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派蒂屋，一栋1860年的旅馆，当时的它是快马邮递的总部
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快马邮递
地方性遗产
现今的社会，将一封信从海岸的这一边，送到海岸的另一边，只需花费几天的时间，而送一封电子邮件甚至只需要几秒的时间。但19世纪中期时，从华盛顿特区寄出的一封信，要六个月以后，才能到达加州！
当美国将版图扩张到西海岸后，对国家的成功及其西部拓荒者而言，通讯往来是一件非常重要的事，这个国家需要一个快速传送消息的方法。快马邮递就是因应这个需求的产物。
1860年4月，位于圣约瑟夫派蒂屋(Patee
House)旅馆内的快马邮递总部，雇用了75位年青人，购买了100匹马，以便将邮件送至加州。一封经由快马邮递递送的信件，需要10天的时间才能由密苏里州送达加州，而每封信的索价为$5。就现在的币值来看，当时的$5约等于现在的美金90元！您能想像自己花90元美金在一封信的邮费上吗？
到了1861年10月，快马邮递渐渐没落，因为电报能以更便宜及更快速的方法来传递消息。再加上1869年时，各海岸线之间的铁路也都已经建筑完成。您可以造访现在的派蒂屋，它已经成为一座专门用来展示快马邮递历史的博物馆。这栋建筑物已经成为国家历史地标。
Nowadays, it takes only a few days for a letter to travel from coast to coast, and you can send an e-mail in seconds. But in the mid-19th century, it took six months for a letter to travel from Washington, D.C., to California!
As the United States expanded to the West Coast, communication became very important to the success of the nation and its Western pioneers. The country needed a speedy way to send messages. As a result, the Pony Express was born.
In April 1860, 75 young men were hired and 100 horses were purchased to carry mail on horseback from Pony Express headquarters in the Patee House hotel, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to California. The cost to have the Pony Express carry one letter, which took 10 days, from Missouri to California was $5. Today, that $5 is worth about $90! Can you imagine spending $90 to send a letter?
By October 1861, however, the Pony Express was extinct. The telegraph could send messages much cheaper and faster, and, by 1869, railroads stretched from coast to coast. Today, you can visit the Patee House, which is now a museum dedicated to the history of the Pony Express. The building is a National Historic Landmark.
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