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Article: Recalling the runs of fastest mail in the West.(BOOKS)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- October 12, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Bill Croke, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
California's elevation to statehood in 1850 meant that it was geographically isolated by 2,000 miles from the rest of the Union. This fact presented communications problems as mail was sent overland by wagon trains or by sea around South America's Cape Horn. In either case delivery took months.
In 1860, the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell started a light mail relay service between St. Joseph, Mo. and Sacramento, Calif. that has come down to us as the "Pony Express." It's brief 18-month history is chronicled in Christopher Corbett's "Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the ...