The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926 Page: 18
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
center. It is stopped in all its stages through the state of Texas
some six or seven hundred miles."53
While the policy of the state government seems to have been to
leave the company alone until it should become necessary to stop
all communication between the North and the South, certain parties
of Texas citizens were evidently not so considerate of their rights.
These persons seized the supplies of the company at certain sta-
tions, and seem to have taken some of the stock and coaches."s
Thus it was that Congress, by an act approved March 2, 1861,
gave authority to the Postmaster General to discontinue the route
and to provide for the conveyance by the same parties of a six-
times-a-week mail by the "Central" route. There was nothing
left for the company to do but accept the terms offered them by
the department, and after an agreement was reached an order of
March 12, 1861, modified the contract and changed the service to
the Central route, from Atchison, Kansas, to Placerville. The
company also agreed to convey the mail three times a week from
Denver to Salt Lake City and to run a pony express twice a week
until the completion of the Overland Telegraph. For these serv-
ices the company was to receive a million dollars annually for a
period of three years. They commenced their transfer of stock
to the new route about April 1, 1861.55
Due to the short period of its existence and the great war that
upset the calculations of men generally, the Southern Overland
Mail naturally never accomplished what its promoters and friends
hoped for. While it was not without its influence on national
development, it cannot be said that it was an achievement of great
national significance. But as a pioneer enterprise of unusual mag-
nitude it is worthy of consideration among the annals of our
national achievement. The courage and perseverance of its pro-
moters and the daring of the intrepid men who made it a success
may well furnish inspiration to all posterity.
"8Congressional Globe, 36th Cong., 2nd Sess., February 19, March 29,
1861, p. 1112.
"Journal of the Secession Convention of Texas, 1861, E. W. Winkler
(Ed.), Austin, 1912, p. 381.
As the commander of the Northwestern Frontier of Texas, Henry E.
McCulloch in his report to the convention was strong in his denunciation
of this act of vandalism on the part of certain classes of the Texas citi-
zens. See, also, Root and Connelley, "The Overland Stage to California,"
Topeka, 1901, p. 51, quoting a letter of September 16, 1901, from David
Street, of Denver, who seems to have been acquainted with the affairs of
the company in 1861.
"5Report of the Postmaster General for 1861, p. 560.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926, periodical, 1926; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117141/m1/26/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.