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Communication in History: The key to Understanding
Here are some reasons why the Pony Express relates to this
and why it was important.
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The pony express was a mail
service where riders on horseback traveled from St. Joseph, Missouri to
Sacramento, California. Riders changed horses at stations placed about
ten to fifteen miles apart. A rider handed the mail pack over to another
rider after completing about 75 miles. Young, often teenage lightweight
riders, orphans preferred, were hired for the job. One of the most
famous was Buffalo Bill Cody. The pony express lasted only nineteen
months, from April 3, 1860 to October 24, 1861. The pony express ended
when the telegraph first crossed the continent.
The pony express was
developed by William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander
Majors. Plans for the pony express were spurred by the impending cloud
of the Civil War and the need for faster communication with California
and the West. The pony express consisted of relays of men riding fast
ponies or horses that carried letters and small packages across a
1,966-mile (3,164-kilometer) trail. The service opened officially on
April 3, 1860, when riders left simultaneously from St. Joseph,
Missouri, and Sacramento, California. The first westbound trip was made
in 9 days and 23 hours and the eastbound journey in 11 days and 12
hours. The pony riders covered 250 miles in a 24-hour day as compared
with 100 to 125 miles by the stage coaches.
Prior to the
start of the pony express, there were three mail routes to California.
The first was a steamship voyage from New York, then crossing the
Isthmus of Panama by canoe and mule, and next connecting with another
steamship run to San Francisco. This journey took 22 days but was used
to carry the bulk of western mail prior to the Pony Express. The other
two mail service options used wagon routes and stagecoach lines. The
central route was used mainly for local mail. It ran from Independence,
Missouri, along the Platte River, through South Pass, Salt Lake City,
Carson City, and on to Sacramento with a total travel time of 21? days.
The third option, the Butterfield Overland Mail Company route, followed
an oxbow-shaped path some 600 miles south of the Central Route, taking
up to three weeks to arrive in Southern California.
During the critical
early days of the Civil War, the pony express helped to preserve the
Union by providing rapid communication between California and
Washington, D.C. Both the North and the South wanted California to join
them. For the Union, the State provided needed material resources and a
far-western base of operations against the Confederacy. The control of
California by the South could have stalemated the Federal Government
west of the Rocky Mountains where half a million people then lived.
Eventually, the pony express had more than 100 stations, 80 riders, and
between 400 and 500 horses. The express route was extremely hazardous,
but only one mail delivery was ever lost. The service lasted only 19
months until October 24, 1861, when the completion of the Pacific
Telegraph line ended the need for its existence. Although California
relied upon news via the pony express during the early days of the Civil
War, the horse line was never a financial success, leading its founders
to bankruptcy. However, the drama surrounding the pony express made it a
part of the legend of the American West. |
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