The Pony Express Importance
The Pony Express was a very important method of communication from April 3,1860 to October 26, 1861. It was an innovative process that helped get people’s messages across from the east to the west coast and vice versa. People really needed the Pony Express back then because they desired a more fluent method of communication. The west wanted to be able to communicate with the east. Even if the Pony Express did not last a long time, it impacted how we use mail today and delivered people’s messages when there was not any technology to do so.
There were three main men that came up with the idea and set it up. The riders and horses and station keepers were also very important to helping it prosper. Before the Pony Express, the U.S had three main procedures to get mail to the West Coast. People would have to ship mail from New York (or other ports) across the Isthmus of Panama. This took the most amount of time because the mail would usually sit for a great amount of time until they could get it off of the boats or ships. They would also use wagons and stagecoaches from Missouri to California and would use certain routes. This took lots of time because the routes were long. The third method was the Butterfield Mail Company which also consisted of wagons and stagecoaches, but had a different route that went through the south to get to the West Coast. These procedures used up a lot of time, though. When mail was delivered by these ways, it took months to get from the east to the west coast. Also, when the Civil War was happening, Northern states wanted more rapid communication with California. Many people were settling in between the Midwest and the West Coast, and they also wanted communication. This shows that before the Pony Express, there was a huge lack of communication. The Pony Express fulfilled a demand. This was the main reason that led the Pony Express to be created.
Russell, Majors, and Wadell were the main operators and planners of the Pony Express. They got so involved in the idea because they were interested in transportation. Their reason for establishing the Pony Express was to prove that the central route was viable all year long and because they had an interest in the government mail contracts. They collected facilities, equipment, and experienced personnel from Chorpenning Stage Company. Russell went to Washington D.C. to represent them and spread the news about their plan. Majors managed the whole operation at an open range. These men then worked on hiring staff, (people to ride the horses and housekeep stations) building stations, and completing routes. After that, they set up places where they would collect the letters and channel them to St. Joseph for the East Coast. This is where they sent the letters off so that the riders could deliver people’s messages. They had another positioning for the West Coast. These men, then, advertised for people to ride the horses and deliver the mail.
It was mostly the younger men who decided to try to become pony riders. Some were as young as thirteen years old. The riders were intrigued to be working for the Pony Express because they received $125 a month as pay. It was about $0.43 to $1 per day, which was a good amount of money back then.They had to promise on a Bible to never fight, drink, or swear. 420 of the best horses were chosen. They used different kinds for different trails; mustangs for mountains, broncos for deserts, and racehorses for grasslands. They motivated the riders and made it clear to the riders that they had to strictly maintain the schedule. The whole Pony Express route was about two thousand miles. The riders had about ten days to deliver the mail. The stations were mostly in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. Each rider usually rode 75 to 100 miles in one day and changed horses every 10 to 15 miles. The fastest delivery in the history of the Pony Express was seven days and seventeen hours. They set all of this up just so people could communicate with each other. The method was really efficient during its eighteen months. The work that the riders had to do was very difficult, mainly because the Pony Express was so dangerous. Riders had very little protection from people or weather. Night and day, the riders raced through snowstorms, sandstorms, and flooded streams. They were forced to face wolves, robbers, and conflicting Indians. There were bad insects and a scarce amount of water on the trails and routes. The route went through the Rocky Mountains, which often had snow in the spring and early summer. Much of the territory was not settled, causing the riders to be targets for robbers and Native Americans who did not want their land to be taken over.
In the spring and summer of 1860, the riders got into the middle of the Pyramid Lake War with the Paiute in Nevada. Some of the riders were assaulted or killed along the routes. Many stations got burned to a crisp. Dead bodies were left lying there on the ground. Even after all of that, there were still more challenges to maintain the Pony Express. The stations that the riders attended were not comfortable at all. They were mainly just small cabins with few stalls and a corral for the horses with dirt floors. All they had were empty wooden crates. The food consisted of cured meats, dried fruit, flour for bread baked in an open fire, molasses, pickles, coffee, and cornmeal. These struggles make the Pony Express important; it was so difficult but people managed to do it anyway, just so people could communicate with each other.
After its successful 18 months of operating the Pony Express got shut down due to a technological advancement. It was the completion of the transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861. This invention made it possible to transmit messages rapidly from coast to coast. The telegraph was a point to point text messaging system. It used coded pulses of electric current through dedicated wires to transmit information over long distances. When it came out, there was no need for riders and horses to deliver mail and go through all of the hard work anymore. Although the telegraph was the main reason the Pony Express got shut down, there were other causes, too.
The Pyramid Lake War was another loss to the company. When people burned stations, killed the station keepers, and stole horses and equipment, the company could not afford the $75,000 to replace these things or the cost of replacing horses. The company also failed due to lack of money coming in. Mailing letters was way too expensive; $5 per ounce (which is the equivalent of hundreds of dollars nowadays). The average citizen could not afford to send mail, so they stopped trying to send messages to others.
At the end, the company could not make the $1,000 per day that they needed in order to stay relevant. The total costs for all of the materials and stuff that they used were about $700,000 but it only added up to about $500,000, which obviously was not enough. The company’s creditors demanded immediate payment, putting pressure on Russell, Major, and Waddell to pay up when they did not have the money to pay. In December 1860, Russell eventually got arrested in New York City and charged for accepting stolen government bonds. Major had personal bankruptcy. Even with all of this going on, the Pony Express proceeded, losing around $13 on every letter that got delivered. On October 24, 1861, the telegraph got put into play.
Two days later, the Pony Express closed down, delivering its last letters. This all ties in to the fact that The Pony Express was extremely important to history. In addition, this information shows that the Pony Express was also communication. The riders went on horses and traveled to deliver messages and mail. Mail is a form of communication because it exchanges information between people and it gets them knowledge about news and/or other people. Without the Pony Express, people would not have been able to communicate with each other in an efficient way. The Pony Express helped develop the next level of communication, right before more advanced technology came into play. It required a lot of work and effort, was dangerous, and in the end it had a humongous downfall, but in its eighteen months of operation it reduced time for messages to travel between the east and the west to about ten days, which was a great accomplishment. Before, California-bound mail had to be shipped by a 25-day stagecoach or spend months inside a ship during a long sea voyage. These methods took way too much time, and it delayed important news. History is a record (usually chronological) of public events or of a particular trend or institution.
The Pony Express made history because it minimized that time tremendously in a short amount of time.The Pony Express impacted America because it fulfilled a need before new technology. This is very important to history because it reduced the amount of time that people were able to communicate with each other when other important events were going on. It made sure everyone got the messages and information quicker. It is proven that the Pony Express was a very important method of communication that transported messages from the east coast to the west coast quickly.
The Pony Express was a very important method of communication from April 3,1860 to October 26, 1861. It was an innovative process that helped get people’s messages across from the east to the west coast and vice versa. People really needed the Pony Express back then because they desired a more fluent method of communication. The west wanted to be able to communicate with the east. Even if the Pony Express did not last a long time, it impacted how we use mail today and delivered people’s messages when there was not any technology to do so.
There were three main men that came up with the idea and set it up. The riders and horses and station keepers were also very important to helping it prosper. Before the Pony Express, the U.S had three main procedures to get mail to the West Coast. People would have to ship mail from New York (or other ports) across the Isthmus of Panama. This took the most amount of time because the mail would usually sit for a great amount of time until they could get it off of the boats or ships. They would also use wagons and stagecoaches from Missouri to California and would use certain routes. This took lots of time because the routes were long. The third method was the Butterfield Mail Company which also consisted of wagons and stagecoaches, but had a different route that went through the south to get to the West Coast. These procedures used up a lot of time, though. When mail was delivered by these ways, it took months to get from the east to the west coast. Also, when the Civil War was happening, Northern states wanted more rapid communication with California. Many people were settling in between the Midwest and the West Coast, and they also wanted communication. This shows that before the Pony Express, there was a huge lack of communication. The Pony Express fulfilled a demand. This was the main reason that led the Pony Express to be created.
Russell, Majors, and Wadell were the main operators and planners of the Pony Express. They got so involved in the idea because they were interested in transportation. Their reason for establishing the Pony Express was to prove that the central route was viable all year long and because they had an interest in the government mail contracts. They collected facilities, equipment, and experienced personnel from Chorpenning Stage Company. Russell went to Washington D.C. to represent them and spread the news about their plan. Majors managed the whole operation at an open range. These men then worked on hiring staff, (people to ride the horses and housekeep stations) building stations, and completing routes. After that, they set up places where they would collect the letters and channel them to St. Joseph for the East Coast. This is where they sent the letters off so that the riders could deliver people’s messages. They had another positioning for the West Coast. These men, then, advertised for people to ride the horses and deliver the mail.
It was mostly the younger men who decided to try to become pony riders. Some were as young as thirteen years old. The riders were intrigued to be working for the Pony Express because they received $125 a month as pay. It was about $0.43 to $1 per day, which was a good amount of money back then.They had to promise on a Bible to never fight, drink, or swear. 420 of the best horses were chosen. They used different kinds for different trails; mustangs for mountains, broncos for deserts, and racehorses for grasslands. They motivated the riders and made it clear to the riders that they had to strictly maintain the schedule. The whole Pony Express route was about two thousand miles. The riders had about ten days to deliver the mail. The stations were mostly in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. Each rider usually rode 75 to 100 miles in one day and changed horses every 10 to 15 miles. The fastest delivery in the history of the Pony Express was seven days and seventeen hours. They set all of this up just so people could communicate with each other. The method was really efficient during its eighteen months. The work that the riders had to do was very difficult, mainly because the Pony Express was so dangerous. Riders had very little protection from people or weather. Night and day, the riders raced through snowstorms, sandstorms, and flooded streams. They were forced to face wolves, robbers, and conflicting Indians. There were bad insects and a scarce amount of water on the trails and routes. The route went through the Rocky Mountains, which often had snow in the spring and early summer. Much of the territory was not settled, causing the riders to be targets for robbers and Native Americans who did not want their land to be taken over.
In the spring and summer of 1860, the riders got into the middle of the Pyramid Lake War with the Paiute in Nevada. Some of the riders were assaulted or killed along the routes. Many stations got burned to a crisp. Dead bodies were left lying there on the ground. Even after all of that, there were still more challenges to maintain the Pony Express. The stations that the riders attended were not comfortable at all. They were mainly just small cabins with few stalls and a corral for the horses with dirt floors. All they had were empty wooden crates. The food consisted of cured meats, dried fruit, flour for bread baked in an open fire, molasses, pickles, coffee, and cornmeal. These struggles make the Pony Express important; it was so difficult but people managed to do it anyway, just so people could communicate with each other.
After its successful 18 months of operating the Pony Express got shut down due to a technological advancement. It was the completion of the transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861. This invention made it possible to transmit messages rapidly from coast to coast. The telegraph was a point to point text messaging system. It used coded pulses of electric current through dedicated wires to transmit information over long distances. When it came out, there was no need for riders and horses to deliver mail and go through all of the hard work anymore. Although the telegraph was the main reason the Pony Express got shut down, there were other causes, too.
The Pyramid Lake War was another loss to the company. When people burned stations, killed the station keepers, and stole horses and equipment, the company could not afford the $75,000 to replace these things or the cost of replacing horses. The company also failed due to lack of money coming in. Mailing letters was way too expensive; $5 per ounce (which is the equivalent of hundreds of dollars nowadays). The average citizen could not afford to send mail, so they stopped trying to send messages to others.
At the end, the company could not make the $1,000 per day that they needed in order to stay relevant. The total costs for all of the materials and stuff that they used were about $700,000 but it only added up to about $500,000, which obviously was not enough. The company’s creditors demanded immediate payment, putting pressure on Russell, Major, and Waddell to pay up when they did not have the money to pay. In December 1860, Russell eventually got arrested in New York City and charged for accepting stolen government bonds. Major had personal bankruptcy. Even with all of this going on, the Pony Express proceeded, losing around $13 on every letter that got delivered. On October 24, 1861, the telegraph got put into play.
Two days later, the Pony Express closed down, delivering its last letters. This all ties in to the fact that The Pony Express was extremely important to history. In addition, this information shows that the Pony Express was also communication. The riders went on horses and traveled to deliver messages and mail. Mail is a form of communication because it exchanges information between people and it gets them knowledge about news and/or other people. Without the Pony Express, people would not have been able to communicate with each other in an efficient way. The Pony Express helped develop the next level of communication, right before more advanced technology came into play. It required a lot of work and effort, was dangerous, and in the end it had a humongous downfall, but in its eighteen months of operation it reduced time for messages to travel between the east and the west to about ten days, which was a great accomplishment. Before, California-bound mail had to be shipped by a 25-day stagecoach or spend months inside a ship during a long sea voyage. These methods took way too much time, and it delayed important news. History is a record (usually chronological) of public events or of a particular trend or institution.
The Pony Express made history because it minimized that time tremendously in a short amount of time.The Pony Express impacted America because it fulfilled a need before new technology. This is very important to history because it reduced the amount of time that people were able to communicate with each other when other important events were going on. It made sure everyone got the messages and information quicker. It is proven that the Pony Express was a very important method of communication that transported messages from the east coast to the west coast quickly.
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