What was the Pony Express?

‘Pony express’ was a kind of postal service. It provided for a fast postal service between two cities in America. It was run from April 1860 to October 1861. It was established by a freighting and stagecoach firm called ‘Russell, Majors and Waddell’ and was used only for letters. The charge was five dollars and an ounce.

Expert riders were chosen to ride fast horses which were charged six to eight times on the scheduled route.

Route of the pony express covered 1838 miles and included 157 stations. ‘Home stations’ providing food and a little rest to the riders were placed at distances of 75 to 100 miles. The time scheduled for the delivery was about 10 days.

Pony express service came to an end with the completion of the transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861.