Autographs and Postal History continued...

EXTREMELY RARE SALT LAKE PRE-TERRITORIAL PERIOD POSTMARK, WHILE UTAH WAS STILL AN UNORGANIZED TERRITORY. A GREAT RARITY.

The mails to and from Salt Lake during the 1849-50 time period form an interesting chapter in Western postal history. A Salt Lake mail route was first proposed in a special contract dated Feb. 21, 1849. The contract was never executed as Congress refused to fund the route. The mails continued to be carried by Mormon carriers, and letters were charged 10c per half oz. for domestic letters to conform to Post Office Department rates from the West Coast. The mails were carried and delivered to the Post Office at Kanesville, Iowa, where they re-entered the official government mails. In late 1850 the United States finally authorized the official route from Independence Mo. to Salt Lake, and the first west-bound trip arrived in early November. (Image)