A Brief History of the Pony Express
The history of the Pony Express can teach us about the huge geography challenges that faced the growing nation.
The United States is huge. Although sources slightly vary, most information out there says we are the third largest country in the world by land area. 3.8 million acres is the estimate. Most people today don’t really find this incredible. It’s just normal. However, in the past, people almost couldn’t imagine having a country so big. In fact, when the US Constitution was debated in 1787, a group of people rallied against the idea of the United States simply because they thought a country so big could never exist as one political unit. Keep in mind this was in 1787 when the US was just a collection of 13 states along the east coast. The argument was so real, that James Madison addressed it in Federalist #14. Basically, he had to try and convince people that a country that big could exist as one union. It wasn’t an easy task.
To understand the history of the Pony Express, you really have to understand the reality of life in early America. Prior to the use of machines, horses and mules were the primary means of transportation on land. As the United States expanded west in the 1800s, the challenge of connecting the country became more difficult. Fortunately for the growing nation, there was a new technology they could deploy to help them grow; the steam engine. Steam engines could go wherever track was laid, could transport enormous weights for the time period, and steady speeds of 10 mph were unbelievable. That’s not because 10 mph was fast. Instead, it was because the trains could go 10 mph, while hauling thousands of pounds, AND go for hours at a time. A single horse was faster, but a team of draft horses could never hope to compete with even the most primitive train in a pulling contest.
In the early-1800s the United States expanded and added states in the Mid West. The steady work of adding tracks kept the nation connected. However, beginning in about 1840, something happened that would truly challenge the ability of the nation to keep connected.
By 1840, even the frontier states like Missouri had begun filling up. To stay on the leading edge of the frontier, pioneers had to keep moving west. The problem was, they were running into what they called the Great American Desert. It’s what we call the Great Plains. People from a society dependent on timber and free-flowing streams and rivers couldn’t imagine living in such an arid area. However, they heard rumors of a bountiful land in California and Oregon. As a result, they embarked on the massive 400,000-person migration across the plains on the Oregon Trail. So many people moved in a single decade, that in 1850, California was admitted as a state.
Although the US was happy to add another state, the new state created a difficult problem. By 1850, the railroad had barely sunk stakes in states like Missouri. There was little hope to quickly establish a rail line to a destination 2,000 miles away. Remember though, California was a state, and its people felt it necessary that they stay up-to-date on the happenings on the East Coast. How else could they and their representatives cast their votes and protect their state rights in Congress? Throughout the 1850s, several companies tried to overcome this challenge. The most notable was the Butterfield Overland Mail route. The route was created by entrepreneur John Butterfield and consisted of a system of relay stations that dipped into the southern states and ended in California. Using this system, Butterfield decreased the trip from 6 months on the Oregon Trail, to 25 days on his express line. As you might expect, there were those who thought they could do better. This is where the history of the Pony Express really begins to take off.
A freighting firm by the name of Russell, Majors, and Waddell decided to try and solve this important crisis. They thought that by taking a more direct route across the plains, they could deliver mail faster than the Butterfield. To test this idea, they constructed a series of relay stations that roughly followed the Oregon Trail until southwest Wyoming, where it took a more direct line toward Sacramento. Stations were constructed on average, about 12 miles apart, and were home to a single manager, or a few employees. Although it took a tremendous effort to get the Pony Express started, on April 3, 1860, Johnny Fry left St. Joseph, Missouri with mail headed to California.
This image shows the mochilla used by the Pony Express.
Once on the line, the mail would be carried by a rider to roughly 4 relay stations. At the station, rather than switch saddles, the company had constructed a leather mochilla that was placed over the saddle. After dismounting, the rider would simply grab the mochilla off the saddle he had been riding and place it on the saddle of a horse standing ready. In less than 2 minutes, the rider could dismount, change the mail, get a quick drink, mount up, and dash toward the next station. After 4 relays, the rider would lope into a “home station.” These were the stations where the riders lived. At a home station, the rider would dismount and pass the mochilla off to a new rider who would continue down the line. In this way, they could deliver mail in about 12 days from California to Missouri.
As much as the history of the Pony Express has become a romantic image, it operated only a relatively short 18 months. By then, telegraph lines stretched from shore to shore, and the need for horse flesh to transport messages was no longer necessary.
In the big scope of history, the Pony Express wasn’t much. As a business venture, it was a failure. As a method of contacting people, it was quickly replaced. However, as a symbol of what a man and his horse could accomplish, it will stand the test of time.
In my book, Pony Boy, there is a moment when Sam realizes exactly how powerless he would be without the horse. The excerpt reads:
“After fording the river, Sam rode up the bank and back onto the level prairie. As he did, the familiar landscape opened up in front of him. On the north side, a few broken hills speckled with white rock gleamed in the sun. On the southern horizon, a low cedar-covered ridge formed the skyline. In between, the open prairie seemed to taunt him in challenge. The grass danced wildly in the southern wind that was starting to blow. The tract of land ahead of him was big; too big for a man on foot. On his own, there was no way he would cross the one hundred miles back to Mud Springs in time. However, with the Pony Express it could be done. The natural fleetness of the horse and the ambition of man had come together on this road to overcome the nagging enemy of distance. Steam was overcoming that barrier further east, but on the frontier, it was still left to the ancient alliance of man and horse. Atop the roan, with the sweeping view of the endless prairie challenging him, Sam finally appreciated the worth of the animal he rode. Alone, Sam would fail. Together, they could go anywhere.”
