Monday, April 3, 2017

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Today we take it for granted that the U.S. Postal Service will send a letter from one end of the country to the other in 5 or 6 days for 49 cents. But 150 years ago mail could take weeks or months to arrive, if it came at all.

But on this day in 1860, a short but exciting chapter in American history began with the first ride of the Pony Express.

Enjoy!

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "I felt only as a man can feel who is roaming over the prairies of the far West, well armed, and mounted on a fleet and gallant steed."

HINT: (1846 - 1917) an American scout, hunter, and showman who served during the American Civil War and later he served as a civilian scout for the US Army during the Indian Wars, receiving the Medal of Honor in 1872.

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RANDOM TIDBITS
On this day in 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Ten days later, on April 13, the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento, beating the eastbound packet's arrival in St. Joseph by two days and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery.

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The Pony Express debuted at a time before radios and telephones, when California, which achieved statehood in 1850, was still largely cut off from the eastern part of the country. Letters sent from New York to the West Coast traveled by ship, which typically took at least a month, or by stagecoach, which could take from three weeks to many months to arrive. Compared to the snail's pace of the existing delivery methods, the Pony Express' average delivery time of 10 days seemed like lightning speed.

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The Pony Express Company, the brainchild of William H. Russell, William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors, owners of a freight business, was set up over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail across the present-day states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California.

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Riders, who were paid approximately $25 per week and carried loads estimated at up to 20 pounds of mail, were changed every 75 to 100 miles, with horses switched out every 10 to 15 miles. Among the riders was the legendary frontiersman and showman William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), who reportedly signed on with the Pony Express at age 14.

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The initial cost of Pony Express delivery was $5 for every half-ounce of mail. The company began as a private enterprise and its owners hoped to gain a profitable delivery contract from the U.S. government, but that never happened. With the advent of the first transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861, the Pony Express ceased operations.




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*** Weekly Mind-Scrambler ***
My first three letters are a term in golf,
While my second, third, and fourth are drawings.
My first four are less than a whole,
And all of me is a celebration.

What am I?

Submit your answer by clicking: TheDailyTease

Answer will be posted in Friday's Trivia Today. Good Luck! If your name appears in Friday's newsletter, EMAIL MICHELE your complete name and address to be shipped your prize.

Be sure to put "Winner" in the subject line.

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "I felt only as a man can feel who is roaming over the prairies of the far West, well armed, and mounted on a fleet and gallant steed."

ANSWER: Buffalo Bill Cody