Moses Yale Beach

Today in 1846, The New York Sun carried the first dispatches from the Mexican War, marking the birth of the Associated Press. Moses Yale Beach (1800-68), publisher of The New York Sun, established a pony express to deliver news of the Mexican War, joining with The Journal of Commerce, The Courier and Enquirer, The New York Herald, and The Express.  Telegraphic communications between Washington and New York were established on June 5; the New York-Boston line went into operation on June 27; and by summer’s end, the telegraph extended from New York to Albany and Buffalo, and from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg, creating a telegraph network.