their welcome. At Sacramento, as when the pony mail had first come up
from San Francisco, practically the whole town turned out. Stores were
closed and business everywhere suspended. State officials and other
citizens of prominence addressed great crowds in commemoration of the
wonderful achievement. Patriotic airs were played and sung and no
attempt was made to check the merry-making of the populace. After a
hurried stop to deliver local mail, the pouch was rushed aboard the fast
sailing steamer Antelope, and the trip down the stream begun. Although
San Francisco was not reached until the dead of night, the arrival of
the express mail was the signal for a hilarious reception. Whistles were
blown, bells jangled, and the California Band turned out. The city fire
department, suddenly aroused by the uproar, rushed into the street,
expecting to find a conflagration, but on recalling the true state of
affairs, the firemen joined in with spirit. The express courier was then
formally escorted by a huge procession from the steamship dock to the
office of the Alta Telegraph, the official Western terminal, and the
momentous trip had ended.

The first Pony Express from St. Joseph brought a message of
congratulation from President Buchanan to Governor Downey of California,
which was first telegraphed to the Missouri River town. It also brought
one or two official government communications, some New York, Chicago,
and St. Louis newspapers, a few bank drafts, and some business letters
addressed to banks and commercial houses in San Francisco - about
eighty-five pieces of mail in all[7]. And it had brought news from the
East only nine days on the road.

At the outset, the Express reduced the time for letters from New York to
the Coast from twenty-three days to about ten days. Before the line had
been placed in operation, a telegraph wire, allusion to which has been