The Dog Express Delivered The Mail To The 49er's

Snow shoes were too slow, for a Mr. Whiting. As a boy he remembered reading adventure stories of explorers using sled dogs and decided they could also be used to deliver the
express mail in deep snows.

During the year 1858 he acquired both Newfoundland and St Bernard dogs and designed a harness for their towing of a sled that he constructed for a cost of seventy-five dollars. His first trial run was a huge success. This was the start of the Whiting & Co. Express. On the sled was a small chest in which were carried letters and express packages. Between himself, the mail, and an occasional passenger his sled could weigh over 600 pounds. 

Mr. Whiting drove and managed the dog-express in person, the route being from Buckeye to Meadow valley in neighboring Plumas County, a distance of twenty-two miles. Quincy was the
primary post office for Whiting & Co. Snow-shoes were used by the driver when going up steep grades, or through the deep snow, to lighten the load for dog team. The dogs were driven in tandem teams of two or four. 

Stages ran the routes in 1858, and mail was carried in them as long as the roads were open, but as soon as the snow was too deep the dog-express was put into action. The dog-teams were dispensed with in 1865, when the horse snow-shoe was introduced, enabling the stage to pass over the snow. Whiting & Co. soon after abandoned the business to Wells, Fargo, & Co., who now continued it on the regular stage line.