# 143L3 - 1861 $1 Red, Wells Fargo Pony Express

Few stamps match the Pony Express issues for romance and history – they're genuine artifacts of the Wild West!

 

In April 1861, Wells, Fargo and Company took over the Pony Express routes west of Salt Lake City. To make accounting easier and to advertize their company, they hired Britton and Company to print stamps for the eastbound mail from California. The red $1 stamp was used to cover the fee for a ½ ounce letter and was used from July 1861 until October 1861.

 

The Pony Express stamp only covered the part of delivering the letter the Pony Express did. At the end of the run, the letters would be turned over to the Post Office to be delivered by the postal service, so a postage stamp was also required.

 

In 1860, the call went out for small, brave young man that could ride a horse well. The rides were dangerous, but the pay was good – $25 a week, or the equivalent of over $4000 in unskilled labor wages today. These were the Pony Express riders. The men, usually younger than 18 years old, were expected to cover 75 miles without rest, despite of inclement weather and Native American attacks.

 

Before 1860, it could take up to eight weeks to get mail from the East Coast to California. For the businessmen and bankers in growing Sacramento, that was too long. As the Civil War approached, they wanted news quickly and both the Union and the South wanted to persuade the state to join its side. The Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company developed the Pony Express to reduce the time it took to get news from the North to California. The first ride left St. Joseph, Missouri, on April 3, 1860, and arrived in Sacramento, California, just ten days later. In the mochilla or saddlebag was a message of congratulations from President Buchanan to the governor of California, which had been telegraphed from Washington to St. Joseph.

 

The initial cost to mail a half-ounce letter was $5, or almost $840 in today's wages. That rate was reduced to $2 by April 1861, but that was still a high price to pay – the equivalent of over $300 in our day. In spite of the cost, it is estimated that 35,000 letters were carried by the Pony Express.

 

Buffalo Bill Cody, who became famous for his Wild West Show, was hired to ride for the Pony Express when he was just 15 years old. His route was through Wyoming. He tells of one trip when he rode 322 miles round trip because his relief rider had been killed in a brawl. Buffalo Bill was the kind of dedicated man that characterized the Pony Express riders.

 

This adventurous service came to an end just 18 months after that first ride. In October 1861, the Pacific Telegraph lines reached California, and the need for the Pony Express vanished.

 

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