What Is the Difference Between Telegraph & Pony Express?

The telegraph and the Pony Express were used to transmit messages to distant locations before inventions such as the telephone, nationwide postal service, or email became part of everyday society. While the Pony Express ended in 1861, the telegraph continued into the 20th century before it was replaced by newer, more efficient technologies.

  1. The Pony Express

    • The Pony Express delivered news, messages and saddlebags of mail using a group of mounted horseback riders who were set up in a relay style route between stations. The Pony Express set up prior to the start of the Civil War and was primarily used to transmit news about the American Civil War to citizens in the western section of the United States. The route went from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, California. Lasting for a total of 19 months between 1860 and 1861, the Pony Express was not a profitable business venture and stopped running once the Pacific Telegraph line was put into place in October of 1861.

    The Telegraph

    • The telegraph is an electronic device that sends messages over electrical lines using morse code. Wires were laid between telegraph stations and messages were transmitted from one station to the next. Once messages had been transmitted to the desired location, the recipients could go to the telegraph office to receive them. Samuel Morse invented the telegraph in the 1830s and set up the first demonstration line, from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1844.

    Primary Differences

    • The Pony Express used small horses and riders to carry messages, while the telegraph used electricity and wires. The Pony Express needed a fairly extensive staff of people and horses in order to stay operational. Riders had to travel through difficult and often dangerous terrain to reach their destinations and, compared to the telegraph's wire transmissions, the Pony Express was significantly slower than the telegraph.

    Other Differences

    • The Pony Express could be dangerous for ponies and riders, while the telegraph significantly minimized the risk of injury, as it did not use humans to do anything other than code and decode messages. Once the system for the telegraph was in place, it required less maintenance than the ponies of the Pony Express and allowed two telegraph operators to accomplish the same task that might have taken four or five riders.