The Mail Must Go Through

Pony Express Re-riders are now again getting the mail through! Near Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, rider Rochelle is ready to head west for the hand off. ... more

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

The Mail Must Go Through

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture

Description

Pony Express Re-riders are now again getting the mail through! Near Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, rider Rochelle is ready to head west for the hand off. From here, the letters in the leather pouches will be handed off many times to other riders until eventually, they will reach California to complete the 2015 re-ride of the mail delivery.

The Pony Express, an early mail-delivery system of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1859, in 1860 became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. The idea of a fast mail route to the Pacific coast was prompted largely by California's new found prominence and its rapidly growing population. After gold was discovered there in 1848, thousands of prospectors, investors and businessmen made their way to the California Republic. By 1850, California entered the Union as a free state. By 1860, the population had grown to 380,000. The demand for a faster way to get mail and other communications to and from this westernmost state became even greater as the American Civil War approached.

William Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell were the three founders of the Pony Express and were already in the freighting business in the late 1850's with more than 4,000 men, 3,500 wagons and some 40,000 oxen. Russell was a prominent businessman and well respected among his peers and the community. Waddell was co-owner of the firm Morehead, Waddell & Co. After Morehead was bought out and retired, Waddell merged his company with Russell's, changing the name to Waddell & Russell. In 1855 they took on a new partner, Alexander Majors, and founded the company of Russell, Majors & Waddell. They held government contracts for delivering army supplies to the West frontier, and Russell had a similar idea for contracts with the U.S. Government for fast mail delivery.

By having a short route and using mounted riders rather than traditional stagecoaches, they proposed to establish a fast mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, with letters delivered in 10 days, a duration many said was impossible. The price was $5 per half-ounce. The founders of the Pony Express hoped to win an exclusive government mail contract, but that did not come about.

Russell, Majors and Waddell organized and put together the Pony Express in two months in the winter of 1860. The undertaking involved 120 riders, 184 stations, 400 horses and several hundred personnel during January and February 1860.

The Pony Express demonstrated that a unified transcontinental system of communications could be established and operated year round. When replaced by the telegraph, the Pony Express quickly became romanticized and became part of the lore of the American West. Its reliance on the ability and endurance of individual young, hardy riders and fast horses was seen as evidence of rugged American individualism of the Frontier times. - Wikki

This image was made at Fort Laramie, Wyoming during the 2015 re-ride. Photograph copyright Jon Burch Photography

For further reading about the Pony Express, please check out Christopher Corbetts book "Orphans Preferred".

http://www.orphanspreferred.com

Uploaded

June 19th, 2015