On this day in Labor History the year was 1861.
That was the day that the Pony Express made its last run and passed into legend.
The mail delivery service had lasted only a year-and-a-half, until it folded under competition from the newly completed transcontinental telegraph.
The idea for a faster western mail delivery service came from the owners of the wagon freight company Russel, Majors and Waddell.
At the time the railroad terminated in St. Joseph, Missouri.
The goal of the Pony Express Route was to cover the 2,000-mile route from St. Joe to San Francisco in ten days—half the time of competitors.
Riders would travel between one station and another station on horseback, switching horses as they went.
For this arduous job, the company targeted young men, sometimes in their teens.
The goal was to hire small men to keep the weight low for the horses.
The riders had to sign a pledge not to drink, gamble, fight or swear.
To back up the clean living, they were each issued a bible.
Riders were paid a minimum of $50 per month, in addition to room and board.
The riders faced many hazards from bad weather to thieves.
They often traveled across lands in dispute between the U.S. government and Native Americans, adding potential danger.
The fastest Express delivery ever was Lincoln’s Inaugural address, which made it to California in under eight days.
Perhaps the most famous person who claimed to be a pony express rider, was Buffalo Bill Cody, although it is unlikely he ever carried the mail.
He incorporated the pony express into his Wild West Show, turning the mail service into the stuff of legend
February 20 - Angelina Grimke is Born
February 19 - Philly Street Car Workers Spark General Strike
February 18 - Anti-Slavery Begins in America
February 17 - Standing Up By Sitting Down
February 16 - The Wisconsin Uprising Begins
February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close
February 14 - Kansas City Laundresses Walk Off the Job
February 13 - Martial Law Declared to Crush the UAW
February 12 - The NAACP is Founded
February 11 - Cutting Corners on Safety at Sequoyah I
February 10 - Forty-Three Workers Buried Alive
February 9 - Organizing Bloody Harlan
February 8 - Butte Copper Miners Join the 1919 Strike Wave
February 7 - Strike at Cripple Creek
February 6 - Philly Garment Workers Win!
February 5 - The Fight for Craft Governance
February 4 - Solidarity on the Coast
February 3 - Anti-Trust Injunctions Used Against Labor
February 2 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
February 1 - A Pivotal Moment in the Flint Sit-Down
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