Existing comment:
Dangerous Delivery of News:
A recruiting poster for pony express riders made clear the dangers involved in carrying mail and newspapers on horseback from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif. Typically a rider would cover 75 to 100 miles a day, changing horses at intervals of 10 to 15 miles. A one-way trip could take anywhere from 10 to 16 days, depending on weather conditions. The service operated for 19 months between 1860 and 1861, when completion of the transcontinental telegraph system put it out of business.
Romance Marches Toward Reality:
In this Currier and Ives lithograph of the Battle of Mill Spring in Kentucky, top left, Union forces charged the enemy in perfect formation. Even more graphic, top center, is Arthur Lumley's pencil drawing at Antietam. More realistic, top right, is an engraving of Alfred Waud's sketch of Union troops at Gettysburg The horror of Antietam was best captured by Alexander Gardner's photo, left. |