Thursday, July 30, 2026

Question: For about 18 months in 1860 and 1861, Pony Express riders relayed mail on horseback to their western terminus in Sacramento. What town anchored the eastern end of the route, nearly 2,000 miles away?

Answer: St. Joseph, Missouri. From April 1860 to late 1861, riders carried mail between St. Joseph and Sacramento in about ten days, roughly 2,000 miles by horse relay. The transcontinental telegraph made the Pony Express obsolete after just 18 months.