overland mail

American  

noun

U.S. History.

1. a government mail service, started in 1848, for sending mail from the Mississippi to the Far West.

2. (initial capital letters) a stagecoach line, established in 1858, linking Memphis, St. Louis, and San Francisco, which was then paid by the government to carry U.S. mail to the Far West. With various changes in ownership, name, and routes it continued until the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.

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Example Sentences

Helped by his oldtime experience as an overland mail contractor.

From Time Magazine Archive

I had gone about twelve miles from Deadwood, at the mouth of Whitewood creek, when I met the overland mail running from Cheyenne to Deadwood.

From Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane by Calamity Jane

The government had subsidized an overland mail service at nearly a million a year, called the Butterfield line, with daily mails from St. Louis to San Francisco, running through Arizona.

From Building a State in Apache Land by Poston, Charles D. (Charles Debrille)

For in 1860 Russel, Majors & Waddel accomplished 267 a remarkable coup and brought the overland mail to the northern route.

From When the West Was Young by Bechdolt, Frederick R. (Frederick Ritchie)

While this story was being written another pioneer died on that overland mail route.

From When the West Was Young by Bechdolt, Frederick R. (Frederick Ritchie)