The very first Samoan postage stamps, introduced in 1877, were issued for a postal service created by a newspaper. It was called Samoa Express and used the mail mainly to distribute its numbers. A postal network covering the entire kingdom was created in 1886. Samoa's postage stamps featured a portrait of King Malietoa. After the division of the island in 1900, German colonial templates with the inscription "Samoa" were used in the western part, and regular American postage stamps were used in the eastern part.