Pony Express
Lesson 23
Sea travel played an important part of California’s history. Ships carried on the fur, hide and tallow and otter trade. During the Gold Rush, many people wanting to travel to California came by ship from New York to San Francisco. They either sailed around Cape Horn at the tip of South America or across the Isthmus of Panama in Central America. Traveling around Cape Horn took 6-8 months. Traveling through the Isthmus of Panama took 2-3 months.
Soon stagecoach companies formed. The first large stagecoach company was Adams and Company. They carried mail, gold and cash from the Sierras to New England. Their rival was Wells Fargo. It worked with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and could handle goods sent to the Atlantic states via the Isthmus of Panama. Its lines covered every part of the state. In 1857, John Butterfield set up a stage route with way stations where travelers could eat and horses could be exchanged. Travelers could go from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California in 3-5 months. The stagecoaches also carried mail and goods. During the War Between the States, when the nation was divided, the Butterfield stage line ended.
People desired mail to get from one place to another more quickly. The Pony Express was created by William H. Russell in 1860 for this purpose. This mail system went from Saint Louis to Sacramento which was a distance of 1,980 miles. There were 200 stations, 500 horses and 80 riders. Riders would only spend two minutes at each station transferring the mail pouch and saddle to a fresh horse. Riders could travel the distance in just 10 days. It cost $5 for each ½ ounce to send a letter across the continent. Later the price dropped to $1.
Activities
1) Pony Express Timeline
1.William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell introduced the Pony Express as a way to deliver mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. They promised delivery in 10 days at a cost of $5 per half ounce.
2. They secured about 420 high-grade ponies and about 80 male riders. Russell and his men also hired 400 station men and women. One hundred and ninety stations were opened 15-25 miles apart.
3. The riders would race at a top speed of about 10 miles per hour from one “relay station” to the next where they would make two-minute switches to fresh horses and continue on. Specifically designed mail-filled saddlebags called mochilas were easily transferred from one horse to another.
4. The first riders departed on April 3, 1860. Though the trips were rough, the mail arrived ten days later and great celebrations took place.
5. The most famous Pony Express rider was William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. He made one 384-mile trip without stopping for a sleep break!
6. Rider Bob Haslam, known as “Pony Bob,” pushed his speed to an incredible 15 miles per hour, doing his part to deliver President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address to California. The whole trip was made in seven days and 17 hours.
7. In November of 1861, the Pony Express made its final delivery. In a total of 308 runs, riders had traveled 616,000 miles and delivered 34,753 pieces of mail. The entire time, only one mochila was lost.
Used pictures from an activity in U.S. History Little Books Famous Events, Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
2) Design a stamp
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