Over a century ago , a major rail strike in Chicago curve train activity — including mail inspection and repair — from Illinois straight to the Pacific slide . for conserve California ’s consistent postal deliveries , a mathematical group of bicyclists teamed up to complete a 210 - mile relay from the state ’s key valley up to San Francisco — on fixies , over unpaved scandal roads . This calendar month marks the hundred-and-twentieth anniversary of the route .
This post originally look on theMission Bicycle Company web log , and has been reprint with permission .
1894 found the United States in a deep impression . Unemployment was rampant , businesses were collapsing , and crop value was disband back into ground .
earnings slice at the Pullman railway car plant life in Chicago , Illinois ignited the infamousPullman Strike . Two - hundred - fifty - thousand American Railway Union member in 27 country , led by Eugene V. Debs , clash with President Grover Cleveland and the U.S. Army . Rail service was lame from Detroit to California . The Diablo Range foothills , Rebecca West of California ’s cardinal vale , cut the San Francisco Bay Area off from forcible commensurateness . No trains , no mail service , no communication .
That was until , on July 1 , 1894 , Arthur C. Banta went market shopping .
The Endeavor
On July 7th , the San Francisco Examiner write :
“ An enterprising citizen of Fresno [ A.C. Banta ] has organized a bicycle mail relay from that city to San Francisco to carry alphabetic character only . The path taken is west to Gilroy , then north through San Jose to this city . ”
On the prompting of his grocer , Banta saw an chance to connect California ’s central vale with the San Francisco Bay Area . Totaling 210 miles , divided into eight relays , and occupy 18 time of day the itinerary declare oneself to carry a letter via cycle from one goal to the other for $ 0.25 . While that was ten times the Mary Leontyne Price of standard post , closing off and desperation exit the damage crack . There was just no alternative , and “ the only delay was an occasional punctured tire . ”
Banta ’s original flier ( left ) advertising the service . It ’s possible the strikethrough total from the playpen of Fresno ’s Postmaster .
The Relay
Banta was looking to make a buck , and he was a bike man by trade . He possess Victor Cyclery in Fresno where he betray bicycle made by the Overman Wheel Company of San Francisco . Thus , the mail path run from one bike shop class to the other .
Banta post the line of work and quickly hire 13 cyclists for the road , 8 primary riders and 5 substitutes . Just in case .
The courier began in Fresno , sit northwest stopping several time along the way to deliver or enamour new ring armor , and on into San Francisco . B.J. Treat owned the first 20 international nautical mile leg out of Fresno . W.B. Atwater was turn on with summiting Pacheco Pass , a climb of over 1,300 feet , and so had the shortest leg at 15 miles . The trip was dispatch by C.S. Shaffer who rally 30 miles from Menlo Park into SF , picked up takings chain armor and twit immediately back to Menlo Park for 60 air mile round trip . He was affect as a “ particularly good rider . ”
“ Except for the electrical relay into and out of San Francisco each rider was to remain at the northern close of his route until receive chain mail for the southbound run . A rider get an accident or delay was instructed to continue , on invertebrate foot if necessary . The awaiting passenger , after a reasonable holdup , was to ride out to meet him . ”
First deposited to each bike store , the chain armour would be finally delivered to the local U.S. Postmaster who would fill in home obstetrical delivery . This organization skirted just around the natural law , which allowed only the U.S. Government to carry or load for mail delivery . Thus , the Bicycle Messenger Route was plainly a messenger service from Fresno to SF .
The Route
The route rolled 210 statute mile . Not one air mile of it was in a bike lane or over asharrow . In fact , very small of it was on pavement at all . In 1894 roadways between cities were jolting and rutted carriage roads . Even in major metropolis like SF , many interior streets were still ungraded . The eight riders collectively climbed almost 2,600 feet of elevation with letters and software system in tow .
The Bikes
The rider ascend that elevation and cover the 210 nautical mile distance all on single hurrying bike , most likely bushel gearing . Single speeds with coaster brakes were uncommitted but it seems historically unlikely that ’s what was used . Multi - gear bikes were still experimental at this point and decades by from proliferation .
Victor bicycles model Flyer , 1893
The Stamp
Like all chain mail routes , this one also need a mould . Banta commissioned Mr. Eugene Donze , who created the design and engraved the persona on a copper home plate that was mounted on a auction block of boxwood . The stamps themselves were publish , by hand and one at a clip , by the passenger B.J. Treat who would also cover the first 20 mile out of Fresno . The first run develop 816 stamps , each one meticulously aligned , stamped , and cut by mitt into sheets of six .
That whole process , from commission to delivery of over 800 stamps , was somehow achieved in about a mean solar day . Almost as speedily , a local Fresno stamp collector noticed an egregious typo .
San Francisco was misspelled San “ Fransisco ” . An inexplicable mistake .
The dice was “ right ” by merely smash the erroneous S into what is suppose to be a C. A second pressing of around a 1,000 stamp was made from the revision and the stark localization is like a shot obvious . It ’s worth noting here that several more pressings were made , while only 380 letters were ever send across the road . It seems Banta ’s ambition was much great than the demand .
However , as betimes as August of that same twelvemonth , the stamps were of interest and value to collectors . A New York Daily Tribune article take note that used $ 0.25 stamp were command $ 1 , while stump envelopes ranged from $ 5-$10 . This at a time when the average actor only made a few dollars a week . Today fantabulous example can fetch a few thousand dollars .
When the road was abandoned , and the prospect of courier revenue with it , Donze wangle up a scheme to inflate the value of the remaining revenue stamp . He made a counterfeit die , which he then defaced and resign , to fool collectors into believe no young stamps could be printed . His fraudulent scheme was promptly discover and the original dice was disfigure to keep future pressure .
Fraudulent “ test copy ” the revenue stamp die had been destroyed
The Last Run
In July 1894 , two months after the Pullman Strike began , President Cleveland secured a Union court enjoinment against the American Railway Union to stop interfering with mail trains . He punctuated the cease and desist order with the U.S. Army . Clashes ensued that were violent but abbreviated . The strike collapsed , the wagon train started running , and with them postal service returned to the rails and San Francisco .
Banta wrote in his journal : “ John Enos leave Fresno Monday , July 16th , 2:30pm with a pack of mail intending to bunk absolved through to San Francisco with the same … Enos make it in San Francisco Wednesday noontide , making the distance in less than two days . There being no mail there for rejoinder and the unconstipated railroad service having been resumed without further view of molestation , the route was finally abandoned . ”
The postal service by courier service came to an terminal almost as rapidly as it start .
Remembering the Past
We ’ve resurrected Donze ’s original figure and are proud to offer it as anembroidered patch . We ’ve continue the misspelling of “ San Fransisco . ” For genuineness , of path .
The top and bottom points read A.R.U. ( American Railway Union ) Strike . The leftover and right points show the monetary value , 25 centime . Just inside that is the year , 1894 . The oval shows a courier riding through the sagebrush vulgar in California with the foothill that divide the central valley from the coast looming in the background .
This post originally appear on theMission Bicycle Company blog , and has been reprinted with permission . To get your embroidered maculation , along with a route single-valued function and historical sum-up , clickhere .
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