James Buchanan was the 15th American President, serving in office from March 4, 1857 to March 4, 1861. One of the important events to happen during his Presidency was the Pony Express. 
This placard is called a Broadside.
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Broadsides were used to bring awareness to a cause, a job, new startup businesses, offering a bounty for wanted criminals, and listing of items for sale.
The Pony Express mail-delivery system was spread over 200 relief stations that used horse-and-rider relay teams to deliver mail along a 2,000-mile route. It started in St. Joseph, Missouri and continued through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada to end up in Sacramento, California.
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| Pony Express Route |
The company began in April 1860, and it soon got a reputation for fast mail delivery in 10 days or less. The other mail delivery systems were by stagecoach which could take up to 50 days or by ship which could take months.
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| Fast Facts About The Pony Express |
A single horseman would ride between stations at breakneck speed, handing mail cargo off to a new horseman after 75-100 miles. To maintain fast speeds, loads were kept light. Most riders were small thin men who weighed between 100 and 125 pounds. Their average age was around 20, but teenagers as young as 14 were also hired. The handsome salary was $100 to $150 per month.
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| Outgoing mail got a postmark like this one |
Each of the riders had their own starting point and finishing point. The Pony Express rider would race, changing his horse every 10-20 miles to ride his 100 miles per day, then hand the mail over to the rider from the opposite direction at the next Home station.
After the exchange of mail bags, the Pony Express rider would then take his mail, and return to his starting point. The actual mail carried by the Pony Express riders, therefore, covered about 250 miles every day, by working in relay shifts who raced all through the day and the night.
The Pony Express was one of the first US businesses to offer a 24/7 service which meant 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
To put the speed of the Pony Express into perspective, a stagecoach would take 50 days to cover 2000 miles compared to just 10 days via the Pony Express.
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| Stagecoaches took over 50 days to cover 2000 miles Pony Express Riders made the trip in about 10 days |
Despite the stories of Old West legends that say the Pony Express was around for years and years, the company was only in business for a year and a half. However, it never made a profit. Possibly failure was due to the sky-high cost: the minimum cost was $2.00 for a one or two-page letter and ranged up to $5.00 to mail a half-ounce letter, which is equal to about $130 in today's currency.
Even after a price reduction to $1 dollar, regular folks just couldn't afford the Pony Express so it was mainly used to deliver newspaper reports, government dispatches and business documents.
Western Union completed the transcontinental telegraph line at Salt Lake City in 1861 and began offering mail delivery. The Pony Express ceased service just two days later on October 24, 1861.
FAST FACTS
1 - Riders were given a uniform of red shirts and blue pants but these were often discarded and replaced with buckskins.
2 - Riders were given a kit that had a pistol, a bugle, a rifle, gloves, boots, and a Bible. As a rider approached a station he would blow his bugle to sound the alert to prepare a fresh horse.
3 - Every rider had to take utmost care of the mochila (lightweight saddlebag) that contained the mail, making it a quick and efficient way of transferring from one horse to another.
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| A mochila with padlocks on each pocket |
4 - The mail pockets of the mochila were called "cantinas", which were locked with a type of small padlock. The mochila had four locked compartments for the mail.
5 - Security was tight. The only keys for the mail pockets of the mochila were at St. Joseph and Sacramento, so only the agents at each end could open the mochila.
6 - The rider had to swear an oath on the Bible promising honesty and devotion to duty.
7 - Each station employed two men called 'tenders' who attended the horses.
8 - A rider could change horses as fast as 2 minutes.
9 - The route had 200 relay stations, 80 riders and between 400-500 horses.
10 - The wages of the riders were $25 per week. The job paid well but there were many dangers.
11 - Dangers: The hazards and dangers included attacks from hostile Native Americans, road robbers, extreme weather conditions, and hazardous terrains.
12 - The name of the first rider was John Upson.
13 - During the 18 months it was in business, Pony Express riders had covered 650,000 miles and carried 34,753 pieces of mail. Only one mail delivery was ever lost.
14 - The mail service was under the direction of Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company.
15 - Important items of news were spread by the service including the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 reached California via the Pony Express.
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| It cost $2.50 in 1860 dollars to mail this letter |
17 - William F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill", who later became famous for his Wild West Show, is the most well-known of all the riders and was said to have covered 384 miles without any rest periods.
18 - Wild Bill Hickok was a friend of "Buffalo Bill" and worked as a stock tender for the Rock Creek Pony Express station.
19 - On May 9, 1860, Bob Haslam made a historic run of 380 miles between Friday’s station and Smith’s Creek station. It was a brave run because the Paiutes were attacking his part of the route, due to the Paiute uprising which erupted in May 1860.
20 - The only rider to refuse to do a run was Johnson Richardson, because of the danger of the Paiutes.
21 - Wells Fargo became the temporary agent for the western route until the Overland Mail Company took over.
22 - Mail was first covered with oiled silk before being placed in the mail pockets "cantinas" so they wouldn’t be damaged by water or sweat.
23 - It was important to keep the weight on the horse down. The specially-designed saddle with its mochila weighed less than 13 pounds
24 - Riders had to weigh 100 to 125 lbs and their ages ranged up to the mid-40s.
25 - According to legend Bronco Charlie Miller was the youngest rider. He was eleven years old when he first rode for the mail service.
26 - The Fastest Run was made in 7 days and 17 hours carrying news of President Lincoln's Inaugural Address.
27 - The founders of the service, William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Important went bankrupt.
28 - The government contract had stipulated the service would be discontinued after the Overland Telegraph Company completed its construction of the telegraph line.
29 - Their company was sold at auction for $100,000 to Ben Holladay in March 1862. Four years later, Holladay sold it to Wells Fargo for $2,000,000.
30 - The regular service was discontinued in October 1861, when the Pacific Telegraph Company completed its telegraph line to San Francisco.
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