In the early 19th century, the United States seemed a land of boundless promise and possibility. The federal government believed that the acquisition of territory was of little use unless those lands could be exploited, especially the sparsely-traveled region between the Mississippi River and the west coast settlements. Stagecoach companies, funded largely through mail contracts, helped to secure those areas, turning meager trails into well-traveled roads. Just as the frontier military forts gave emigrants a better sense of security the somewhat regular appearance of the mail coach connected them to the rest of the world.
