That so many of THBS's letters have survived is a remarkable testament to the vigilance of the intervening generations. Sadly, all but one of the envelopes is missing, but the letters themselves have been well preserved, and may be read in the book, "Stasey."
The U. S. Postal Service deserves as much credit as preservationist children, and grandchildren, for our access to these frontier documents. It broadened coverage of its mail routes quickly after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill.
It was a dangerous trip from Sacramento to St. Joseph in 1849, and and barely less treacherous by 1860. There is an excellent web site, Gossamer Networks, for understanding the growth of postal service in the American West, and we provide a link behind the top picture. Below, we display two snapshot maps of post office locations and mail routes during the time THBS was sending and receiving letters between California and Sharpsburg, Missouri. The third shows the situation at the time THBS's brother set off for Texas.