The history associated with the first large-scale mail service in the United States is celebrated in a major way at the National Pony Express Monument in Salt Lake City, Utah. As one of the stops for mail carriers on the Pony Express route, this history has been actively embraced to provide the city with a means of connection that residents and visitors can experience on multiple levels.
Ten Days or Less
When it was created in 1860, the Pony Express was designed to deliver mail faster and improve communications across the United States by reducing what had taken up to six months to ten days or less. Using, relays of horse-mounted riders carrying the U.S. Mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California while crossing Salt Lake City, the Pony Express demonstrated that a unified transcontinental system of communications could operate year-round and make delivers as expected. However, it was not a financial success and went bankrupt in 18 months.
While it was only in operation for less than two years, the Pony Express became a symbol of ruggedness and possibility that was quickly celebrated in the era and beyond. Pony Express riders traversed 650,000 miles with only one schedule not completed and one mail lost. Much of this history is recounted on markers across the National Pony Express Monument along with multiple monuments that directly connect to this legacy.
Located within This is The Place Heritage Park, the National Pony Express Monument features a replica of the “Changing Horses” monument that was created in 1947 by Avard T. Fairbanks. It also features a replica Pony Express station that was part of the 2002 Winter Olympics hosted by Salt Lake City, highlighting how the community in the present looks to this history to create further connections with it.
Presented to This is The Place Heritage Park in 1998, the “Changing Horses” monument shows the exchange of mail and the transfer of a rider to a fresh horse from a tired horse with the station keeper helping make this happen as quick as possible. The sculpture is a study in contrasts that captures a moment in history while symbolizing the connection between the different generations represented by the rider and station keeper.
As an expression of ruggedness and possibility, the Pony Express came to be recognized as a symbol that audiences of all eras could connect with. The National Pony Express Monument highlights this connection while embracing the history that has enabled it to resonate with audiences in the present and future.
A Legacy of Possibility
Capturing the hearts and minds of audiences around the world, the Pony Express showcased the possibilities associated with new ways of thinking that were prominent in the 19th century. That it went through Salt Lake City to highlight these possibilities has allowed audiences in the present to embrace this history in a way that will resonate into the far future.
