A 16,543 Word Telegram

Twelve days before the the election of 1864, a 16,543 word telegram was received in Washington D.C.1 The cost of the telegram was $3,416.77 (approximately $73,000 in 2026 dollars). At the time, that was the longest telegram ever sent. The process of sending such a telegram is astonishing. The sending operator would need to convert the text of the message into thousands of dots and dashes and then the receiving operator would need to convert those dots and dashes back into words. It took roughly 200,000 dots and dashes in Morse Code to transmit the telegram!2. Why send such a prodigious and costly message?

The answer is politics. President Lincoln wanted additional Republican support for his election and his legislative program. It was thought that if the Colorado, Nebraska, and Nevada territories became states, their electors, representatives, and senators would support Lincoln. In March 1864, Congress enacted legislation enabling the three territories to join the union as states. Nevada was the only territory to complete the process before the election, but it needed to get its voter approved constitution to Washington so that it could be proclaimed a state before the election. The pony express had ceased operation in 1861 and the transcontinental railroad would not be completed until 1869.

As it turned out, President Lincoln won the the election with a substantial Electoral College majority.3 Thus, Nevada’s three electoral college votes were not needed to assure Lincoln’s reelection. In any event, only two of Nevada’s three electors voted.4 The third, A.S. Peck, got stuck in the snow in Aurora and did not vote.

Below is the certification by Nevada Governor Nye of the proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. It is attested to by Orion Clemens, Samuel Clemens’ brother (aka Mark Twain).