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B. H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol.4, Ch.95, pp.28-30 (paragraphing and emphasis added):

The first contract with the United States postal department for carrying the mail from Missouri river points to Salt Lake City was made in the summer of 1850, by Samuel H. Woodson of Independence, Missouri. The contract called for a monthly mail between Independence and Salt Lake City, and was to run four years.

…In 1851 Woodson subcontracted the carrying of the mail between Fort Laramie and Salt Lake City, to Mr. [Uncle] Feramorz Little, of Utah. The distance was about five hundred miles, much of it through mountainous country with no settlements and but one trading post between the fort and Salt Lake City. The subcontract went into effect on the 1st of August, 1851. Associated with Mr. Little in the subcontract were [Uncle] Ephraim K. Hanks and [Uncle] Charles Decker. In connection with carrying the mail the contractors also carried passengers.

The service was attended by great hardship both for men and teams. The first mail from the east under Woodson’s contract, for instance, though arriving in Salt Lake City as early as November 9th, was reported to have passed through snow from one to three feet deep for “seventeen days.”… [continued]
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