Pony Express
In March
1860,
western
newspapers
ran the
following ad:
• A new company that promised to carry mail from
Missouri to California in only ten days.
• They built relay stations about every ten miles
along the route. At each station, a rider jumped
off his weary horse and mounted a fresh pony.
• After changing horses about 8 times, the mail
was handed to a new rider.
Pony
Express
Dangers Along the
Route
• Most dangerous area was
the Utah Territory.
– Paiute Indians thought riders
were a threat to their hunting
grounds and would lead to
more settlement.
– Indians burned stations and
killed the station keepers.
The Telegraph Arrives
• 1861: Pony Express comes to an end.
• Telegraph companies had hired men to cut
down trees and place tall, strong wooden poles
in the ground from Omaha, Nebraska, to San
Francisco, California.
• The first message sent over the wire from Salt
Lake City said,
– “Utah…is firm for the Constitution and laws of our
once happy country.”
-Brigham Young
• Two days later, the Pony Express officially
ended.
Why did the Pony Express die
once the telegraph lines were
completed?