Horse-borne mail delivery system in the 19th-century US west. It was founded in 1860 by the Missouri freight company of Russell, Majors, and Waddell to prove that there was a viable alternative to the southern route into California for the transportation of overland mail. It operated between St Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, using a relay of fresh ponies and riders, and took two weeks to cover the full distance of nearly 3200 km (2000 miles). High costs made the operation unprofitable, and the coming of the telegraph made it unnecessary.