Pony Express Facts
The Pony Express mail service was established by the freight firm,
Russel, Majors and Waddell.
The service commenced on April 3 1860 and ran through until its
demise in late October 1861.
Mail was carried in a specially designed square of leather called
a mochilla. The mochilla was thrown over the saddle, with a
hole for the saddle horn and a slit for the cantle.
Letters bearing a $5 pony express stamp (later reduced to $1) and
a 10-cent USA stamp, were carried in four sole-leather boxes attached
to the corners of the mochilla.
The pony express carried mail between St Joseph, Missouri
and Sacremento, California. It was then taken to San Francisco
by steamer.
The pony express route followed the Oregon-California trail
for the most part, however diverted south of the Great Salt Lake and
headed west across the Sierra Nevada Mountains to save over 100 miles.
Each pony express rider rode for 75 to 100 miles, exchanging
horses every 10 to 15 miles.
The first pony express trip took 10 days; later trips were usually
made in 8 or 9 days. This was about 12-14 days shorter than the time
required by the Overland Mail.
The news of Lincoln's election in November 1860 was carried in a
record-breaking 7 days and 17 hours
Pony Express riders earned about $100 a month
In the 18-months the pony express operated, the mail was lost only
once.
The completion of the transcontinental telegraph line in October
1861 ended all need for the pony express.
REFERENCES
"Pony Express", © 1999-2000 Britannica.com and Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc
"Pony Express," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
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