express mail carried by relays of riders on horseback; especially between Missouri and California around 1860
postal system using horseback riders and trains to deliver the mail from the midwestern United States to the west Coast in the mid 1800's
A system of rapid mail transportation by relays of horses that operated from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, in 1860-1861. (1860-61) U.S. system of mail delivery by horse and rider relays. The 1,800-mi (2,900-km) route between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif., included 157 stations. Riders changed horses every 10 to 15 miles, and it took about 10 days to complete the route. The sponsoring company of Russell, Majors, Wadell employed riders such as William F. Cody and Pony Bob Haslam. The system provided an important mail link with the West, but it was a financial failure and became obsolete after 18 months with the completion of the transcontinental telegraph system