The mochila could hold 20 pounds (9 kg) of mail along with the 20 pounds (9 kg) of material carried on the horse.
Bundles of mail were placed in these cantinas, which were padlocked for safety. The mochila was thrown over the saddle and held in place by the weight of the rider sitting on it. They often said that, if it came to be, the horse and rider should perish before the mochila did. The employers stressed the importance of the pouch. At each station, the express rider would change to a fresh horse, taking only the mail pouch called a mochila (from the Spanish for pouch or backpack) with him. In 1860, the roughly 186 Pony Express stations were about 10 miles (16 km) apart along the Pony Express route. Hastings building in Sacramento, California, western terminus of the Pony Express He presented each rider with a special-edition Bible and required this oath, which they were also required to sign. Majors was a religious man and resolved "by the help of God" to overcome all difficulties. The undertaking assembled 80 riders, 184 stations, 400 horses, and several hundred personnel during January and February 1861. Russell, Majors, and Waddell organized and put together the Pony Express in two months in the winter of 1860. The founders of the Pony Express hoped to win an exclusive government mail contract, but that did not come about. The initial price was 25000% higher than the price of mail through the normal mail service, which was $0.02. The initial price was set at $5 per 1⁄ 2 ounce (14 g), then $2.50, and by July 1861 to $1.
Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, with letters delivered in 10 days, which many said was impossible. īy using a short route and mounted riders rather than traditional stagecoaches, they proposed to establish a fast mail service between St. They held government contracts for delivering army supplies to the western frontier, and Russell had a similar idea for contracts with the U.S. In 1855, they took on a new partner, Alexander Majors, and founded the company of Russell, Majors & Waddell. After Morehead was bought out and moved to Leavenworth to enter the mercantile business, Waddell merged his company with Russell's, changing the name to Waddell & Russell. Morehead took the proposal for the Pony Express to President Buchanan. Waddell was co-owner of the firm Morehead, Waddell & Co. Russell was a prominent businessman, well respected among his peers and the community. At the peak of the operations, they employed 6,000 men, owned 75,000 oxen, thousands of wagons, and warehouses, plus a sawmill, a meatpacking plant, a bank, and an insurance company. They were already in the freighting and drayage business. Waddell were the three founders of the Pony Express. William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. The demand for a faster way to get the mail and other communications to and from this westernmost state became even greater as the American Civil War approached. The prospect of California and its national role became the source of bitter partisan debate in the Congress. By 1860, the population had grown to 380,000. By 1850, California entered the Union as a free state. After gold was discovered there in 1848, thousands of prospectors, investors, and businessmen made their way to California, at that time a new territory of the U.S. The idea of having a fast mail route to the Pacific Coast was prompted largely by California's newfound prominence and its rapidly growing population. Its reliance on the ability and endurance of hardy riders and fast horses was seen as evidence of rugged American individualism of the frontier times. When replaced by the telegraph, the Pony Express quickly became romanticized and became part of the lore of the American West. Nevertheless, it demonstrated that a unified transcontinental system of communications could be established and operated year-round. state of California with the rest of the United States.ĭespite a heavy subsidy, the Pony Express was not a financial success and went bankrupt in 18 months, when a faster telegraph service was established. It became the west's most direct means of east–west communication before the first transcontinental telegraph was established (October 24, 1861), and was vital for tying the new U.S. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company.ĭuring its 18 months of operation, the Pony Express reduced the time for messages to travel between the east and west US coast to about 10 days. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders.
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