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

See Examples For:

overland mail

Helped by his oldtime experience as an overland mail contractor.

From Time Magazine Archive

Early in 1862 the Indians threatened the overland mail route, and Fuller, having received instruction from Montgomery Blair to keep the route open at all hazards, called for thirty men to serve for thirty days.

From The Story of the Mormons, from the date of their origin to the year 1901 by William Alexander Linn

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 overland mail in 1861 was a little golden thread by which the Pacific and the Atlantic could be united through the great war.

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 10 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Legal by Robert Green Ingersoll

We could not hope to hear more for at least six weeks, since our letter had come by overland mail, and the Douro would take her time. 

From Chantry House by Charlotte Mary Yonge

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