Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony Express, $1.00 Red (143L3). Large even margins all around, rich color, tied by blue "Pony Express, San Francisco, Sep. 11" (1861) Running Pony oval datestamp on 10c Green on Buff Star Die entire (U33) with Wells, Fargo & Co. red printed frank, to A. Wallach & Co. in New York City, entire uncancelled but with clear strike of "Atchison, Kan. Sep. 23" double-circle datestamp applied on arrival after 12-day trip, docketed on back, stamp with hint of soiling from gum

EXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL EASTBOUND PONY EXPRESS COVER WITH THE WELLS, FARGO & COMPANY $1.00 HORSE & RIDER SECOND ISSUE AND POSTMARK SHOWING ENTRY INTO THE MAILS AT THE ATCHISON POST OFFICE. THIS WAS CARRIED ON THE FIRST EASTBOUND TRIP TO ATCHISON.

This cover was carried on the trip that departed San Francisco on Wednesday, September 11, 1861, and arrived at Atchison on September 23. The Pony Express stamp pays the government contract rate of $1 per half-ounce, and the shift to Atchison as the point of entry into the U.S. mails was due to Confederate military incursions into central Missouri in September 1861.

Congress awarded the mail contract along the Central Route to the Overland Mail Company on March 12, 1861, effective July 1. The contract paid $1,000,000 per year for mail/passenger service along the Central Route and required the company “...during the continuance of their Contract, or until completion of The Overland telegraph, to run a Pony Express semi-weekly at a Schedule time of ten days eight months of the year and twelve days four months of the year...” This period of operation is known as Phase III, which corresponds to Rate Period 4 (July 1-October 26, 1861). During this period, Wells, Fargo & Co. issued new stamps and envelopes to reflect the agreed-upon government contract rate of $1 per half-ounce for the Pony Express. In addition, Wells, Fargo & Co. charged a fee for service in California (10c if a franked envelope was used, 25c if not) and U.S. postage (10c per half-ounce).

On September 3, 1861, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad experienced a horrific tragedy when bushwhackers burned a bridge over the Platte River, causing a derailment that killed between 17 and 20 people and injured 100 more in the “Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy”. Starting with the Pony Express mail that left San Francisco on September 11, 1861 (ET-134, arriving September 23, which carried the cover offered here), the entry point for mail became Atchison. The FKW census records 25 covers sent thru Atchison, including one with the Pony Express stamp missing. Two others are known used on this same trip.

FKW Census E158. Trip ET-134.

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