<P> Once cargo was moved off the ocean and rivers it nearly always transported by horse or ox drawn wagons--still true till about 1920 . When there was not a wagon trail the cargo was shifted to mule pack trains or carried on the backs of the miners . Lumber to build new homes, sluice boxes, etc. was a crying need and food to feed the miners was needed even more . Fortunately California has a lot of native timber and even as early as 1850 there were saw mills set up to turn some of this timber into lumber . Food was initially imported from any and all west coast ports from Hawaii, Oregon or Mexico where it could be obtained . The lumber and food were transported by ships that had initially carried gold rush passengers and in many cases abandoned in the bay and could usually be bought cheap . The many goods the gold miners needed for a "modest" 1850s lifestyle were nearly always hauled by horse, mule or ox drawn wagons . Wheat and timber were early products from Oregon and the Columbia River area that could be economically imported . Soon it was found that some types of spring wheat could be planted in the fall in California and the mild winter with its rains would allow good crops to be harvested in the spring without irrigation . Later . much of this wheat was exported to ports around the world, California finally had a return cargo for its many incoming ships . California in the 1890s became the foremost wheat producer in the U.S. but could not really compete on the east coast with the burgeoning wheat lands being brought into production in the midwest were much closer to their markets . Other crops in California were usually found to be much more profitable and California joined the rest of the nation in importing most of its wheat from farms in the midwest . </P> <P> The year 1848 saw the close of Mexican control over Alta California, this period also marked the beginning of the rancheros' greatest prosperity . The Californio rancho society before 1848 had few resources except large herds of Longhorn cattle which grew almost wild in California . The Ranchos produced the largest cowhide (called California Greenbacks) and tallow business in North America by killing and skinning their cattle and cutting off their fat . The cowhides were staked out to dry and the tallow was put in large cowhide bags . The rest of the animal was left to rot or feed the California grizzly bears then common in California . The traders who traded for the hides, tallow and sometimes horns hauled them back to the east coast where the hides were used to make a large variety of leather products, most of the tallow was used for making candles and the horns were mostly used for making buttons . A trading trip typically took over two years . The classic book Two Years Before the Mast (originally published 1840) by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. gives a good first - hand account of a two - year sailing ship sea trading voyage to California which he took in 1834 - 5 . Dana mentions that they also took back a large shipment of California longhorn horns . Horns were used to make a large number of items in this time period . (The eBook of Two Years Before the Mast is available at Gutenberg project .) A large part of the Californio diet was beef, but since there was no easy way to preserve it most of the time another animal was killed when fresh meat was needed as when visitors showed up--the hides and tallow could be salvaged and very little was lost . The market for beef dramatically changed with the onset of the Gold Rush, as thousands of miners, businessmen and other fortune seekers flooded into northern California . These newcomers needed meat, and cattle prices soared from the $1.00 to $2.00 per hide to $30.00 - $50.00 per cow . From about 1848 to about 1860 the rancheros enjoyed the "golden" days of Hispanic California . The largely illiterate ranchero owners lost nearly all their land to a few bad years for cattle in the 1860s and the many mortgages they had taken out to finance a "prosperous" life style and could no longer pay back . In the early years of the Gold Rush the demand for beef was so great that there are records of about 60,000 longhorns being herded from Texas to California . </P> <P> The Pony Express used much of this same route across Nevada and the Sierras in 1860 - 1861 . These combined stage and Pony Express stations along the Central Route across Utah and Nevada were joined by the first transcontinental telegraph stations (completed 24 October 1861). The Pony express terminated soon after the telegraph was established . This combination wagon - stagecoach - pony express - telegraph line route is labeled the Pony Express National Historic Trail on the National Trail Map . From Salt Lake City, the telegraph line followed much of the Mormon - California - Oregon trail (s) to Omaha, Nebraska . After the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, the telegraph lines along the railroad tracks became the main line, since the required relay stations, lines and telegraph operators were much easier to supply and maintain along the railroad . The telegraph lines that diverged from the railroad lines or significant population centers were largely abandoned . </P> <P> After the 1870s, stagecoaches provided the primary form of local passenger and mail transportation between inland towns that were not connected to a railroad, with sailing ships and paddle wheel steamships connecting port cities . Freight wagons still hauled nearly all cargo . Even when railroads arrived, stages were essential to link more remote areas to the railheads . Top of the line in quality, with crowded discomfort, was the nine - passenger Concord stagecoach, but the cheaper, rougher "mud wagons" were also in general use . The Wells Fargo company contracted with independent lines to deliver its express packages and transport gold bullion and coins . Stagecoach travel was usually uncomfortable as passengers were often crowded together in limited space, dust pouring through open windows from rough unpaved roads, rough rides, un-bathed fellow passengers and poorly sprung steel tired stagecoaches . Some drivers were famous for their skill in driving six horses down winding roads at top speed, fortunately only rarely overturning . Rate competition from competing stage lines reduced fares to as little a two cents per mile on some routes--a $1.00 / day was then a common wage . Bandits found robbing coaches a profitable if risky venture as they may be shot or hanged if caught . U.S. government mail subsidies provided essential base income for many stage lines, but running a stage line was often a financially unstable business enterprise . </P>

What two explorers came to california from the east in the early 1800s