The Pony Express: A Journey Across the American West
Mail From Coast to Coast: During the mid01800s, American settlers were on the
move, relocating from crowded Eastern cities to the untamed wilderness of the West.
Many made their way to California. With the surge of settlers, Calfiornia began to thrive
and emerge as a new center for commerce. Businesses and settlers in the West needed
a fast way to correspond with their Eastern contem poaries. Recognizing a business
opportunity. William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell established
the Pony Express. The Pony Express consisted for relays of men riding horses carrying
saddlebags of mail across a 2,000-mile trail between St. Joseph Missouri, and Sacramento,
California. The service opened officially on April 3, 1860.
A Dangerous Ride: 120 young riders carried correspondence thrugh dire conditions,
bravely speeding across the prairies, mountains, and deserts with only the whip of the
wind at their backs. The brave few faced freezing temperatures, limited supply lines, hotile
Native Americans, and dangerous raiders. Many riders were killed while making the journey.
Exchanging Mail at Schell Creek Station: An individual rider did not typically carry the
mail for more than 75 miles (or longer than a 24-hour journey). Swing stations and home
stations were estalished to help the riders make their way across the West. Swing stations
were located 10-15 miles apart. At the swing station, a rider dismounted from his tired horse
and quickly mountained a fresh horse ready to restart the journey. The exchanges were quick
never lasting more than two minutes-jut long enough for the rider to take a quick drink
and swing the mochila over the saddle of his new horse. This spot marks the swing station at
Schell Creek (Pony Express Station 128). Westbound riders would have reached the station
on the seventh or eigth day of the mail's ten-day journey.
The Pony is Replaced: As telegraph lines moved across
the West, the Pony Express became obsolete. Schell Creek
Station outgrew its purpose. THe area was renamed
Schellbourne and instead of welcoming dusty, trail-worn
Pony Express riders, a small mining community of 400
persons occupied the area.
Pony Express trail across Nevada. In letters marked like these, Pony Express riders carried news of
Abraham Lincoln’s election, the succession of the Southern States, and rumors of civil war to the
information-hungary West. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Philatelic Classes Society.
Re-creation of reported Pony Express recruitment poster.
Riders used mochila (saddlebags) to carry 34,753 pieces of mail across 616,000 miles.
During the nineteen months of operation, there were just two accounts of lost mail.
(illustration by Scott Fisher)
