History of the Telegram

     The telegram cross-country telegram was brought together by the Western Union telegram. The company developed the telegram in April of 1856. The company has officially been converted to a finance company since 2006. The telegram was active for 150 years and saw many phases of history. Telegram Passes into History is a great article by Wired Magazine that talks about the past 150 years of use that the telegram has had, and how it has affected the world.

    The telegram relaced the Pony Express mail system and became a much more effective use of communication. It was proven faster and safer over a long distance. When the Pony Express was actively used there were many robberies and complications due to the rough environments the stagecoaches, trains, and riders were forced to take. The telegram was a drastic step towards modernizing the west. Nobody before had supplied such an easy and effective form of long-distance information.

    When the telegram was first set up it became a great asset for the government. It became used for banking across the nation, military communications, as well as law enforcement. The Western Union telegram was a company that was made up of multiple smaller telegram companies, in order to provide one line of communication through the nation. Western Union used the different companies to cover parts of the country and bought them all out so they were all part of the same company. This made a universal form of communication across the country. 

    In the 1920's and 1930' the telegraph was at its peak popularity. It was the cheapest form of corss country messaging and it was very safe and affective. Long distance telephones were available to the public at this point in time, however it was very expensive. It also did not make the most sense logistically since there were already telegram lines set up across the country so why would you want to pay so much extra when a system that works well is already avaliable. The telegram proves usefull for the military. Since it was developed in 1856 it was avaliable for use in the Civil War. This system of communication made it possible for military intelligence to travel at a lightning pace compared to foot couriers or horse back messangers. The only con was that it was not very difficult for the enemy to sabatoge telegraph lines, and make them inopperable. The lines also did not always extend to places outside of towns. So it was difficult to access these messages sometimes without some use of human messanger. In some cases if people had the proper equipment, they could wire into the poles and send messages without having to go to telegram offices. This was also a way to recieve messages so the information you were sending was not always secure. If you were sending military intelligence it owuld be difficult to ensure that your enemy wasnt able to receive those messages, unless you were sure that no hostiles were nearby. 

    In the end the telegraph died out like everything does. No technology will be eternal, there will always be something newer, better, or more popular. Althought the telegram is no longer being used and is being forgotten by the current generation it will always be a major part of the development of this country, as well as the world.