The Failure of the Pony Express Communication System in America
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.
Having received assurances that fast communication from the Missouri River to California would be well patronized, three early stagecoach men, Senator W.M. Gwin, Alexander Majors, and Daniel E. Phelps, made preparations for the inauguration of the new service. Six hundred broncos, especially chosen for fleetness, toughness, and endurance, were purchased. Seventy-five men, none of them weighing over one hundred and ten pounds, were engaged as riders, being selected on account of their bravery, their capacity for deprivation and their horsemanship, as well as for their shooting abilities and their knowledge of the craft and the manner of attack of the Indians (When 1).
While the pony express founded the postal system and played a significant role in communication, it was doomed for failure, due to Indian warfare; hazards on the trail; and the economics, politics, and corruption within the system.
Indian warfare presented a large amount of turmoil for the Pony Express. Wars often broke out between settlements, and tribes, causing hardships to the riders. Some Indian tribes believed there was “magic” in the mochillas (leather pouches carrying the mail), which explained why the ponies they chose were so fast (Adams 86). More often then not, the wagon trains traveling west, would open fire on defenseless Indians, killing and wounding them, and creating more havoc for the express riders traveling from east to west and vice versa (Adams 88). More havoc and turmoil between the two groups was created when cases of slave labor were brought to light.
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.
Wagner, Frederic. 2011. Participants in the Battle of Little Big Horn. 1st Ed. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland and Company.
In the introduction, Hämäläinen introduces how Plains Indians horse culture is so often romanticized in the image of the “mounted warrior,” and how this romanticized image is frequently juxtaposed with the hardships of disease, death, and destruction brought on by the Europeans. It is also mentioned that many historians depict Plains Indians equestrianism as a typical success story, usually because such a depiction is an appealing story to use in textbooks. However, Plains Indians equestrianism is far from a basic story of success. Plains equestrianism was a double-edged sword: it both helped tribes complete their quotidian tasks more efficiently, but also gave rise to social issues, weakened the customary political system, created problems between other tribes, and was detrimental to the environment.
In the 1830's the Plains Indians were sent to the Great American Deserts in the west because the white men did not think they deserved the land. Afterwards, they were able to live peacefully, and to follow their traditions and customs, but when the white men found out the land they were on was still good for agricultural, or even for railroad land they took it back. Thus, the white man movement westward quickly began. This prospect to expand westward caused the government to become thoroughly involved in the lives of the Plains Indians. These intrusions by the white men had caused spoilage of the Plains Indians buffalo hunting styles, damaged their social and cultural lives, and hurt their overall lives.
Steamboats were invented in the early 1800's, but it took until the 1820's to make them a common site on U.S. rivers. In the 1840's their popularity kept rising as they continued to increase the amount of trade possible. The reaper, for farming, was also developed in 1831. This allowed more farming in the west on the prairies. Many other farming machines were also developed during this time period, they all made farming in the west much more popular, easier, and profitable. The Trans-continental railroad was started in 1862, even though other trains were already running in different parts of the U.S. The telegraph also went up along with the railroads, although the first time it was used was in 1844. All four of these major technological advancements made the United States really get going on their Manifest Destiny.
A rare and severe disease, Guillain Barre Syndrome, often occurs after an acute infectious procedure. Guillain Barre Syndrome affects the peripheral nervous system. Normally, it is an acute form of paralysis in the lower body area that moves to the upper limbs and face. Over time, the patient will lose all his reflexes and goes through a complete body paralysis, unless maintained in a prompt manner. Guillain Barre Syndrome is a life threatening disorder and needs timely treatment and therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin’s. Unfortunately many people can lose their lives without proper and prompt medical treatment. “Dysautonomia and pulmonary complications are the basic reason for death for those contract GBS, luckily these kind of complications are rare..” Guillain-Barre syndrome is a disorder that your ownbody's immune system attacks your nerves. The first symptoms usually consist of weakness and or tingling in lower extremitites as well as the hands. These symptoms can quickly spread, eventually paralyzing your whole body. It is unknown what the exact cause of Guillain-Barre syndrome is unknown, but it is more than often preceded by an infectious illness such as the stomach flu or a respiratory infection. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an uncommon disorder, affecting roughly only one or two people per 100,000. There are several treatments and therapies that can help ease symptoms and reduce the duration of the illness and although most people recover from Guillain-Barre syndrome, many people may still experience lingering effects from it, such as numbness, fatigue or weakness.
Before 1860 it was virtually impossible to get a letter or other form of correspondence from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California in less than 20 days. 20 days seemed entirely too long for the west coast merchants and bankers to wait for documents from the east. So three men, William Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell created the Pony Express. The Pony Express ensured fast and safe delivery of the mail.
The Native American Indians had no beasts of burden, no plows, no wagons, no means of transportation, and no way to move heavy objects other than by their own power. The Europeans brought over horses, oxen, donkeys, and camels. Horses became very valuable to the Native Americans. For the hunter-gatherers or nomads, the effect was beneficial because the horse enabled them to cover great distances, and hunters could locate and kill the bison more easily. H...
Eager to get into battle for himself, the Secretary of War granted Theodore Roosevelt permission to assemble the very first volunteer cavalry unit; The “Rough Riders”. The “Rough Riders” as the unit was called, was compromised of ragtag cowboys, frontiersmen, and Ivy League scholars. Theodore Roosevelt’s unit would later become renowned for their pivotal victories and their unique image as an American fighting force.
When the car industry comes to mind, you think of Detroit. When oranges come to mind, you think of Florida. When pornography comes to mind, you think of the Internet. Almost everything in today’s society has its place, and the place for the pornography industry is the Internet. Being almost inevitable, pornography has become part of everyone’s Internet experience. Whether its junk e-mail or a nasty pop-up for $3.99 a month subscriptions, its hard to say that there isn’t anyone out there who hasn’t been exposed to Internet pornography in one way or another. One reason for this is the overwhelming size the pornography industry has grown to become. For some, the easy access to the industry has allowed for millions of dollars to be made. For others, this has caused serious problems. Parents who have children know what troubles Internet pornography can bring. Not only do actual pictures and services provide a venue for profits to be made, but software preventing the easy access has became more popular as well.
Schofield (2014) researches the difference between public and private company financial reporting. For instance, a private company has fewer consumers reviewing their financial statements, whereas public companies could have multiple consumers reviewing financial statements. In addition, private companies typically have less specialized accounting personnel, whereas public companies will have several. Lastly, Schofield (2014), reviewed the number of amendments proposed and finalized to help benefit private companies financial reporting.
According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
Worldwide over 2 million children and teachers have xo laptops. (n.d.). One Laptop per Child. Retrieved November 3, 2011, from http://one.laptop.org/map
At the beginning of the industrial revolution in England during the mid-nineteenth century, the railroad was the most innovative mode of transportation known. The British Rail system was a forerunner in railroad technology, uses, and underground engineering. Though the rail system was extremely slow at first and prohibitively expensive to build and run, the British were not to be dissuaded in their pursuit of non-animal driven transportation. The most advanced mode of transportation prior to the introduction of the rail system was the horse drawn omnibus on a track, called a tram. This paper will examine the rail system from a cultural perspective, presenting the impact the railway had on everyday lives in Victorian London and its surrounding communities.
To some, pornography is nothing more than a few pictures of scantily clad Women in seductive poses. But pornography has become much more than just Photographs of nude women. Computer technology is providing child molesters and child pornographers with powerful new tools for victimizing children. Pornography as "the sexually explicit depiction of persons, in words or images, Sexual arousal on the part of the consumer of such materials. No one can prove those films with graphic sex or violence has a harmful effect on viewers. But there seems to be little doubt that films do have some effect on society and that all of us live with such effects.