MAIL FROM EAST TO WEST Johnny Fry waited in Saint Joseph Missouri for a very important train It was 5 00 p m on April 3 1860 A crowd waited with him excited to see him greet the train The train held mail to be taken to the West Coast Fry would take the mail from the train and start a dangerous fast-paced horse ride His ride would launch the first speedy overland mail delivery to the West Coast Pony Express riders traveled quickly to deliver the mail 5 CHAPTER ONE
No one knew if the ride would go well No one had done it before Fry was expected to ride as quickly as he and his horse could to Seneca Kansas about 80 miles 130 km away There they would meet the next rider The train was delayed It did not appear until nearly 7 00 p m two hours late But by 7 15 p m Fry was ready to go A cannon boomed and the crowds cheered He took off as fast as his horse could carry him The Early Days of Mail Today in the United States mail is delivered every day of the week 6 PERSPECTIVES Limited Capacity With only one horse and no wagon the Pony Express riders could not carry very much To make sure they could go as quickly as possible no horse was allowed to carry more than 165 pounds 74 kg A rider could not weigh more than 125 pounds 56 kg Each rider had a mochila a leather case to carry the mail that weighed 20 pounds 9 kg when full Most riders also carried a water sack a horn to announce their arrival at the next station a Bible and one or two guns
Services such as UPS and FedEx deliver letters and packages overnight Technology such as e-mail makes moving information from place to place faster than ever before But in the early 1840s these services and technologies did not exist There were no telephones or computers and no delivery vans or cars People living in the eastern part of the United States had some technological benefits Train tracks and telegraph lines went as far west as the Mississippi River Getting mail and messages from the East Coast to places such as Missouri was not difficult though these systems were not as speedy as the ones in use today However anywhere west of the Mississippi was a challenge Without railroad tracks and telegraph lines it was very difficult to get messages and letters to the West Coast In the early 1840s mail from the East Coast to California did not go across the United States itself Instead it was sent on a ship 7
