by Terry Lidral
The Pony Express was in business for only 18 months, but it made a lasting impact on the history of the American Wild West. The image of a solitary rider, racing across the plains on his sleek mount with mail bags slung over his saddle, automatically brings to mind the Old West.
In 1860, the Pony Express was begun as a relay mail system. There was a need to supply the huge surge of settlers who had joined the gold prospectors moving into the American western territories with a faster mail delivery. William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell organized a business they called Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company (COC&PPEC) which later became referred to by its commonly known name of Pony Express. The first run left Missouri on April 3, 1860.
The Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company provided an alternative to trans-continental stagecoach transport and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s route that sent mail by ship from New York to Panama, then overland across the Isthmus of Panama, then back on a ship to San Francisco. An optimistic estimate put the mail at its western destination in 3 or 4 weeks.
Mail could travel by Pony Express from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California in about 10 days. It was a nearly 2,000-mile route across 8 states through hostile western territory that required rest stops and relay stations where riders could change mounts and pass off the mail to another rider.
Riding Pony Express was a solitary, dangerous and physically demanding job. Riders had to be courageous as well as tenacious to make it through the harsh weather and hostile environments that were a standard part of the job. The advertisement soliciting Pony Express riders minced no words about the job’s difficulties and dangers. Riders’ pay was between $100 and $125 per month.
The COC&PPEC maintained 400 ponies, 200 relay stations, 80 riders and a large number of station masters. The relay stations were said to be located 10 miles apart, with each third station being a home station. (Some sources mention a 5-to-20-mile distance between relay stations depending on the type of territory being covered.) Home stations were stocked with extra ponies, firearms, men, and provisions and were places where the mail was handed off from one rider to another.
The job of Pony Express station master was considered to be the most dangerous of all in the company’s work force. A good many of the relay stations were in isolated spots in hostile territory and manned by a single person.
The Pony Express was set up to provide a rider with a new mount every 10 to 15 miles. Rider changes were usually made between 75 and 100 miles. In spite of the hostile territory and the challenges of the harsh elements of the weather and terrain, it is said that only 6 Pony Express riders lost their lives on the trail. And, over the course of the entire 18 months of operation with 308 runs, there was only 1 mail bag reported lost by the Pony Express.
Weight and size of the horse and rider were essential factors in making the required time for each segment of the route. Riders were small and wiry, weighing between 100 and 125 pounds. On average, the horses were 14.2 hands high and weighed under 900 pounds.
Originally the postage for a letter being sent from Missouri to California was $5. Eventually the cost was lowered to $1 per half ounce in weight.
The successful completion of the transcontinental telegraph system was the demise of the Pony Express. The decision to shut down the operation was made in October 1861, with the final delivery reaching its destination in November of that year.
