The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul at Lima, Peru and also involved with the Panama Railroad Company), Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland. History Founding The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was established to carry US mail on the Pacific leg of a transcontinental route via Panama. The federal government discussed the possibility of creating subsidies for a private shipping company, similar to the model already established in Britain for the Cunard Line and the British Mail Steam Packet Company. Such a policy served the larger objective of annexing and developing Oregon. President James K. Polk brought the Oregon Territory into the Union in 1846. Developing and maintaining the new land required the development of faster transportation and communications between the eastern seaboard and the remote northwest. At first the federal mail subsidy program served a second objective: the establishment of civilian steamships which could be easily converted to warships or privateers during times of war. Thus the 1845 federal enabling legislation vested authority of mail contracts with the Secretary of the US Navy. His dual mandate was letting federal mail contracts and overseeing the construction of the steamers to ensure that they would be suitable for conversion to warships. In accordance to Polk’s aggressive program for developing Oregon, Congress passed more specific laws in for mail subsidies early in 1847. The new laws approved funding for four naval steamers, directed the US Department of the Navy to supervise the construction of these ships, and directed the Secretary of the Navy to contract with private carriers to carry US Mail to Oregon via Panama. Initially they planned for monthly mail service. One set of ships was to serve the Atlantic leg between the eastern US and Panama; the other set was to serve the Pacific leg. Secretary Mason set the terms for the Pacific mail contract: a steamer would be required to sail from Panama to Astoria, Oregon in thirty days or less. He awarded the first contract to Arnold Harris, a straw buyer from Arkansas. The contract paid $199,000 annually and was in effect for ten years. Just days later, Harris assigned the mail contract to William H. Aspinwall, who brought in