Alexander Majors (October 4, 1814 – January 13, 1900) was an American businessman, who along with
William Hepburn Russell
William Hepburn Russell (1812–1872) was a United States businessman. He was a partner, along with Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell, in the freighting firm Russell, Majors, and Waddell and the stagecoach company the Central Overland Ca ...
and
William B. Waddell founded the
Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...
, based in
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
. This was one of the westernmost points east of the
Missouri River from its upper portion beyond that state. It was a major supply point for migrants and pioneers headed west to Oregon Country.
In about 1860, their freight firm, now known as "Russell, Majors and Waddell," formed the
Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company to get the federal contract to deliver mail between Missouri and California. The contract had previously been held by
Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...
, which delivered the mail in 25 days or more over a route that went through the South. With sectional tensions on the rise, Majors and his colleagues proposed to deliver the mail over a central route through
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
and proposed doing it in 10 days, via a horse relay they called the
Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...
.
Even though they succeeded in making the deliveries, they did not get the contract. They went bankrupt after the
Transcontinental Telegraph opened in October 1861, as its competition eliminated the need for some mail service.
Majors supplied rail ties for the crews of the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
working on the
First transcontinental railroad
North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
. After the railroad was completed, he continued to haul freight to towns not yet served by the railroad.
Early life and education
Alexander Majors was born October 4 in the year 1814, in
Franklin, Kentucky
Franklin is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Simpson County, Kentucky, United States. The county is located on the south central border of the state, and its population was 10,176 at the 2020 census.
Kentucky Downs, formerly ...
.
Overland freight
In 1848 Alexander Majors started hauling overland freight on the
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
. On his first trip, he set a new time record of 92 days for the 1564-mile (2500 km) round trip. Eventually he employed 4,000 men, including a 15-year-old lad named Billy Cody, later known as
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...
. Cody became one of his most famous Pony Express riders.
in 1853 Majors was awarded federal contracts to haul supplies to
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
posts along the Santa Fe Trail. Majors helped establish the
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
stockyards. This became a center of marketing and shipping beef from Texas and the Southwest by railroad to the East Coast and Midwest.
In 1854 he teamed up with
William B. Waddell and
William Hepburn Russell
William Hepburn Russell (1812–1872) was a United States businessman. He was a partner, along with Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell, in the freighting firm Russell, Majors, and Waddell and the stagecoach company the Central Overland Ca ...
. Majors was responsible for the freighting part of the business, Waddell was to manage the office, and Russell was to use his Washington DC contacts to acquire new contracts. Waddell chose be a silent partner, so the firm was initially called "Majors and Russell". In the 1850s their firm Russell, Majors and Waddell and the short-lived Pony Express were major businesses, contributing to the growth of Kansas City.
Majors' Overland Stage Company was part of a wide network that reached into the frontier West. Fifteen years later, changes in transportation had put the company out of business.
On the Missouri side of State Line at 81st Street, Majors built a two-story frame farmhouse in 1855. (His house is now operated as a museum.) From there, wagon trains headed west loaded with goods from his warehouse located on the Missouri River. In Westport, Majors operated a meat-packing plant. It supplied the trains with cured pork, soap and candles. For 15 years Majors and his far-flung interests were highly successful.
In 1860 his Pony Express began. But by then, technology was already threatening. Telegraphs and railroads were being rapidly constructed across the continent. The telegraph made critical messages possible at speeds that could never be equalled by the Pony Express. Given its speed and carrying capacity, the "great iron horse" of railroad locomotives (and the cars they pulled) were finally too superior in the competition for freight and passengers against Majors' freighting and stage coach operations.
By 1865 Majors sold out what little remained of his business and moved to Colorado. Thirty years later, his former young wagonmaster and Pony Express rider, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, found him. He was old, ill and penniless. Cody helped him, taking Majors on as part of the Cody Wild West show. Majors lived at Cody's Scouts' Rest Ranch in
North Platte, Nebraska
North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. T ...
for a time.
Majors died in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, Illinois, on January 13, 1900, aged 85. He is buried in Union Cemetery in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
.
See also
*
Pony Express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...
*
Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
Postal service in the United States began with the delivery of stampless letters whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a ...
*
Pony Express Bible
The Pony Express Bible is a Protestant Bible that was distributed to the Pony Express riders by the operators of the company in 1860 and 1861. In addition, the riders were required to sign pledges related to upholding their behavior accor ...
*
SS Alexander Majors
SS ''Alexander Majors'' was a Liberty ship built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. The ship was named in honor of Alexander Majors an United States, American who with William Hepburn Russell and William B. Waddell (P ...
References
External links
*
*
"Life of Alexander Majors in Kansas City" Alexander Majors Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, at GeoCities
2009-10-25)
Over Land
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majors, Alexander
1814 births
1900 deaths
Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri
People from Colorado
Pony Express
19th-century American businesspeople