Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.

Would you answer that ad?  This was a real advertisement in 1860 to gather riders for the new Pony Express.  It was the newest, fastest way to communicate across the country, using a relay system of riders on specially selected horses to ride hard and fast to deliver the mail from a starting point in St. Joseph, Missouri across the vast western plains to California.  It reduced the amount of time for mail to be delivered from weeks or months to around 10 days.  Though that seems incredibly slow to us today, it was a monumentally exciting development in communications speed. 

Its founders were hoping to win a million dollar government contract for mail delivery away from the Butterfield Stage operation for their company, the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company by becoming better, faster, and more efficient.  Sound familiar?  It wasn’t new technology (horses and riders had been around for a while, obviously) but these guys were apparently the efficiency experts of their day.   The Pony Express got the mail delivered in at least half the time and lost only one bag of mail in its entire 18-month operation, even though the routes were grueling and dangerous. 

The Pony Express and it’s riders became famous, capturing the imagination of Americans to this day.  (Anyone see the movie Hidalgo?  That was based on the true story of a Pony Express rider.)  There’s a national Pony Express museum in St. Joseph, Missouri.    For a really well-written, not-too-long history, see Run, Pony, Run.  For a book, see here. 

Not long after the Pony Express started, the government started work on a telegraph line to California that was completed in October, 1861.  And that was the end of the Pony Express.  That’s progress.

What’s this got to do with video interviewing?  Just a little side-trip into the development of communications in this country that led to where we are today.  Imagine only being able to reach someone you needed to talk to by writing a letter and hoping that the person you asked or hired to carry it didn’t run into any trouble on the way and actually got your letter delivered.  A little time-consuming and unreliable, yes?  Hope you didn’t need an answer quickly!

What’s next in the communication evolution?  The telegraph.  Stay tuned…

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