Pony Express Timeline

After beginning at $5 per half-ounce, the Pony Express reduced its letter price to $2.50. The high initial cost contributed to the scarcity of surviving Pony Express mail.

Riding for the Pony Express was difficult work in 1860. Riders had to be tough and lightweight, and the company did not keep a systematic list of its riders.

The initial price for sending a half-ounce letter was $5. The mail was delivered in an envelope embossed with postage first issued by the U.S. Post Office in 1855.

The first westbound Pony Express trip left St. Joseph, Missouri, on April 3, 1860. The launch followed ceremonies and several speeches before the first mail pouch was handed to its rider.

At 7:40 a.m. on April 4, 1860, Pony rider William “Sam” Hamilton arrived from Placerville and handed the Express mail to Warren Upson, who departed eastward two minutes later.

The St. Joseph Weekly West, dated April 4, 1860, reported that Johnson William Richardson was the first Pony Express rider.

The first eastbound Pony Express trip left Sacramento on April 3, 1860, and arrived at its destination in St. Joseph, Missouri, 10 days later.

The first westbound trip reached Sacramento, California, 10 days after leaving St. Joseph. The journey demonstrated that the proposed rapid schedule could be achieved.

Around midnight on April 14, 1860, the first Pony Express mail pouch was delivered to San Francisco.

Before the Paiute War interrupted operations, the Pony Express completed eight weekly trips from both Sacramento and Saint Joseph.

William Russell used Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 presidential election to promote the speed of the Pony Express. On November 7, a rider departed Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory, with the election results.

By July 1861, the price for sending a half-ounce Pony Express letter had fallen to $1.

The Paiute uprising cost the Pony Express company about $75,000 in livestock and station equipment, in addition to the loss of life.

Image source: Paiute War

The Paiute War, which took place from May through June 1860, forced the Pony Express to suspend mail services after eight weekly trips in each direction. Sporadic violence continued afterward.

In June 1860, the Paiute uprising was ended through the intervention of U.S. troops. Four delayed mail shipments from the East were subsequently brought to San Francisco on June 25.

During the brief Paiute conflict, a Pony Express mailing that left San Francisco on July 21, 1860, did not immediately reach its destination.

In March 1861, the contract was awarded to Jeremy Dehut, who had taken over the southern, congressionally favored Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Line.

Image source: Butterfield Overland Mail

Beginning in March 1861, the Pony Express ran mail only between Salt Lake City and Sacramento.

On October 24, 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph reached Salt Lake City and connected Omaha, Nebraska, with Sacramento. The achievement ended the Pony Express’s role as the West’s most direct east–west communication route.

Image source: First transcontinental telegraph

The Pony Express announced its closure on October 26, 1861, two days after the transcontinental telegraph reached Salt Lake City.

In 1866, after the Civil War, Holladay sold the Pony Express assets and the remnants of the Butterfield Stage to Wells Fargo for $1.5 million.

From 1866 until 1889, Wells Fargo used the Pony Express logo for its stagecoach and freight company, which provided secure mail service.

Image source: Wells Fargo

In 1869, the United States Post Office issued its first postage stamp depicting an actual historic event, choosing the Pony Express as its subject. The issue commemorated the riders and their dangerous journeys, rather than serving as a stamp used by the Pony Express.

In his first autobiography, published in 1879, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody claimed to have been a Pony Express rider.

Image source: Buffalo Bill

The first book dedicated solely to the Pony Express was not published until 1900.

In 1940, the United States issued a commemorative stamp marking the 80th anniversary of the Pony Express.

In 1960, a commemorative stamp was issued for the 100th anniversary of the Pony Express.

An act of Congress designated the Pony Express route as the Pony Express National Historic Trail on August 3, 1992.

Since 2001, the Pony Express logo has no longer been used for security businesses because the business using it had been sold.

In June 2006, the United States Postal Service announced that it had trademarked “Pony Express,” along with “Air Mail.”

Image source: United States Postal Service

April 3, 2010, marked the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express’s first westbound departure.

On April 14, 2015, Google released a playable doodle game celebrating the Pony Express’s 155th anniversary.

Image source: Google Doodle