Today in 1846, The New York Sun carried the first dispatches from the Mexican War.
During the Mexican-American War, which began on April 25, 1846, news dispatches originated in Veracruz, crossed the Gulf of Mexico by boat, and landed at Mobile, Alabama. There, [The New York Sun publisher Moses Yale] Beach employed an express rider to beat the U.S. mail coach to Montgomery, where the dispatches rejoined the mail for the trip to Richmond, then the telegraph terminus. Beach did not pay his riders unless they gained a 24-hour edge over the mail.
When he offered an equal share in the venture to the New York City dailies, four papers accepted: The Courier and Enquirer, The Journal of Commerce, The Express and The Herald. With The Sun, they were soon referred to as “the associated press of this city.”