Pony Express Steamer Antelope - Sacramento California
Posted by: 
TheBeanTeam
N 38° 34.946 W 121° 30.376
10S E 630104 N 4271497
The Steamer Antelope took the Pony Express delivery from Sacramento to San Fransisco from the docks near this Pony Express monument.
Waymark Code: WM3PTJ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/01/2008
Views: 94
From the National Park Service's
Pony Express Historic Resource Study detailing the end of the first ride:
At about midnight or 1:00 a.m., on April 14, 1860, the Pony Express from St. Joseph reached San Francisco via Sacramento and the steamboat Antelope. Prior to its arrival, at "every man's dinner table, men, women and children talked pony," the crowds getting out their watches to calculate and speculate the Pony Express' rate per mile. [88] Upon its arrival in San Francisco, the pony rider was escorted from the steamer to the heart of the city where "a great throng roared an enthusiastic welcome, the band played 'See the Conquering Hero Comes,' bonfires were lighted, speechmakers 'studied their points,' and a riotous celebration continued until nearly morning."
The first ride to Sacramento was described in this fashion:
At 4:00 p.m. "a clean-limbed, hardy little nankeen-colored pony" sped away with the mail pouch, which read "Overland Pony Express" to the steamer Antelope that waited to carry the express mail up river to Sacramento. After a ten-hour ride, the steamer reached Sacramento in a hard rainstorm at approximately 2:00 a.m. Because of the lateness and the weather, no "reception committee" greeted it, except the express agent and the first rider eastward. The pouch was given to Harry Roff, who sped off into the night
Photo Credit:
Courtesy of
Calisphere
Title:
297. The Sacramento Steamer Antelope.
Creator/Contributor:
Lawrence & Houseworth, publisher
Date:
1860/1870
Contributing Institution:
Society of California Pioneers