In 1845, it took six months to get a message from the East Coast of the United States to California. By the late 1850s, a half million people had migrated west and were demanding up-to-date news from home, creating pressure to deliver mail faster and improve communication across the expanding nation. On January 27, 1860, the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, a subsidiary of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, announced the Pony Express, planning to carry letter mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, in only ten days. Because a healthy horse could typically gallop only 8 to 12 miles, stations were needed on the eastern end of the route and many new ones had to be built across the remote Great Basin. Alexander Majors said that 400 to 500 mustang horses were purchased, 200 men were hired to manage the stations, and 80 riders signed on to begin the run. Home stations, where riders lived, were located every 75 to 100 miles, usually at stage stations, hotels, or substantial ranches along the route. Each rider began his run at a home station, changed horses six or eight times at relay stations, and at the next home station turned the mail over to the next rider. Although the Pony Express captured the admiration, imagination, and hearts of people, it was a financial disaster for its founders, and its era ended not because of financial failure, weather, or problems with Indians, but with completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph on October 26, 1861.