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Pony Express. In March 1860, western newspapers ran the following ad:. Pony Express. A new company that promised to carry mail from Missouri to California in only ten days.
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Pony Express • A new company that promised to carry mail from Missouri to California in only ten days. • They built relay stations about every ten miles along the route. At each station, a rider jumped off his weary horse and mounted a fresh pony. • After changing horses about 8 times, the mail was handed to a new rider.
Dangers Along the Route • Most dangerous area was the Utah Territory. • Paiute Indians thought riders were a threat to their hunting grounds and would lead to more settlement. • Indians burned stations and killed the station keepers.
The Telegraph Arrives • 1861: Pony Express comes to an end. • Telegraph companies had hired men to cut down trees and place tall, strong wooden poles in the ground from Omaha, Nebraska, to San Francisco, California. • The first message sent over the wire from Salt Lake City said, • “Utah…is firm for the Constitution and laws of our once happy country.” -Brigham Young • Two days later, the Pony Express officially ended.
Why did the Pony Express die once the telegraph lines were completed?
