As the young boy journeyed through the sweltering heat of Utah’s West Desert he remembered back when he was on the family farm up East. His eldest brother was talking about a job for pony riders to deliver mail. He continued on about a sign he saw that said “WANTED:Young,skinny, wiry fellows not over 18. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.” eager for adventure and dreading farm life he took up the offer of becoming apart of the Pony Express and rode to Missouri. On April 3, 1860 he would become the first rider of the Pony Express known as James Randall. The Pony Express was the savior to communication with the west carried important information back to back in a short amount of time. In 1848 a man named James …show more content…
Calhoun pushed for a bill that would use money from the united states treasury to build a system of roads and canals across the nation. But it was vetoed by James Madison he stated, “I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling the bill with the Constitution of the United States… The legislative powers vested in Congress are specified and enumerated in the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution, and it does not appear that the power proposed to be exercised by the bill is among the enumerated powers.”. St.Joseph, Missouri was chosen as the eastern terminus because it was connected to the eastern railroads and telegraph. The Western telegraph would be located in Sacramento, California. Benjamin Ficklin was hired as superintendent of the route. Ficklin set up the route into five divisions and hired superintendents to run each division. Over 400 hand picked horses were purchased and stations were built that at every station riders would exchange their horse for a fresh one. Some stations were equipped with beds to house riders. Each station was built 15-20 miles apart, riders rode about 75 miles every …show more content…
By the end the Pony Express had lost around $200,000. The Indian war cost the company $75,000. Following the 1860 presidential election trying to prove what the Pony Express could do a rider lest on November 7, to bring the news of Lincoln's election despite the heavy snow and harsh conditions the riders made it to Sacramento by November, 14. With the Pony Express comes many legends including William Cody aka Buffalo Bill, and Billy Tate. William Cody is best know for the longest ride in Pony Express history after his relief rider was killed William had to ride from Red Buttes Station to Rocky Ridge Station. The distance he travelled over the most dangerous part of the trail was 322 miles in 21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 horses. Billy is often seen as the bravest rider because he was only 14 years old when he was on his way to the station when he was intercepted by 12 braves Billy was able to hold his killing 7 of the braves and injuring some others but eventually Billy was shot by arrows. The only reason his body was found is because his horse arrived at the station just without Billy and a search party went out after him later to find his bodied being circled by birds with his going laying on the ground and arrows in his
Farmers began to cultivate vast areas of needed crops such as wheat, cotton, and even corn. Document D shows a picture of The Wheat Harvest in 1880, with men on earlier tractors and over 20-30 horses pulling the tractor along the long and wide fields of wheat. As farmers started to accumilate their goods, they needed to be able to transfer the goods across states, maybe from Illinios to Kansas, or Cheyenne to Ohmaha. Some farmers chose to use cattle trails to transport their goods. Document B demonstrates a good mapping of the major railroads in 1870 and 1890. Although cattle trails weren't used in 1890, this document shows the existent of several cattle trails leading into Chyenne, San Antonio, Kansas City and other towns nearby the named ones in 1870. So, farmers began to transport their goods by railroads, which were publically used in Germany by 1550 and migrated to the United States with the help of Colonel John Stevens in 1826. In 1890, railroads expanded not only from California, Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada, but up along to Washington, Montana, Michigan, down to New Mexico and Arizona as well. Eastern States such as New Jersey, Tennesse, Virginia and many others were filled with existing railroads prior to 1870, as Colonel John Stevens started out his railroad revolutionzing movement in New Jersey in 1815.
The story takes place after World War II, a time when cars were fairly common, yet these boys decided to go on horseback, like in the fading old days. This is just another concept of how they are unwilling to give up a fading past. When they first begin their journey, the boys are having a good time. In a sense, they?re two buddies on a road trip with no real motive. Rawlins even mentions,?You know
Wharton, Mary E., and Edward L. Bowen. The Horse World of the Bluegrass. New York: The John Bradford Press, 1980.
Abraham's connection to the railroad systems allowed his army a large advantage during the war. The amount of track in the North completely overpowered the Souths length of track. At the beginning of the war the North had already built about 22,000 miles of track while the South had only built about 9,000 miles. Not only did the North have more track but it had been more strategically placed, so this meant that most of the Northern railroads were connected with other track systems. This meant that if the South took out part of the Norths track the North could still quickly get to their destination. Lincoln also had private railroad companies allow him access to their track and to the trains they were manufacturing to help with the war. As a result of this Lincoln took control of railroad systems to help him win the war. Baldwin Locomotive Works also built 500 engines for Lincoln to use in the war. With the railroad Lincoln sent troops longer distances in a fraction of the time t...
The completion of the nation's first transcontinental railroad provided a more efficient way of transportation for people, as well as mail and freight. The Golden State was no longer isolated from the rest of the country. In 1865, before the transcontinental line, the estimated cost to get from New York to San Francisco was around $1,000. The travel time took several long months. After the completion of the railroad that same distance was cut to seven days and a mere sixty five dollars for a third class seat in
When looking at the vast lands of Texas after the Civil War, many different people came to the lands in search for new opportunities and new wealth. Many were lured by the large area that Texas occupied for they wanted to become ranchers and cattle herders, of which there was great need for due to the large population of cows and horses. In this essay there are three different people with three different goals in the adventures on the frontier lands of Texas in its earliest days. Here we have a woman's story as she travels from Austin to Fort Davis as we see the first impressions of West Texas. Secondly, there is a very young African American who is trying his hand at being a horse rancher, which he learned from his father. Lastly we have a Mexican cowboy who tries to fight his way at being a ranch hand of a large ranching outfit.
The life of Sitting Bull was extraordinary; he was a warrior and a great chief of the Sioux people (SV; SV). Sitting Bull was born in March 1831 and lived his whole life in Grand River, South Dakota. He was also the son of an esteemed warrior named Returns-Again. When he was at the age of ten; that is when he killed his first buffalo and then four years later he fought with courage in his first battle (Sitting Bull 1). As he was a little child, him, his dad, his two uncles were icons in their people’s eyes (A, B, C). During his child-hood, his name was Tatakana iyotanka. Later he started to call himself Tatakana yotanka or Jumping Bull (West 30).
By 1857 a concord coach was able to complete the fifty-mile run from Portland to Salem in a single day (Schwantes, 183). California Stage Company was one of the largest organizations of its kind in the United States, established direct and regular service between Portland and Sacramento in 1860 (Schwantes, 183). Wells, Fargo and Company of San Francisco utilized a far-flung network of stagecoach and freight lines in the 1860s and 1870s to serve mining regions in the interior Northwest (Schwantes, 183). Ben Holladay, the stagecoach king, laid the foundation for his transportation empire in 1862 when he gained control of stagecoach and freight wagon lines that extended from Salt Lake City to the booming mining camps and supply center of Boise City, Walla Walla, and Virginia City, Montana. Holladay sold h...
A race from the start, a rider jumped to the back of his fresh pony and bolted from the station, sweating and tired, but always knowing the mail must go through, the young boy spurred the pony on as the station keepers watched the dust rise under the feet of the United States fastest mail transport… Genghis Khan is often credited with the idea of a Pony Express, more however a relay then a mail service. He began the horse relay for provisions, using a station every 40 miles, then there was William “Lightfoot” Visscher, who’s credited with working the mail into the idea. He was a rider from a Boston paper, and used ponies to run for news (Bloss 13). And all the while the United States was growing, with it grew the demand for communication between east and west.
With the amazing delivery of mail in 10 days across 2,000-miles of prairie land, mountains and deserts led many people to use them. With the growth communication between the east and the west the Pony Express grew in popularity. The Pony Express proved that the central route through the U.S could be traveled all winter. It supported the cattle route for the Transcontinental Railroad to meet with the Union Pacific Railroad. Communications was kept open with California during the Civil War. The Pony Express was the fastest communication between the east and west until the telegraph. It captured the hearts and imagination of people all over the world.
Before the migration, it’s estimated that ½ million people inhabited the west. There were 200 different tribes that had to deal with tribal wars and the need to survive on a daily basis. Horses and cattle gave the natives increased mobility and hunting abilities. In the South Western US, there were two types of natives, horse riders and non horse riders. The buffalo were used for meat, skins, and the dried manure was used as fire wood. The natives became nomads because they were being pushed away from the migrants. The document Excerpt from an Overland journey from New York to San Francisco by Horace Greeley is a detailed journal of a writer who traveled west. Greeley founded The New Yorker and was one of the biggest boosters for westward travel. On his journey in 1859, he talks about the many people he meets and where they are from. He describes the native mountain men as “Indians of all grades from the tamest to the wildest, half breeds, French trappers and voyageurs and an occasional negro, compose a medley such as hardly another region can parallel.
The trail began below San Antonio, Texas, and stretched north for about 1,000 miles. The main course then passed through Austin, Fort Worth, The Indian Territory, and Wichita to Abilene. Side trails fed into the
Travel by land and water was both tedious and expensive. Transporting one ton of goods across states would cost around 100 dollars or 1,265 dollars in today’s money. In the 1790s, land routes connecting the east coast and the farther western regions of the United States were undeveloped. Along with this, when weather conditions were poor land routes could not support any sort of dependable shipping by wagon, or even travel by horseback. Natural waterways provided the most dependable method of transport west of Albany. Even travel by waterway in this time period was inconvenient because these water routes were unreliable due to shallow water and raging rapids.
The story of the Interstate Highway System begins with several false starts. The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 granted $75 million dollars to states based on population and the distance of roads constructed. The policy was left dead in the water with the outbreak of the Great War. In 1921, with the so-called “Phipps Act”, the bill was resurrected, and paid for the planning of “interstate routes” across the country by General John J. Pershing. This “Pershing Map” would later serve as a guideline for a large portion of the IHS.
John Ford’s classic American Western film, Stagecoach (1939) shows many examples of political life and social behavior during it’s time. The plot is about nine travelers onboard a stagecoach from Tonto, Arizona to Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory. In the beginning, the passengers of the Stagecoach are unfamiliar with each other. However, their relationships grow as they get to know each other during their journey. Each character claims a different social position.