The Crowds Cheered On...

The Crowds Cheered On.... . , In 1845, it took six months to get a message from the East Coast of the United States to California. By the late 1850s, a half million people had migrated west and were demanding up-to-date news from home. Something had to be done to deliver mail faster and to improve communication in the expanding nation., "The Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, a subsidiary of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, announced the formation of the Pony Express on January 27, 1860. They planned to carry letter mail between St. Joseph Missouri and Sacramento, California in only ten days. Although the Pony Express was a financially risky enterprise, the company hoped to attract a lucrative contract with the U.S. Postal Service., Knowing that a healthy horse could typically run at a gallop for only 8 to 12 miles, the Pony Express needed stations on the eastern end of the route, but needed to build many new stations in remote areas across the Great Basin. Alexander Majors said that 400 to 500 mustang horses were purchased, 200 men were hired to manage the stations, and 80 riders signed on to begin the run of the Pony Express., Although the Pony Express captured the admiration, imagination, and hearts of people, it was a financial disaster for its founders. The Pony era, however, was not brought to an end by its financial failure, weather, or even problems with Indians - but by the completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph on October 26, 1861., "Every neck is stretched, and every eye strained ... Across the endless prairie a black spec appears ... In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling ... sweeping toward us--growing more and more distinct, and the flutter of hoofs comes faintly to the ear--another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm." Mark Twain, Roughing It, 1872. , Traveling on the Overland Stage in the summer of 1861 , (Drawing Caption) Charles Hargen's "First Ride of the Pony Express", Pony Express National Museum, St. Joseph, Missouri. , (Map Caption) Home stations, where the riders lived, were located every 75 to 100 miles. These usually were stage stations, hotels, or substantial ranches along the route. Each rider would begin his run at the home station and times at relay stations. At the next home station, he would turn the mail over to the change horses six or eight times at relay stations. At the next home station, he would turn the mail over to the next rider.