Timeline April 1860

Events in April 1860 2

• 1860 Pony Express Begins Service Fast horseback mail relay opens between Missouri and California The Pony Express began carrying mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, on 3 April 1860, using relays of horseback riders to cut delivery time to about ten days. It became a celebrated symbol of the American West despite operating for only about eighteen months before the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete.
• 1860 Democratic Party Splits at Charleston Convention Failure to agree on slavery divides the party ahead of the election The Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, broke up in late April 1860 after delegates could not agree on a platform addressing slavery in the territories. The party subsequently split into Northern and Southern factions that nominated separate presidential candidates. The division fatally weakened the Democrats and helped secure Abraham Lincoln's election.