The Pony Express Collection formed by Thurston Twigg-Smith continued...

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FINE APPEARANCE. THE EARLIEST OF THE FOUR RECORDED COVERS BEARING THE $1.00 PONY EXPRESS GARTER STAMP AND THE ONLY EXAMPLE USED WITH THE 1857 ISSUE.

Although collectors generally perceive all Pony Express stamps and franked entires to be unofficial private forms of postage, the reality is that the Horse & Rider Second Issue, the Garter” Issue and Type II franked envelope were issued to prepay government contract rates.

The $1.00 franked entire and $1.00 Garter adhesive were needed by Wells Fargo & Co.’s eastern offices when the Pony Express entered its official U.S. government mail contract period on July 1, 1861. On August 12, 1861, Wells Fargo & Co. announced in the New York papers that Pony Express Envelopes” were Now ready and for sale at our office.” Although this announcement refers only to envelopes,” in fact both the franked entires and $1.00 adhesive stamps were put on sale in August 1861.

The 1861 10c Pumpkin” entire with the Type II printed frank was ordered from George F. Nesbitt & Co. (New York) by the Overland Mail Company after they obtained approval for the design and imprint from the Postmaster General’s office (see lot 42). Nesbitt was specifically asked to produce envelopes on a thinner, tougher paper than that used for regular stamped envelopes, to reduce weight for the Pony riders. Nesbitt also printed the Garter stamps in sheets of 20 with his imprint below Position 18, the center stamp in the bottom row (see lot 39).

The FKW census lists 20 examples of the Type II $1.00 East-to-West frank, including a few that have stamps added or have been extensively repaired (one recently recorded example from Philadelphia has been added to the record). There are four recorded covers with the $1.00 Garter stamp (a detailed list is provided on the pdf version of this catalogue), of which this is the earliest and the only one with a 10c 1857 stamp.

This Pony Express cover was mailed from New York City on August 24, 1861, just as the old stamp issues were being demonetized and the new 1861 Issue was released, due to the Civil War. This double-rate Pony Express cover entered the post office and was treated as regular mail until it reached the Wells Fargo & Co. agent at St. Joseph. From there (or Atchison, Kansas) it made the August 29, 1861, westbound Pony trip to California. At Placerville, it was carried by Wells Fargo & Co. to San Francisco via Folsom and Sacramento, arriving on September 10.

The cover is addressed to Alex. Forbes, Esq., Messr. Daniel Gibb & Co.” Forbes was a partner in the Scottish firm of Forbes, Gibb & Co. His partner, Daniel Gibb, died in Glasgow on December 17, 1861, just months after this cover was mailed.

FKW Census W52. Trip WT-135. Illustrated in Nathan-Boggs The Pony Express (p. 51) and Frajola-Kramer-Walske The Pony Express: A Postal History (p. 63). Ex Henry J. Crocker and Kuphal. (Image)

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THIS IS THE UNIQUE SAMPLE ENVELOPE” SUBMITTED ON JUNE 21, 1861, BY THE OVERLAND MAIL COMPANY TO POSTMASTER GENERAL MONTGOMERY BLAIR FOR APPROVAL PRIOR TO THE INAUGURATION OF THE JULY 1, 1861, PONY EXPRESS GOVERNMENT MAIL CONTRACT. AN HISTORIC ARTIFACT OF THE PONY EXPRESS.

The $1.00 franked entire and $1.00 Garter” adhesive were needed by Wells Fargo & Co.’s eastern offices when the Pony Express entered its official U.S. government mail contract period on July 1, 1861. The 1861 10c Pumpkin” entire with the Type II printed frank was ordered from George F. Nesbitt & Co. (New York) by the Overland Mail Company after they obtained approval for the design and imprint from the Postmaster General’s office. The earliest recorded Type II envelope is dated August 14, 1861, according to the FKW census.

The essay offered here, a 10c Nesbitt entire with the Type I East-to-West red frank ($2.00 rate period), was submitted to Postmaster General Montgomery Blair along with a transmittal letter dated June 21, 1861 (Christie’s sale, Mar. 14, 1990). The letter, which is not with this lot, is shown at right with a transcript of the content. Postmaster General Blair’s office docketed the letter F. Cook Treasurer, Overland Mail Co., June 21, 1861, Answered June 22 ‘61”.

The Cook letter is in the same hand as the address on the essay entire offered here. There is no doubt that this is the sample envelope” submitted to the Postmaster General for approval and to help in clarifying the procedure for East-to-West Pony Express mail during the new contract period. The actual Type II $1.00 frank was modified slightly with the deletion of the comma after Placerville”, and it was printed on envelopes with the new 10c Pumpkin” design. Nesbitt was specifically asked to produce envelopes on a thinner, tougher paper than that used for regular stamped envelopes, to reduce weight for the Pony riders.

Although collectors generally perceive all Pony Express stamps and franked entires to be unofficial private forms of postage, the reality is that the Horse & Rider Second Issue, the Garter Issue and Type II franked envelope were issued to prepay government contract rates. Therefore, this sample envelope” is effectively an essay for a government-authorized issue, not simply a model for a non-contract mail route frank. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. ONE OF 21 RECORDED TYPE II EAST-TO-WEST PONY EXPRESS FRANKED ENTIRES AND ONE OF ONLY TWO RECORDED PONY EXPRESS COVERS ORIGINATING IN PHILADELPHIA.

In Rate Period 3, Wells Fargo & Co. introduced a special franked envelope for westbound mail, but its use was extremely limited. On July 1, 1861, the new contract rate went into effect. On August 12, 1861, Wells Fargo & Co. announced in the New York papers that Pony Express Envelopes” were Now ready and for sale at our office.” Although this announcement refers only to envelopes,” in fact both the franked entires and $1.00 adhesive stamps were put on sale in August 1861.

The 1861 10c Pumpkin” entire with the Type II printed frank was ordered from George F. Nesbitt & Co. (New York) by the Overland Mail Company after they obtained approval for the design and imprint from the Postmaster General’s office. The earliest recorded Type II envelope is dated August 14, 1861, according to the FKW census.

The FKW census lists 20 examples of the Type II $1.00 East-to-West frank, including a few that have stamps added or have been extensively repaired. Adding one cover that was not included in the FKW census, which is nearly identical to the cover offered here (Siegel 2009 Rarities of the World sale, lot 298), there are 21 Type II franks. These two are the only Pony Express covers that originated from Philadelphia during any time period, and of course they are the only examples of the Type II frank used from Philadelphia (almost all originated in New York City).

This August 26, 1861, cover was sent from Philadelphia just as the old stamp issues were being demonetized and the new 1861 Issue was released, due to the Civil War. This Pony Express cover entered the post office and was treated as regular mail until it reached the Wells Fargo & Co. agent at St. Joseph. From there (or Atchison, Kansas) it made the September 1, 1861, westbound Pony trip to California. At Placerville, it was carried by Wells Fargo & Co. to San Jose. For no apparent reason, the St. Joseph office did not apply a Pony Express datestamp.

Census No. W53. Trip WT-136. Illustrated in Frajola-Kramer-Walske The Pony Express: A Postal History (p. 74). (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONE OF THE LAST FRANKED PONY EXPRESS ENVELOPES SENT TO ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, BUT RECEIVED AFTER THE TERMINATION OF PONY EXPRESS SERVICE. A FASCINATING QUASI-PONY” COVER THAT WAS CARRIED BY STAGECOACH.

The chart opposite page 23 contains information about the advancement of the eastern and western telegraph terminals. On August 6, 1861, the San Francisco Bulletin printed over its dispatches, By telegraph to Fort Kearney from St. Louis, thence by Pony Express to Robert’s Creek Station, thence by telegraph to San Francisco.” In the August 13, 1861, edition, the same paper reported that the Pony Express rider was leaving his dispatches for the Bulletin and other Pacific Coast newspapers at Dry Creek station. By the beginning of September, hundreds of miles were cut from the distance between telegraph terminals on the Pony route. The eastern section of the telegraph was completed on October 17, 1861, and just one week later the final connection was made on October 24.

As soon as messages could be sent by wire, the need for the Pony Express was eliminated, and the Overland Mail Company was contractually free to discontinue the money-losing service. The last trip from San Francisco left on October 23. On October 25 the Wells Fargo & Co. office in San Francisco announced that the Last Pony coming this way left Atchison, Kansas, yesterday [October 24].” They probably received that news by wire.

A few covers are recorded that arrived in Saint Joseph after the October 24 trip departed. The letters that were bagged at St. Joseph for the October 27 and 31 trips were probably carried part or all of the way by regular mail stagecoach, because they arrived in San Francisco on November 18 and 21, in line with the usual 20-day transit time by stage.

FKW Census W69. Trip WT-152 (FKW likely carried by stage”). (Image)

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