Loneliest Mail Carrier In The Nation

Tebra Morris drives 300 miles a day to deliver one of the longest and most remote mail routes in the nation, where she often travels longer distances between mailboxes than most postal carriers do for their entire routes.

The unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service proclaims: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” 

The line is lifted from a Charles W. Eliot poem, which in turn references the writings of Greek historian Herodotus 2,500 years ago on the courier service in the ancient Persian Empire.   The average Persian postal carrier in 500 B.C. had more people on his route than Tebra Morris does today. 

Even so, the snow and gloom those carriers of ancient Persia faced ain’t got nothing on Wyoming.

To be fair, the royal road of Darius the Great was a sandal-pounder. Ancient western Asia couriers running decrees and other parcels between Susa and Sardis had to cover 1,677 miles. The trip took nine days by horseback, or 90 on foot.  

Jake Nichols can be reached at: Jake@CowboyStateDaily.com