Google Doodle Celebrates 155th Anniversary of the Pony Express With a Game

Google celebrates horseback letter carriers with a game in today's doodle.

ByABC News
April 14, 2015, 9:10 AM
The Google Doodle celebrates the 155th anniversary of the Pony Express.
The Google Doodle celebrates the 155th anniversary of the Pony Express.
Google

— -- Giddy up!

Today's Google Doodle is celebrating the 155th anniversary of the first letter delivered by the Pony Express.

Embedded in the doodle is a game that gives the concept of the Pony Express a digital spin, allowing players to guide their galloping horses along a trail collecting letters while avoiding any collisions with cacti.

The Pony Express began on April 3, 1860 and created a system of communication allowing letter carriers on horseback to carry letters on routes stretching between California and Missouri by switching horses at various stations.

PHOTO: Galloping along the old Overland Trail, a Pony Express rider waves to a crew of Western Union linemen building the first transcontinental telegraph, Oct. 22, 1951.
Galloping along the old Overland Trail, a Pony Express rider waves to a crew of Western Union linemen building the first transcontinental telegraph, Oct. 22, 1951.

The mail delivery system carried tens of thousands of letters but was made obsolete by the invention of the telegraph 18 months later.

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