Coordinates: 43°57′00″N 59°54′57″W / 43.95°N 59.91583°W / 43.95; -59.91583

Sable Island (French: île de Sable) is a small island situated 300 kilometres (190 mi) southeast of Halifax, Canada, and about 175 kilometres (109 mi) southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a year-round home to approximately five people, with summer numbers swelled by tourists, scientists, and others. Notable for its Sable Island Ponies, the island is protected under the Canada Shipping Act, requiring permission from the Canadian Coast Guard to visit. Sable Island is part of District 13 of the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia.

The expedition of Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes explored this region in 1520–1521 and were among the first Europeans to encounter the island. It is likely that he named the island Fagunda after himself, but the identification of Sable Island with Fagunda is not certain. A brief attempt at French colonization at the end of the 16th century using convicts failed. The island was inhabited sporadically by sealers, shipwreck survivors, and salvagers known as "wreckers". A life-saving station was established on Sable Island by the government of Nova Scotia in 1801 and its crew became the first permanent inhabitants of the island. Two lighthouses, one on the eastern tip and one on the western were built in 1872. Until the advent of modern ship navigation, Sable Island's two light stations were home to permanent lighthouse keepers and their families, as well as the crew members of the life-saving station. In the early 20th century, the Marconi Company established a wireless station on the island and the Canadian government similarly established a weather station. Only two people have been born on Sable Island since 1920.

The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861. It became the west's most direct means of east-west communication before the telegraph and was vital for tying California closely with the Union just before the American Civil War.

The Pony Express was a mail delivery system of the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express Company of 1849 which in 1850 became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. This firm was founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell all of whom were notable in the freighting business.

Patee House served as the Pony Express headquarters from 1860 to 1861. It is one block away from the home of infamous outlaw Jesse James, where he was shot and killed by Robert Ford.

This original fast mail 'Pony Express' service had messages carried by horseback riders in staged relays to stations (with fresh horses and riders) across the prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains of the Western United States. During its 18 months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about ten days, with telegraphic communication covering about half the distance across the continent and mounted couriers the rest.