Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-09-02
THE Pony NAIL EXPRESS
ns HISTORY FROM 4 Man WHO
HELPED TO ESTABLISH II.

OngtoS Rtdsss Who CoosGs1 "S~ y"
Hsv sssoaAs.
There b . quiet. middle aged ssctlsman,
Whose Iifs work constitutes an Important
part Of the growth and Development Of the
great state of Colorado His aaTne 10 John
seutder, and he was one Of the first 70 advo
cate the organization Of the ceiebfated pony
sxpeeus and after it. establishment, through
the e0sA Of William n. Russell assisted in
it4 management and operation In conversot
ton With . reporter be related the histOry Of
that famous snterprise. After lighting .
cigar and seating himself in comfortable
sasy chair he said;
aarhs firm Of Majors, Russell & wadieil
we're at that time the weaithisst and most
extensive freight contractors in the Union
Just To give you an idea Of the magnitude Of
their business will tell you that in 1851
when first knew Mr. Russell, they were I'M
der contract with the national government
20 carry every pound Of freight, north, south
and west Of the Missouri river and east % the
Rocky mountains including every govern
nlent p6st 10 that territory At that time
they had over I ,:00 wagons on the road At
one time, each costing from $50 TO tl00 and
~ each wagon required xix yoke of oxen 70
pull IL, you may form some conception of
the amount OF capLti mscstcu
TIE PLAN CONCEIVED
1T was in the fall Of 1889. and during the
ensuing winter |, together with some Of Mr.
Rasseil's men. gathered at the headquarters
In Salt Lake City, which were under the
charge Of A B Miller, man Of consider
able ability and known throughout the west
~ . sprting character The eastern news
payers which found their way into camp
were full Of the overland mail agitation, and
becoming interested in the discussion we be
gan To figure on the time and distance | did
most Of the calculating. and the more ng
ured the greater became our interest We
satiziied ourselves fully that the time could
BE- greatly shortened, and the result was that
the bows wrote TO Mr. Russell, informing him
that they would undertake TO carry mail from
st Joseph, Mo, to San Francisco in twelve
days Now. in addition 10 his wonderful en-
terprisc, Mr. Russell was kindly man. and
ever ready to listen TO suggestions from those
ander him. We not surprised, there
fore, when he replied promptly 10 our letter,
and requested that acquaint him fully
with the particulars Of our plan. We iui
mediatsIy drafted out a rough map OF the
country, showing the proposed route, to
gether with the stations and their distances
apart and this we for warded to him without
delay We. at the same time, wrote him an
other letter, explaining our plan OF covering
the route by relays Of HORSES carrying mail
pouch, and strongly urged Its entire prac-
ticability Quite IA number OF communica-
lions passed between Mr. Russell and his
agent ut Salt Lake, and the upshot Of it was
| that the former agreed to test the matter by
stringing out lot OF horses and riders be-
tween the Missouri river and the Pacific
no fi,-f thay yed NJ
| RusseIl's acceptance, however, was the re-
ceipt Of an order to buy 200 good horses
| at Salt Lake At the same time Ben Flick
lard, who was then division master be-
| tween Denver and Salt Lake, but after
| wards famous as blockade runner left New
| York for San Francisco TO buy horses there.
| The horses were good, strong ones, but not
| heavy, and the prices paid for them ranged
as high as 500 each. Associated with us,
also, in the work Of preparation for the great
| trial we're a man named Bromley and the
| notorious Slade. who was after wards hanged
| In Montana. and who was employed AS di-
| vision master between Denver and Fort
| Kearney Another Of those interested in
| the work was a man named Clute, who was
Mr. Ru-sells manager at st. Joseph
DISTRIBUTING THE HORSES
AFTER the purchase Of the horses the work
Of distributing began, and | assisted Miller
and Bromley In scattering them along the
line between Salt Lake and Platte Bridge.
This done, the line was given practical test
by being run over once or twice and Mr..
Russell was so far satisfied that he caused 1t
u he announced in The New York Herald
and Washington Star, the latter OF which he
owned, that he would start the first horses
from San Francisco and st. Joseph at the
same hour the Nth day of April, and that
he would agree to carry letters or written
correspondence between those points in ten
days This created great excitement in the
east and it became evident that Mr., Russell
possessed a more thorough knowledge OF the
great west than had in the departments
ut Washington The stage line representa-
tves who were working up this overland
mail scheme laughed at his plans, and his
partners even went to Washington TO reuon-
strate against what they considered piece
Of extravagant folly SO strong was his faith
in his plan and firm was he in his deter
ruination to carry it out that he assumed pay
iuent Of all bills contracted. and thus the en-
terprse became his own
THE FIRST START
when the momentous 9th day of April ar
rived a magnificent black horse, carrying a
mail pouch and rider. left st. Joseph on the
ferry boat. bound west. in the presence OF
10000 cheering spectators At the same hour
a splendid white horse left San Francisco on
the steamer for Sacramento. Over plains
and mountains they sped past station after
station day and night, without halting longer
than To transfer the pouch from horse to
horse. and in eight DAYS and four hours the
letters that left st Joseph were In Sacra-
mento Mr. Russelrs scheme was an assured
success, and the pony express became for
time one of the most potent factors in civil
cation It brought the far west into closer
communication and sympathy with the east,
and advanced the development Of the west,
in my opinion, fully fifty years. The stage
companies contract scheme fell through, and
one year later Mr. Russell was awarded the
contract for carrying the overland mails.
"In closing | will state that the stations
were from nine to fifteen miles apart, &C.
coriing to the nature of the country, and
each rider covered from two to three sta
tons changing horses at each They were a
hardy fearless set of men, and capable OF
enduring great exertion. The saddle, bride
made and weighed together thirteen pounds.
Each rider carried a small horn by means OF
which he announced his approach from
distance in order to warn the stable attend
ants. AMI in this way the horses were always
in readiness on his arrival and no time was
lost st Louis Republic
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