Editing Pony Express (section)

==Inception and founding==
[[File:Alexander Majors Pony Express.jpg|thumb|upright|{{center|[[Alexander Majors]]}}]]

The idea of having a fast mail route to the Pacific Coast was prompted largely by California's newfound prominence and its rapidly growing population. After [[California gold rush|gold was discovered there in 1848]], thousands of [[prospectors]], investors, and businessmen made their way to California, at that time a new territory of the U.S. By 1850, California entered the Union as a free state. By 1860, the population had grown to 380,000.{{sfn|Bradley|1913|p=9}} The prospect of California and its national role became the source of bitter partisan debate in Congress.{{sfn|Chapman|1971|p=55}} The demand for a faster way to get the mail and other communications to and from this westernmost state became even greater as the [[American Civil War]] approached.{{sfn|Bradley|1913|pp=5, 9}}

[[William Hepburn Russell|William Russell]], [[Alexander Majors]], and [[William B. Waddell (Pony Express founder)|William B. Waddell]] were the three founders of the Pony Express. They were already in the freighting and [[drayage]] business. At the peak of the operations, they employed 6,000 men, owned 75,000 oxen, thousands of wagons, and warehouses, plus a sawmill, a meatpacking plant, a bank, and an insurance company.{{sfn|Peters|1996|pp=147–148}}

Russell was a prominent businessman, well respected among his peers and the community.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Hepburn-Russell|title=William Hepburn Russell {{!}} American businessman|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref> Waddell was co-owner of the firm Morehead, Waddell & Co. In 1859, C. R. Morehead took the proposal for the Pony Express to President Buchanan. After Morehead was bought out and moved to Leavenworth to enter the mercantile business, Waddell merged his company with Russell's, changing the name to Waddell & Russell. In 1855, they took on a new partner, Alexander Majors, and founded the company of Russell, Majors & Waddell.{{Sfnp|Settle|Settle|1972|pp=4–5}} They held government contracts for delivering army supplies to the western frontier, and Russell had a similar idea for contracts with the U.S. government for fast mail delivery.{{Sfnp|Chapman|1971|p=76}}

By using a short route and mounted riders rather than traditional [[stagecoach]]es, they proposed to establish a fast mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, with letters delivered in 10 days, which many said was impossible. The initial price was set at $5 per {{Convert|1/2|oz|g}}, then $2.50, and by July 1861 to $1. The initial price was 250 times the price of mail through the normal mail service, which was $0.02.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Postal Service |first1=United States |title=Universal Service and the Postal Monopoly: A Brief History |url=https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/universal-service-postal-monopoly-history.pdf |publisher=USPS |access-date=2 March 2021 |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412171857/https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/universal-service-postal-monopoly-history.pdf }}</ref> The founders of the Pony Express hoped to win an exclusive government mail contract, but that did not come about.

Russell, Majors, and Waddell organized and put together the Pony Express in two months in the winter of 1860. The undertaking assembled 80 riders, 184 stations, 400 horses, and several hundred personnel during January and February 1861.<ref name="museum">
{{cite web
|title=Pony Express National Museum
|url=http://www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/history/ponyexpress.cfm
|publisher=City of St Joseph
|access-date=December 10, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312171306/http://www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/history/ponyexpress.cfm
|archive-date=March 12, 2013
|df=mdy-all
}}</ref>

Majors was a religious man and resolved "by the help of God" to overcome all difficulties. He presented each rider with a Pony Express special-edition [[Bible]] and required this oath,{{Sfnp|Settle|Settle|1955|p=42}}{{Sfnp|Bradley|1913|p=27}} which they were also required to sign.{{Sfnp|Settle|Settle|1972|p=52}}
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{{blockquote|I, ''' ... ''', do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God.|Oath sworn by Pony Express Riders<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burton |first=Richard |year=1862 |title=The City of the Saints |url=https://archive.org/details/cityofsaintsacro00burt |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Brothers}}</ref>{{Sfnp|Bradley|1913|p=52}}}}
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