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Pony Express War Department Loan Note, "Indian Bond Scandal" Signed by Russel Major & Waddell 1860

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:1,500.00 USD Estimated At:3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Pony Express War Department Loan Note,  Indian Bond Scandal  Signed by Russel Major & Waddell  1860

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Extremely rare and very historically important. No. 7. Dateline Washington City, May 9, 1860 (just a month after the first Pony Express trip). $10,000, to be paid in 130 days, for value received at the Bank of the Republic in New York City and charge to account of our transportation contract of the 12th day of April 1860. Signed Russel Major Waddell. Addressed to Hon. JB Floyd. Signed on the back by Russel, Major & Waddell. Also signed by Samuel Allen. Red ink on front says "War Department, May 9 1860 accepted. John B. Floyd. Secretary of War. Endorsed Russel Major Waddell. Samuel Allen." 5.5 x 8" Folds, ink stains on reverse.

John B. Floyd was the 31st governor of Virginia (1849-52), Secretary of War under President Buchanan (1857-60), and a Confederate General in the Civil War. He died in 1863. His time as Secretary of War was fraught with scandal. To start, he was part of the bungled Utah Expedition in 1857. Floyd was also implicated in the scandal of the "Abstracted Indian Bonds", which surfaced at the end of the Buchanan administration in 1860. Floyd's wife's nephew, Godard Bailey, worked in the Interior Department and removed bonds from the Indian Agency safe during 1860.

Among the recipients of the money were... Russell, Majors, and Waddell, a government contractor that held, among its contracts, the Pony Express. The War Department owed the Pony Express's parent company money for transporting military supplies. Congress hadn't appropriated the funds yet, but Floyd illegally gave Russell and his partners a written assurance of future payment. Russell used the document as collateral to get short-term bank loans. Our note here is a direct link to that scandal!

In December 1860, after learning that Floyd had honored heavy drafts made by government contractors in anticipation of their earnings, President Buchanan requested his resignation. Several days later, Floyd was indicted for malversation in office, although the indictment was overruled in 1861 on technical grounds. No proof was found that he profited by these irregular transactions. Russell was also forced to resign as president of the Pony Express.

After leaving his post, Floyd is suspected of aiding the South as the Civil War was about to begin. Ulysses S. Grant stated in his memoir: "Floyd, the Secretary of War, scattered the army so that much of it could be captured when hostilities should commence, and distributed the cannon and small arms from Northern arsenals throughout the South so as to be on hand when treason wanted them."

Freighters William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell were the three founders of the Pony Express. Under charter from the Kansas legislature, the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company started the Pony Express which began operations on April 3, 1860. By utilizing a short route and using mounted riders rather than traditional stagecoaches, they established a fast mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, with letters delivered in 10 days. The company only lasted 18 months.

Frajola notes that the first Eastbound and Westbound trips (SF to St. Joseph and vice-versa) took place April 3, 1860 to April 13, 1860. Does our note here (noting April 12th transportation contract) reference this first trip? Perhaps. In any case, its ties to Floyd and the Indian Bond Scandal make it an extremely important Pony Express document.

For other Pony Express related items see the Philatelic/Postal History Section, the Autographs Section and the Numismatic section (Pony Express Medals) Washington, D.C.