↳ Pony Express Rider, oil painting possibly by Lloyd Branson (1853-1925) In March 1860, William H. Russell established the Overland Express Route, colloquially called the Pony Express, to carry express mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and California; an area with no colonialist settlements between. Russell failed repeatedly to get funding from the Senate Post Office for the project, as most considered year-round transportation between the two areas impossible due to extreme weather conditions, but Russell forged ahead on his own for two reasons: