Google honors Pony Express 155 years after delivering first letter

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- Google celebrates the Pony Express with an original doodle game marking its 155th anniversary.

Anyone visiting the Google homepage in North America, Western Europe, Southeastern Asia, and Australia on April 14 will be able to help a pony rider pick up and deliver letters while avoiding obstacles.

Google released a video called "Behind the Doodle: The Pony Express" explaining the details and history behind the game.

Before texting and email, there was paper and pencil. During the Gold Rush in the 1800s, one of the biggest problems facing Americans was how to communicate between the East and West coasts. The Wild West sat dry and dangerous between the two coasts, making correspondence a lengthy process, and almost impossible.

Then came the idea of sending a lone rider across 950 miles of terrain between Missouri and California. Businessmen William H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell founded the Pony Express on April 3rd 1860, and finally solved the countrywide problem.

Using the Pony Express' new system of trading out horses along the way, mail made it to their recipient in as short as 10 days.

According to Google, five "doodlers" were needed to create the dynamic game honoring three men's innovation, which still inspires Americans to occasionally send a letter instead of a text.