From 1860 to 1861 the Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages, newspapers, and mail using relays of horse-mounted riders.
The Central Overland California and Pike’s Peak Express Company operated between Missouri and California.

Besides using it as a communication link, people during this time bought goods over catalogues and have them delivered by the Pony Express.

This route became the West’s most direct means of east–west communication before the transcontinental telegraph was established.

We drove a little bit of the Pony Express Trail in Utah. It is in the middle of nowhere.