Chapter
The Short-lived Success of the Pony Express
40:04 - 43:27 (03:23)
The Pony Express, a mail delivery service that operated briefly in the mid-1800s, was unable to sustain profitability and went bankrupt within a year of its inception. An interesting tidbit of its history is that the service carried Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address, but due to a lack of credibility, even the copy that was bought may not be in its original form.
Clips
The founders of the Pony Express sold off their assets to pay their creditors and the service ended only two days after it began due to financial troubles.
40:04 - 42:01 (01:57)
Summary
The founders of the Pony Express sold off their assets to pay their creditors and the service ended only two days after it began due to financial troubles. The only documented evidence we have from real riders was published in The Pony Express Rides On!, which wasn't taken seriously at the time but is still available today.
ChapterThe Short-lived Success of the Pony Express
EpisodeSelects: How the Pony Express Worked
PodcastStuff You Should Know
The Pony Express lost about $200,000 in its 18 to 19 months of operation, even though they managed to deliver approximately 35,000 pieces of mail riding for a combined half a million miles.
42:01 - 43:27 (01:26)
Summary
The Pony Express lost about $200,000 in its 18 to 19 months of operation, even though they managed to deliver approximately 35,000 pieces of mail riding for a combined half a million miles. Their personal best delivery time was seven days, 17 hours for Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address.