This section of The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues is focused on the interesting and romantic postal history of the American West. In that context, it covers a broad range of topics, starting with the opening of the West in the 1840's and the gold rush expresses which followed shortly thereafter. San Francisco, which evolved into the "golden gateway" of the West, plays a central role in this section, as it grew to become the hub of most postal routes serving the West. These routes include steamship routes to and from the Eastern U.S. via Central America, and overland routes across the North American continent, such as the transcontinental Pony Express. Additional routes covered by this section include trans-Pacific routes to and from Hawaii, the Far East and British Columbia. Finally, the section includes the very interesting postal history of the Rocky Mountains and the American Southwest.

Articles in this section address many aspects of the Western mails, including special postal markings, the rates of postage, frankings, steamships that carried the mails across the oceans, and the history associated with the development of Western postal routes. A good example of a Western letter is shown below.

The above illustrates a handsome cover that was prepaid 17¢ in Hawaiian 1853 Issue adhesives in Hilo, Hawaii on 13 May 1856, and posted in Honolulu on 24 May 1856. At this time, the 1853 13¢ stamp was being provisionally sold for 12¢. The 17¢ included 10¢U.S. transcontinental postage and 2¢ ship postage, so the Honolulu postmaster added a U.S. 1851 Issue 12¢ stamp for the U.S. portion of the postage. The sailing ship "Fanny Major" carried the letter from Honolulu to San Francisco on June 16. The San Francisco post office postmarked the letter on the June 20 departure of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company steamship "Sonora", which arrived in Panama on July 4. After crossing the Isthmus of Panama, it caught the United States Mail Steamship Company steamer "George Law", which arrived in New York on 14 July 1856. It was then sent on to Boston from New York.

The Western Express journal has published many terrific articles on the American West over the years. The intent of this section is to supplement and enhance the work that they are doing. Hopefully, the articles presented in this section will also expand the knowledge and appreciation of Western postal history in the broader audience addressed by the Chronicle.