In 1860-61, the Pony Express carried mail between St. Joe, MO and Sacramento, CA by daring riders on swift horses. A January 30, 1860 news release announced plans to begin service on April 3 with a ten-day delivery time to Sacramento, California, something horses had never done across half the American continent. Stage stations such as Platte Bridge Station became Pony Express stations averaging 12.5 miles apart, where tired horses were exchanged for fresh ones, while riders stayed at home stations about 40 to 70 miles apart. Young riders were recruited with a San Francisco advertisement seeking skinny wiry fellows not over eighteen, expert riders willing to risk death daily, with orphans preferred and wages of $25 per week. Despite summer heat, winter blizzards, and Indian attacks, the first run began on April 3, and mail pouches relayed from pony to pony across the 1900-mile route delivered letters and telegrams on April 13. Though it lasted only 19 months, it remained one of the remarkable feats of the old west.