“Pony Express”

The early coaches of Wells Fargo consumed twenty days to cross from St. Joseph, Missouri, long considered to be a great outpost of civilization, to Sacramento.

But twenty days to the merchants and bankers of the West Coast seemed an eternity, and so a short time before the beginning of the Civil War, the Pony Express came into existence.

Six hundred broncos, especially chosen for fleetness, toughness and endurance, were purchased. Seventy- five men, none of them weighing over one hundred and ten pounds, were engaged as riders. They were chosen for their capacity for deprivation and their horsemanship, as well as their shooting abilities and their knowledge of the craft and manner of attack of the Indians.

In April 1860, the Pony Express began delivery of mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The mail was then taken by boat to San Francisco.

Night and day it had been carried forth unceasingly. A rider would pick it up from his predecessor and ride sixty miles at top speed to the point where his “relief” waited him, to take the mail on his own sixty-mile stretch. Six hours were given to each rider for his sixty-mile stint, and in this time he rode six different ponies.

Hair-breath escapes from Indians and hold-up men were among the stories told by riders such as Buffalo Bill, and Wild Bill Hickok. The Pony Express closed in October 1861, when transcontinental telegraph lines were completed.