What was the Overland Mail Service?

In the mid-19th century, gold seekers and other westward travelers faced daunting challenges crossing the vast, mostly unsettled Great Plains of the American West and reaching the growing settlements of California and Oregon. With the completion of the transcontinental telegraph in October 1861, the next great push was completing a transcontinental railroad.

In the meantime, the U.S. Post Office Department set out to fill the mail service gap across the continent. The department’s first attempt at a transcontinental postal route came with the establishment of the Butterfield Overland Mail. This stagecoach service operated from 1858 to 1861 over the southern route, from Tipton, Missouri, to San Francisco. However, the start of the Civil War closed this route.

On March 3, 1861, the U.S. Congress enacted the Pony Express Act, which funded a subsidized express mail delivery system using mounted riders traveling relay-style over a central overland route. The Pony Express operated successfully for just under two years, from April 1860, until it was discontinued in October 1861, shortly after telegraph service became viable.

Overland Mail Company

In June 1860, two rival overland mail companies, the Leavenworth & Pike’s Peak Express Company and the Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company, merged to form the Overland Mail Company. Its primary task was to deliver express mail between the Missouri River and Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, a distance of 1,000 miles, in 10 days.

The company’s president, John M. Hockaday, had years of experience managing freight and mail lines, and he established stringent rules for the operation. Drivers carried revolvers and shotguns, and guards rode shotgun and guarded coaches at relay points. Armed messengers accompanied some trips, and they traveled in special “treasure boxes” mounted on the stagecoach.

With regular service over the plains and mountains, winter brought a whole new set of challenges for the Overland Mail Company. Deep snows slowed progress and increased hazards. Often the mail had to be carried on horseback or even on snowshoes. Despite the hardships, the Overland Mail Company maintained a regular service, though deliveries didn’t always meet the goal of ten days.

Central Overland Route

Starting from Atchison, Kansas, the Central Overland Route crossed Kansas and Nebraska, then ascended the North Platte River into Wyoming Territory. Continuing into the Dakota Territory, the route went through what is today South Dakota and through the Dakota Badlands. In Wyoming, the route divided into two branches: one going directly to Salt Lake City and the other, the Montana Line, going to Virginia City, Montana, and linking up with the Mullan Road to Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory.

End of Service

The Overland Mail Company ceased operation when Union Pacific Railroad reached Salt Lake City in 1869, and the railroad took over mail service.