On June 16, 1860, about ten weeks after the Pony Express began, Congress authorized a bill instructing the Secretary of the Treasury to fund building a transcontinental telegraph line connecting the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast.

The bill’s passage resulted in the incorporation of the Overland Telegraph Company of California and the Pacific Telegraph Company of Nebraska. While the lines were under construction, the Pony Express operated as usual. 

On Oct. 24, 1861,  the Pony Express galloped off into the sunset.

Based upon content front the National Park Service, History & Culture.

Photo credit: [Missouri Ruralist Photographs, P0030. P0030-4778], The State Historical Society of Missouri, Photograph Collection.