What was the final destination of the first westward delivery by the Missouri- based Pony Express, which started in St Joseph in 1860?
Pony Express runs. This technique allowed the mail to be whisked across the continent in record time. Each rider rode about per day. The first Westbound Pony Express trip left St. Joseph on April 3, 1860 and arrived ten days later in Sacramento, California, on April 14. These letters were sent under cover from the East to St. Joseph, and never directly entered the U.S. mail system. Today there is only a single letter known to exist from the inaugural westbound trip from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. The mailing depicted below is on a pre-stamped (embossed) envelope, first issued by
Pony Express arrived at its destination ten days later in St. Joseph, Missouri. From St. Joseph, letters were placed in the U.S. mails for delivery to eastern destinations. There are only two letters known to exist from the inaugural eastbound trip from San Francisco to St. Joseph. As the Pony Express Mail service existed only briefly in 1860 and 1861, few examples of Pony Express mail survive. Contributing to the scarcity of Pony Express mail is that the cost to send a letter was $5.00 at the beginning, (about $130.00 today). By the end of the Pony Express, the price had dropped