Read Part 1

The Pony Express was a mammoth undertaking, with more than 100 stations and 400 horses and between 80 and 100 riders. The route between Missouri and California took an average of 10 days to cross except during winter, when it could take 12 days. The Pony Express left San Francisco on Wednesdays and Saturdays with up to 20 pounds of express mail enclosed in four pockets of a "mochila ," a type of saddle bag. The riders rode an average of 75 miles in nine hours, changing horses up to five times. The stations provided fresh horses every 10 to 15 miles.

Ten weeks after the Pony Express opened for business, Congress appropriated funds for building a transcontinental telegraph line that connected Missouri to the Pacific Coast. As construction got underway, the Pony Express continued delivering letters and newspapers. Where the wires ended, the Pony Express rider picked up the telegram and carried it the rest of the way.

With the completion of the transcontinental telegraph on October 26, 1861, the line of communication was established between San Francisco and New York. Pony Express service officially ended on that day, but Pony Express riders continued to deliver letters until November 1861. In operation between April 1860 and October 1861, the trans-Missouri Pony Express carried 35,000 letters, two-thirds of which traveled to the East.

As a means of communication, the Pony Express linked East to West during a pivotal moment in the history of the United States, when regional differences escalated into national conflict. During the same month that the Pony Express commenced operations, Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter, and the nation’s attention riveted on the Civil War for the next five years.

Today the original trail is gone, and questions remain about the exact location of the Pony Express route. Sections of the trail are visible only in Utah and California. However, the National Park Service has an effort underway to make approximately 120 historic sites open to the public, including 50 accessible Pony Express stations or station ruins.

Pony Express Quick Facts:

• List Salary: $100 per month.
• Qualifications: Age ranged from 11 to mid-40s. Riders had to weigh less than 125 pounds.
• Speed of Rider: Average 10 miles per hour.
• Quickest Run: 7 days and 17 hours. The riders carried President Lincoln's Inaugural Address.
• Cost of Mail: $5 per half-ounce at first. Wells Fargo lowered the price to $2 per half-ounce and later $1 per half-ounce.