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Today in History
Apr 3, 2017 07:23:26   #
Loki Loc: Georgia
 
Today in 1860, the Pony Express began service. Riders left Sacremento CA and St Joseph MO. Ten days later, the westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, with a slightly faster time than the eastbound rider on the 1800 mile journey. Both James Butler Wild Bill Hickok, and William Buffalo Bill Cody were riders. Although only in service for a year and a half, at it's height it employed about 180 riders on some 400 odd of the best horses available. It eventually closed because of the transcontinental telegraph, among other things.

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Apr 3, 2017 09:01:05   #
pafret Loc: Northeast
 
Loki wrote:
Today in 1860, the Pony Express began service. Riders left Sacremento CA and St Joseph MO. Ten days later, the westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, with a slightly faster time than the eastbound rider on the 1800 mile journey. Both James Butler Wild Bill Hickok, and William Buffalo Bill Cody were riders. Although only in service for a year and a half, at it's height it employed about 180 riders on some 400 odd of the best horses available. It eventually closed because of the transcontinental telegraph, among other things.
Today in 1860, the Pony Express began service. Rid... (show quote)


Did your research turn up any information on what it cost to send a letter between the two ends? It seems to me that there were lot of men, animals and facilities involved; the riders were the tip of the spear, they had to have all sorts of support. How much did they compensate the men who risked their lives in traversing dangerous territory?

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Apr 3, 2017 09:26:20   #
Loki Loc: Georgia
 
pafret wrote:
Did your research turn up any information on what it cost to send a letter between the two ends? It seems to me that there were lot of men, animals and facilities involved; the riders were the tip of the spear, they had to have all sorts of support. How much did they compensate the men who risked their lives in traversing dangerous territory?




http://www.xphomestation.com/faq.html#COST



Based on today's dollars the cost of a letter would have been almost $75.
The Pony Express was used frequently by the British Government in forwarding its Asiatic correspondence to London. In 1860, a report of the activities of the English fleet off the coast of China was sent through from San Francisco eastward. For the transmission of these dispatches the British Government paid $135 for Pony Express charges. That would have been more than $2000 today.

The commercial houses of the Pacific Coast cities did not appear to mind a little expense in forwarding their business letters. Often there would be up to twenty-five $1 "Pony" stamps and the same number of Government stamps (for a total of $27.50) on a single envelope. That would have been over $400 per envelope.

Pony Express riders were paid $50 per month. That is about 1400 bucks in today's money, or about $350/week. A little less than you'd make flipping burgers at Mickey D's.

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Apr 3, 2017 10:45:04   #
pafret Loc: Northeast
 
Loki wrote:
http://www.xphomestation.com/faq.html#COST



Based on today's dollars the cost of a letter would have been almost $75.
The Pony Express was used frequently by the British Government in forwarding its Asiatic correspondence to London. In 1860, a report of the activities of the English fleet off the coast of China was sent through from San Francisco eastward. For the transmission of these dispatches the British Government paid $135 for Pony Express charges. That would have been more than $2000 today.

The commercial houses of the Pacific Coast cities did not appear to mind a little expense in forwarding their business letters. Often there would be up to twenty-five $1 "Pony" stamps and the same number of Government stamps (for a total of $27.50) on a single envelope. That would have been over $400 per envelope.

Pony Express riders were paid $50 per month. That is about 1400 bucks in today's money, or about $350/week. A little less than you'd make flipping burgers at Mickey D's.
http://www.xphomestation.com/faq.html#COST br br ... (show quote)


Great link Loki -- I found the information on Frank Thompson and Hidalgo to be very interesting. I had read of some of his exploits and it struck me at the time that this fellow was absolutely remarkable. But, his deeds, which for the most part had no documentation other than his own statements smelled a little fishy. If it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't.

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Apr 4, 2017 21:36:44   #
F.D.R.
 
parfret, don't know if you've seen the movie Hidalgp. It goes back a couple of years. Good movie. I think you can find it on YouTube, I know that Netflix has it on DVD.

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Apr 4, 2017 22:27:08   #
pafret Loc: Northeast
 
F.D.R. wrote:
parfret, don't know if you've seen the movie Hidalgp. It goes back a couple of years. Good movie. I think you can find it on YouTube, I know that Netflix has it on DVD.


Yes, I did see it and it was enjoyable. I don't bother with Netflix or any of the other pay channels, everything appears on the service I have, eventually, plus I have a Roku TV which gives me access to utube, Amazon freebies, and TV reruns, movies, free and pay. More trash than I have hours to waste! I'm usually doing something else but everything is repeated so often it is hard to miss.

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