{"id":3845,"date":"2010-04-03T16:23:03","date_gmt":"2010-04-03T21:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/?p=3845"},"modified":"2010-04-03T16:38:10","modified_gmt":"2010-04-03T21:38:10","slug":"pony-express-founded-150-years-ago-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/?p=3845","title":{"rendered":"Pony Express founded 150 years ago today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"April 3, 1010 is the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express<\/a>, which lasted just 19 months, but remains an enduring symbol of the American West.<\/p>\n

The United States was comprised of 33 states and 31 million people when the Pony Express inaugurated its 10-day express mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri and San Francisco. In the beginning, it cost $5 to send a half-ounce letter. This was at a time when common laborers received 90 cents for a 12-hour work day and farmland averaged $3 to $5 an acre.<\/p>\n

The Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company, which managed the Pony Express service, purchased approximately 400 horses, from thoroughbreds to mustangs, at prices that ranged up to $200 – an expensive price at the time.<\/p>\n

Although they are popularly portrayed at a gallop, Pony Express horses averaged 10 miles per hour during their eight to 10 mile segments of the route and unless in harm’s way were ridden at a lope.<\/p>\n

Riders were generally young and built like racehorse jockeys. Company advertisements solicited: “Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.”<\/p>\n

Riders were paid $100 a month. They traveled 80 to 100 miles during each circuit and were provided with a fresh horse every eight to ten miles.<\/p>\n

The end of the Pony Express came on October 24, 1861, when the first message was sent (to President Abraham Lincoln) via the Transcontinental Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check out 150 Years Later<\/em> <\/a>on NPR for more facts and links on the Pony Express.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 3, 1010 is the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express, which lasted just 19…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3845"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3851,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions\/3851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}