Map of Pony Express Route, 1860-1861

Map of Pony Express Route, 1860-1861

Entitled: "Map of Pony Express Route by William Henry Jackson." The Pony Express mail route, April 3, 1860 - October 24, 1861; Reproduction of Jackson illustration issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Pony Express founding on April 3, 1960. Reproduction of Jackson's map issued by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The approximately 1,900 mile route roughly followed the Oregon and California Trails to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, and then the Mormon Trail (known as the Hastings Cutoff) to Salt Lake City, Utah. From there it followed the Central Nevada Route to Carson City, Nevada before passing over the Sierra into Sacramento, California. The Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages, newspapers, mail, and small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri, across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento, California, by horseback, using a series of relay stations. During its 18 months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days. From April 3, 1860, to October 1861, it became the West's most direct means of east-west communication before the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the country. The Pony Express was a mail-delivery system of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1859, which in 1860 became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company.

WILLIAM HENRY JACKSON

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6000 x 2041 px | 35.0 MB

50.8 x 17.3 cm | 20.0 x 6.8 in (300 dpi)