what was the pony express?

Answer 1

The first mail delivery system in the US...done on horseback

Answer 2

Pony Express, mail service operating between Saint Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, inaugurated on April 3, 1860, under the direction of the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company.

At that time, regular mail delivery took up to three weeks to cross the continent. The Pony Express carried mail rapidly overland on horseback the nearly 2000 miles between St. Joseph and Sacramento; the schedule allowed ten days for the trip. The mail was then carried by boat to San Francisco. Stations averaging at first 40 km (25 mi) apart were established, and each rider was expected to cover 120 km (75 mi) a day. Pony Express riders were usually lightweight young men, often teenagers. Special saddle bags that could be moved to a fresh horse very quickly at a change station were used. Buffalo Bill was a famous Pony Express rider.

Eventually, the Pony Express had more than 100 stations, 80 riders, and between 400 and 500 horses. The express route was extremely hazardous, but only one mail delivery was ever lost. The Pony Express is credited with helping to keep California in the Union by providing rapid communication between the two coasts. News of the election of Abraham Lincoln to the United States presidency in 1860 and of the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 reached California via the Pony Express. The regular Pony Express service was discontinued in October 1861, after the Pacific Telegraph Company completed its line to San Francisco.

The Pony Express was developed by William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors. Financially, the Pony Express was a failure, leading its founders to bankruptcy. However, the drama surrounding the Pony Express made it a part of the legend of the American West.

Answer 3

Before the a cross-country railroad was completed, people in the East needed a way to get mail to the expanding West. Traditional forms of transportation (for the day) ended at the Missouri River, and the only alternative for getting mail to the expanding West was to send it by boat around the southern tip of South America which would take months in good weather. The Pony Express was an early version of the USPS hiring only young, single men capable of riding horses over great distances -- or what would have been considered great distances in those days. The "Eastern Terminal" for the Pony Express was in St. Joseph, Missouri and the "Western Terminal" was in San Francisco. The young men hired to ride the horses would carry several mail bags on the back of the horses. They would ride hard and change horses at "Stations" along the way, approximately every 20 miles -- which, again, was considered a "great distance" in those days. The Pony Express only operated for a few months until the cross-country railroad was completed. Only a few of the "Stations" remain across the country.

Answer 4

It was a way they delivered things in the 1800's:

Pony Express Quick-Facts

Riders:

Between 80 and 100
List
Salary:

$100 per month
Qualifications:

Age ranged from 11 to mid 40s. Riders had to weigh less than 125 lbs.
Earliest Riders:

Johnny Fry (St. Joseph), James Randall (San Francisco), Billy Hamilton (Sacramento)
Youngest Rider:

Legend has it that Bronco Charlie Miller was eleven years old when he rode for the Pony Express.
Riders Changed:

75 to 100 miles.
Horses Changed:

10 to 15 miles.
Speed of Rider:

Average 10 miles per hour.
Horses:

About 400 Mustangs and Morgans
Stations:

Estimated between 150 and 190 of them. Located every 5 - 20 miles.
Mochila:

Saddlebag designed especially to carry mail on the eastern end were made by Israel Landis.
Route:

1966 miles from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.
Through the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah,
Nevada, and California.
Crossed Missouri River by Ferry boat, at the foot of Francis Street.

Time:

10 days.
Quickest Run:

7 days and 17 hours. The riders were carrying President Lincoln's Inaugural Address.
Total Miles Covered:

Approximately 650,000 miles.
Longest Ride:

Pony Bob Haslam. rode 370 miles -- Friday Station to Smith Creek Station and back again.
Cost of Mail:

$5 per 1/2 ounce at first. Later, the price was $1 per 1/2 ounce.
Founders:

Russell, Majors, and Waddell. The company was Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company (C.O.C. & P.P.). The Pony Express was a subsidiary for the freight and stage company. Some creative types have claimed the initials C.O.C. & P.P. really stood for "Clean out of cash & poor pay!"
Dates:

April 3, 1860 through October 1861.
Telegraph Completed:

October 24, 1861
Success:

Proved the Central Route to California was usable year round. The government moved the Overland Mail Company, who had the mail contract, from the southern/Butterfield Route to the Central Route in 1861. Keeping the lines of communication open and the flow of mail going influenced California's remaining in the Union.
Failure:

Financially, the Pony Express was a failure. The owners invested $700,000 and left a $200,000 deficit. The company failed to get the government mail contract. The company was sold at auction to Ben Holladay in March 1862. Four years later he sold out to Wells Fargo for $2,000,000.

Answer 5

The pony express was a series of riders, who carried pouches of mail from one relay station to another. Prior to the pony express, a letter mailed in New York had to go all the way around the continent to get to its destination in Seattle. The pony express made a dramatic difference in the time it took to get a letter from point A to point B. With the coming of the railway, the pony express was disbanded, but in its day it was a unique and amazingly effective system. Today it is simply a part of American folklore.

Answer 6

It was the first mail delivery service in the U.S. and horses were used as transportation to deliver mail around.

Answer 7

the name for the US mail system prior to the industrial revolution where steam engines came into existance and trains were born

Answer 8

it was the network of horsemen who served as the postal service before the transcontinental raiload was built. It wasn't in service for very long at all.