I stand corrected !

"History of the Pacific Telegraph." Marysville (California) Daily Appeal, Number 112, 10 November 1861, p. 1, col. 5,6,7 ; copied from San Francisco Bulletin of 7 Nov. :

"The route is that which the Pony [Express] now, alas ! no more, a passing cheer to his memory ! —was wont to take, except that he used to cut direct from St. Joseph to Fort Kearney, while the telegraph sweeps around by Omaha City, in Nebraska. From Fort Kearney it stretches to Julesburg, to Fort Laramie, to Fort Bridger, to Great Salt Lake City—which is the Government road, the mail route, and the great emigrant highway."