The Pony Express, which officially opened on April 3, 1860, ceased operations 18 months later due to the completion of the transcontinental telegraph. The average delivery time by Pony Express was 10 days; the fastest was the March 1861 delivery of President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address in 7 days, 17 hours.

According to an 1860 recruitment ad in a California newspaper, requirements for Pony Express riders were: “Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.”