Pony Express

April 3, 2008

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Profile America — Thursday, April 3rd. For the time, it was a bargain — only $5 to get an ounce of mail across the country, guaranteed in 10 days. That was the rate charged by the Pony Express, which started on this day in 1860. From Missouri westward, some 200 riders rode fast horses between relay stations across the largely uninhabited land. While it captured the imagination, the Pony Express lasted only 18 months, put out of business by the telegraph, which could get messages across the rugged terrain faster and cheaper. Today, the American urge for speed results in the U.S. Postal Service delivering close to a billion pieces of express and priority mail each year. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2008, p. 203
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008, t. 1094
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008edition.html