Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1880-10-20
LETTER FROM "THE PONY.o
"reminiscences Of Pony Express
Riding - The Accommodating
Telegraph Company.
COMO, Oct. l6, 1880.

NoMo, Oct' 10, looU.
ED. TINES: While reading the
returns from Ohio and Indiana on
the day following the election, l
have been fprcibly reminded OF an
other election that occurred many
years ago. refer to the ever-mem-
orable campaign of 1860, when we
we're without railroad, telegraph, or
even stage communication with the
East. Then Nevada and California
relied entirely upon the "little
horse" known as the Pony express"
tor the lates. news, and the reliance
was not misplaced. Some of your
readers of to day may haye never
heard and others may have forgotten
the little pioneer of stage, telegraph
and railroad that made his regular
trips from St. 10, Missouri. to Sacra.
mento, California, in the schedule
time of ten days in winter and eight
in summer, unless deferred by the
treacherous Indians on the plains.
Your Older readers will remember
that Nevada east OF Virginia was an
unexplored country, and that the red
devils Of go were little different
from the tame and undressing In
dians Of to day, and riding the pony
across the trackless desert was not a
sinecure that was hankered after by
many. The boys had many rough
race for life with the red riders of the
plains; sometimes they won and
sometimes lost, as the many little
mounds that dot the wayside from
Nevada to Missouri will show.
1t was Of the first election of the
martyred Lincoln that | started in to
TIL the the reader. Then there was
telegraph from Carson City to Sac
ramento, known as Bees grape
Vine Line thongh it was not a
"bee line" by any means. Across
the mountains the wire was stretched
from tree t. tree, and the zephyrs of
~
the Sierras were wont to shake those
trees fearfully at times aud stretch
the wires so that often in the calner
moods of the storm demons they
would slack and lie among the leaves
upon the ground, and were some :
times used by Transfers to mend
their broken wng ms and harness.
The writer remembers having once
seen teamster fling of a piece of
wire To fasten the tire on his wager,
aud when demonstrated with he in.
uocently said lie thought it was
hung along the road for the conve
nience Of those who paid their toll
lie had left Missouri before tele
graphs had become frequent ON the
frontier, and tinnght this s,a, great
convenience. Another DEPRESSION |
keep forgetting. In consequence of
the displacement of the wires mes
sages had tn be repeated at Straw
berry Valley, aud in case the pony
rider had anything Of Importance u
slip would be left at tina telegraph
office at Carson, aud then we would
beat it to Sacramento with the pony.
We did 80 on the occasion of Lin
coins first election and of his first
message. On the latter occasion we
made our quickest trip from st. 10
to Carson City, viz, five days and
eighteen hours. We had dou5l lie re-
laws, /. e.. fresh horse midway be-
tween stations, aud did not spare
them. All! what II difference be-
tween now aud then. The pony ex-
press made rough times for the ri
ders-times that If they did not "try
our souls" certainly did our seats.
Perhaps the writer has done as many
things of which he has no reason to
boast as most people, but he has
never been and never will be ashamed
of his connection with the famous
little horse by which he gained the
pseudonym that has followed HIM for
20 years, and which the readers of
the TINES will recognize as
"THE Pony"
Lyon County Assessment Roll.