The Pony Express was a mail transport system that comprised relays of horses between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. Although it only operated between 1860 and 1861 it has received fame through many Western movies.
The Pony Express utilised a relay system of riders and ponies to cover the distance of 2000 miles from St. Joseph, across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains to Sacramento. Typically the journey took about two weeks. The service was rendered obsolete by the intruduction of the telegraph but has lived on through popular culture as an emblem of American inventiveness and daring.