Steve Walske’s research and collecting interests include; North American blockade-run mail from 1775 to 1865; French Franco-Prussian War mail (1870-71); and American transcontinental overland mail from 1832 to 1869.
This presentation begins with the earliest known pre-contract letter from the Rocky Mountains in 1832 and examines how letter communications played a crucial role in enabling the consolidation of the United States from the Louisiana Purchase to the western frontier.