The year is 2005. Amazon has just introduced their customers to a new feature: Amazon Prime. Free shipping in two days. Consumers rejoiced. The retail world shuddered, and… ok, I’m gonna be honest, it’s hard to romanticize shipping. But yet, somehow today’s story manages to do just that. Maybe all it takes is throwing the story back in time a few centuries.

The Prancing Pony is a cocktail I have made for you inspired by the Pony Express, the ambitious express postal network that connected California’s golden coast to the East’s less golden one with incredibly quick service. It is made with whiskey, orange blossom vodka and coffee liqueur.

Prior to my research for this episode I had no clue what the Pony Express actually was. I’d heard of it, but like most good millennials, I just assumed that it was the mail service prior to the invention of the automobile. It was more than that.

The Pony Express was not America’s long lost mail service. It wasn’t composed of a legion of horses that were bested by their mechanical competitors. It didn’t even see three trips around the sun. No, the Pony Express, the surprisingly well-known mail service cemented in the minds of Americans everywhere, only lasted for two years.

So, if the Pony Express wasn’t what I’d always assumed, then what was it? Well, it did deliver mail. And there were horses. But there’s more.

Back in the 19th century, mail was carried across the country a few different ways. There were some horse-drawn carriages, but there were also mailmen and couriers that traveled in different ways. Like walking. Back then, technology hadn’t evolved to support speed. Traveling to Europe meant months in a boat sailing across the Atlantic. With the Panama Canal still a distant dream, shipping to the west coast could take months, or even years, of some Oregon Trail-style travel arrangements.

But, when California discovered gold in 1849, the population boomed. A year later, they were an official state in the Union. Ten years after that, the young state’ population had reached 380,000 and, suddenly, there were a lot of people worth writing to on the west coast.

So, three men: William Russell, Alexander Major and William Waddell, launched an ambitious new business venture: connect the east coast to the west as quickly as possible.

How? By purchasing 400 ponies (as they were smaller, lighter, and therefore faster) at $200 each and building a 1,900 mile expressway with almost 200 stations that would connect St. Joseph, Missouri in the east to Sacramento, California in the west.

With that the Pony Express was born. And when they called it “express,” they meant it.

Riders weighing 125 lbs or less would gallop at full speed for ten miles, from station to station when they’d switch horses and ride another ten miles, switch horses, and then get back on the road. On and on the riders would go until they were relieved by another rider after traveling somewhere between 75 and 100 miles in one shift.

In some cases, riders had to continue at full speed for 20 hours straight until they were relieved by another rider. That’s insane! Especially when you remember that this was the 1860s. The wild west was still wild. But the pay was good, great actually. Riders were paid $125 a month, 4 times more than the average wages of the time.

The truth is, the Pony Express worked. It didn’t take months to receive a letter anymore. Mail could now travel from coast to coast in just 10 days After arriving in Sacramento, mail was sent on a boat downriver from Sacramento to San Francisco and into the hands of the intended recipients.

So what happened?

First, the Transcontinental Telegraph was invented and revolutionized communication. Then the Civil War broke out in 1861.

Plus, the Pony Express wasn’t able to secure an exclusive government mail contract. The government agreed to subsidize the program, but between warring states and new technology on the horizon, the Pony Express wasn’t making any money. And it was expensive to run. So as quickly as it burst onto the scene, it faded into the pages of history.

I kinda want to ride a horse now. But I also want a drink and since I don’t have a horse. So, let’s enjoy the Prancing Pony.