugural address from the telegraph station at Fort Kearney.... Such things made every Pony Express rider feel that he was helping to make history." Howard Ranson Egan, rider Jg4i c o Q. X LU Route of Pony Express Trail based on information provided by Joe Nardone. f VVa/nut Cr, William Campbell, rider