The Pony Express was the nation's first coast-to-coast express mail route, created as a publicity stunt for a million-dollar government contract by carrying mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to California in under 10 days. At the time, no railroads or telegraph lines extended west of St. Joseph, and stagecoaches could take months and were often unreliable. The first successful run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, began on April 3, 1860, inaugurating a route that followed the Oregon Trail for nearly 2,000 miles to near the Great Salt Lake before turning west over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Though dangerous, the journey across plains, deserts, and mountains, through hostile territory and volatile weather, could be completed on horseback in as little as eight days. The Pony Express carried mail almost two weeks faster than its rival, but another company won the contract, and the service proved extremely expensive because of the horses, stations, and men it required. The company lost large sums of money and closed in November 1861 when the telegraph reached San Francisco. During 18 months of operation, riders carried 35,000 pieces of mail more than 650,000 miles; only one rider died and one mail pouch was lost. The service greatly improved correspondence between east and west, provided faster communication to California, helped keep California in the Union, and demonstrated that a transcontinental route could operate year-round. Troy Station, the first relay stop after St. Joseph, was located at the Smith Hotel, where a barn was built specifically for the enterprise and where legend says the first donuts were handed to passing riders. Speed governed every part of the system: horses carried about 165 pounds, with riders averaging 120 pounds and carrying about 20 pounds of mail and 20 pounds of equipment, including weapons; fresh horses were first supplied every 25 miles and later about every 15 miles; horse changes took two minutes with special saddle bags; and riders were replaced every 75 to 100 miles. The fastest run carried Lincoln's Inaugural Address in seven days and seventeen hours.