AgroundbreakinghistoryofhowtheUSPostmadethenineteenth-centuryAmericanWest.TherewerefivetimesasmanypostofficesintheUnitedStatesin1899thanthereareMcDonald’srestaurantstoday.Duringaneraofsupposedlylimitedfederalgovernment,theUnitedStatesoperatedthemostexpansivenationalpostalsystemintheworld.Inthiscutting-edgeinterpretationofthelatenineteenth-centuryUnitedStates,CameronBlevinsarguesthattheUSPostwovetogethertwooftheera’sdefiningprojects:westernexpansionandthegrowthofstatepower.Betweenthe1860sandtheearly1900s,thewesternUnitedStatesunderwentatrulydramaticreorganizationofpeople,land,capital,andresources.IthadtakenAnglo-Americansthebetterpartoftwohundredyearstooccupytheeasternhalfofthecontinent,yettheyoccupiedtheWestwithinasinglegeneration.Asmillionsofsettlersmovedintotheregion,theyreliedonlettersandnewspapers,magazinesandpamphlets,petitionsandmoneyorderstostayconnectedtothewiderworld.PaperTrailsmapsthespreadoftheUSPostusingadatasetofmorethan100,000postoffices,revealinganewpictureofthefederalgovernmentintheWest.Thewesternpostalnetworkborelittleresemblancetothecivilservicebureaucraciestypicallyassociatedwithgovernmentinstitutions.Instead,theUSPostgraftedpublicmailserviceontoprivatebusinesses,contractingwithstagecoachcompaniestocarrythemailandpayinglocalmerchantstodistributelettersfromtheirstores.ThesearrangementsallowedtheUSPosttorapidlyspinoutavastandephemeralwebofpostalinfrastructuretothousandsofdistantplaces.Thepostalnetwork’ssprawlinggeographyandlocalizedoperationsforcesareconsiderationoftheAmericanstate,itshistory,andthewaysinwhichitexercisedpower.
