Sources listed by the Globe and Mail:
The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, news services.
In 1849 the Associated Press couriers rode alone, often at night, on narrow roads not much more than trails, with few travellers, with parts of the route through isolated areas far from any habitation. In 1849, the Nova Scotia Pony Express was an essential link in the international communications system, often carrying news comparable to what, in the late twentieth century, would be classified by international television news companies as Breaking News, to be transmitted over hastily-arranged communications satellite channels. The competition was intense. More than once in 1849 — when negotiations between London and Washington were very tense and war between Great Britain and the United States was by no means unthinkable — news about an important British government decision — carried swiftly across Nova Scotia by Daniel Craig's express and telegraphed by the Associated Press from Saint John — was being sold on the streets of New York and Boston for a penny a copy, as much as 24 hours before the official message reached Washington by telegraph after the Cunard steamship arrived at its United States destination. Presidents James Polk (before 5 March 1849) and Zachary Taylor (after 5 March 1849) were not amused by such occurrences, but that didn't bother James Gordon Bennett or his newspaper competitors.
The Oregon Boundary Dispute was a hot topic during 1849. This dispute has nothing to do with the Nova Scotia Pony Express story, except as a vivid illustration of the importance of some of the information it carried. In the 1844 United States Presidential Election, the Democratic platform claimed the entire Oregon area, from the California boundary northward to a latitude of 54° 40', the southern boundary of Russian Alaska. This claim included all of present-day British Columbia. In 1849, the Oregon Boundary dispute remained unsettled. In 1849, there was a serious threat of war between Great Britain and the United States over the Oregon Boundary question. The excerpts below are included here to enable the reader to get a feeling of the serious nature of this dispute. Some of the mail bags carried by Cunard's Royal mail Steamships in 1849, both westbound and eastbound, contained highly confidential diplomatic messages between London and Washington, conveying veiled threats of a most serious nature. George Mullane's article about the 1849 situation uses direct language: "...international crisis..." and "...England's ultimatum..." which accurately conveys the temper of the times. |
Canadians and Americans tend to recall the Oregon Treaty in distinctly different ways. In this case and in virtually every other, how one interprets the past depends in large part upon where one is viewing it from.
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Hits per calendar month 2005 Dec 183 2005 Nov 220 2005 Oct 133 2005 Sep 100 2005 Aug 35 2005 Jul 44 2005 Jun 74 2005 May 124 2005 Apr 174 2005 Mar 173 2005 Feb 139 2005 Jan 142 2004 Dec 184 2004 Nov 175 2004 Oct 114 2004 Sep 111 2004 Aug 80 2004 Jul 56 2004 Jun 89 2004 May 194 2004 Apr 243 2004 Mar 188 2004 Feb 178 2004 Jan 132 2003 Dec 132 2003 Nov 207 2003 Oct 155 2003 Sep 75 2003 Aug 55 2003 Jul 60 2003 Jun 75 2003 May 186 2003 Apr 233
In the above monthly hits report, note the large traffic component attributable to students.
In July and August of each year, when the schools are closed, traffic is sharply reduced.