According to Google today is the 155th anniversary
of the Pony Express
This article is about the fast mail service of 1860–1861.
For other meanings of "Pony Express", see Pony Express
(disambiguation)
Pony Express Postmark, 1860, westbound
The Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages,
newspapers, mail, and small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri, across the
Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento,
California, by horseback, using a series of relay stations. Officially
operating as the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1859, which in
1860 became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company,
this firm was founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B.
Waddell all of whom were notable in the freighting business.[1] During its 18
months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days.[2] From April 3, 1860, to October
1861, it became the West's most direct means of east–west communication before
the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California
with the rest of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express
On the other hand
April 3, 1860:
On this day in 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling
by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and
Sacramento, California. Ten days later, on April 13, the westbound rider and
mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in
Sacramento, beating the eastbound packet’s arrival in St. Joseph by two days
and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery. Although ultimately
short-lived and unprofitable, the Pony Express captivated America’s imagination
and helped win federal aid for a more economical overland postal system. It
also contributed to the economy of the towns on its route and served the
mail-service needs of the American West in the days before the telegraph or an
efficient transcontinental railroad.[ http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pony-express-debuts]
This article is about the fast mail service of 1860–1861. For other meanings of
"Pony Express", see Pony Express (disambiguation).
Pony Express advertisement
Pony Express Postmark, 1860, westbound
The Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages,
newspapers, mail, and small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri, across the
Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento,
California, by horseback, using a series of relay stations. Officially
operating as the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1859, which in
1860 became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company,
this firm was founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B.
Waddell all of whom were notable in the freighting business.[1] During its 18
months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days.[2] From April 3, 1860, to October
1861, it became the West's most direct means of east–west communication before
the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of
California with the rest of the United States.
April 14, 1865:
On this day in 1865, John Wilkes Booth, an actor and
Confederate sympathizer, fatally shoots President Abraham Lincoln at a play at
Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox
Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the
American Civil War.
The infamous Dr. Mudd set Booth’s broken arm after Booth
fled Washington D.C. and today we get the term “his name is Mudd” when I catch
him.
…Pandora
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