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N0KFQ > TODAY 15.09.13 18:10l 55 Lines 2705 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 4584_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Sep 15
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Sent: 130915/1432Z 4584@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.55
Sep 15, 1858:
The first transcontinental mail service to San Francisco begins
On this day in 1858, the new Overland Mail Company sends out its
first two stages, inaugurating government mail service between
the eastern and western regions of the nation.
With California booming, thanks to the 1849 Gold Rush, Americans
east and west had been clamoring for faster and surer
transcontinental mail service for years. Finally, in March 1857,
the U.S. Congress passed an act authorizing an overland mail
delivery service and a $600,000 yearly subsidy for whatever
company could succeed in reliably transporting the mail twice a
week from St. Louis to San Francisco in less than 25 days. The
postmaster general awarded the first government contract and
subsidy to the Overland Mail Company. Under the guidance of a
board of directors that included John Butterfield and William
Fargo, the Overland Mail Company spent $1 million improving its
winding 2,800-mile route and building way stations at 10-15 mile
intervals. Teams of thundering horses soon raced across the wide
open spaces of the West, pulling custom-built Concord coaches
with seats for nine passengers and a rear boot for the mail.
For passengers, the overland route was anything but a pleasure
trip. Packed into the narrow confines of the coaches, they
alternately baked or froze as they bumped across the countryside,
and dust was an inescapable companion. Since the coaches traveled
night and day, travelers were reluctant to stop and sleep at one
of the "home stations" along the route because they risked being
stranded if later stages were full. Many opted to try and make it
through the three-week trip by sleeping on the stage, but the
constant bumping and noise made real sleep almost impossible.
Travelers also found that toilets and baths were few and far
between, the food was poor and pricey, and the stage drivers were
often drunk, rude, profane, or all three. Robberies and Indian
attacks were a genuine threat, though they occurred far less
commonly than popularly believed. The company posted guards at
stations in dangerous areas, and armed men occasionally rode with
the coach driver to protect passengers.
Though other faster mail delivery services soon came to compete
with the Overland Mail Company-most famously the Pony Express-the
nation's first regular trans-western mail service continued to
operate as a part of the larger Wells, Fargo and Company
operation until May 10, 1869, the day the first transcontinental
railroad was completed. On that day the U.S. government cancelled
its last overland mail contract.
73, K.O. and Billie...
...."on the road again".
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Using Outpost Ver 2.6.0 c29
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