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This quickly began to change in the 1840s. First, the United States granted Texas statehood in 1845 (the territory had been an independent republic since breaking away from Mexico in 1836). When Mexico disagreed on the border,
President James K. Polk – who had pledged to both expand the United States to the Pacific and annex Texas – convinced Congress to declare war. They didn’t have much trouble winning. Due to instability in their government, the Mexican forces were too disorganized to mount an effective resistance. In 1848, Mexico and the United States made peace by signing
the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Under the agreement, Mexico ceded about 55 percent of its territory– including California, Nevada, Utah, and most of Arizona – in exchange for $15 million. Around the same time, America also acquired the Oregon territory from Great Britain. Combined with the Gadsden Purchase five years later, this extended the United States to its present-day borders.
Americans began migrating West in earnest when gold was discovered in California in 1848. Over the course of just two years, San Francisco alone swelled from 812 people to 25,000. As a result of this population boom, California was recognized as a state on September 9, 1850.
Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible for the East and West to stay in contact with each other. At the time, there only three ways to reach the opposite side of the country: by circumnavigating South America; by sailing to eastern Panama, crossing to the other side on foot or horseback, and taking another ship through the Pacific; or by travelling cross- country via a series of trails. This applied to mail as well as people and goods. In other
words, it took at least a month for news to get from one side to the other.
Throughout the 1850s, there were several attempts to improve the communication between the East and West. Starting in 1857, the problem was eased by the government’s overland mail service – which provided a more efficient way to transport mail across the country.
The service lost traction when the Postmaster General scaled it back the following year.
The spread of railroads didn’t initially help the situation either. Although many parts of the East were easily accessible by the train, there were few tracks in the mid- West and almost none in California. The first Transcontinental Railroad wouldn’t be completed until 1869.
Where most people saw a problem, three men– Alexander Majors, William Russell,
and William B. Waddell – spotted an opportunity. The trio already had experience in transcontinental delivery; their company – the Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Service Company – had been running coaches between Kansas and California since 1855. It wasn’t very profitable. As the partners soon discovered, transporting supplies by coach or wagon was slow, expensive, and risky. In 1859, a herd of oxen pulling their wagons froze to death in Ruby Valley, Nevada – almost ruining the company.
Majors, Russell, and Waddell were determined to salvage their business by making
Above, United States President
James Polk declared war on Mexico after a border disagreement.
Below, The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed in 1848, increased U.S. territory to include California, Nevada, Utah and most of Arizona.
California Senator William M. Gwin supported a federal contract for the delivery service.
U.S. Government Mathew Benjamin Brady
Pony Express
Mathew Benjamin Brady
80 SPEEDHORSE July 2023