Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-12-02
A Mn.MosABIE RACE.
It Was Long One and for an
Enormous Stake.


IL Was Long One and for an
Enormous Stake.
In 1850 81. Joseph, Mo-. was the ter
minus of railroad communication, says
writer in the Savannah News Be
yond. the stage coach. the saddle
horse, the or team and prairie schoon-
er were the means OF transportation
thence to the Rockies and the Pacific
slope In the winter OF fs5e-5o there
was q Wall street lobby at Washington
trying to get Ave million dollars for car
rying the mail overland for one year
between New York and San Francisco
The proposition was extremely cheeky,
and William ii. Russell. backed by Sec
rotary of War Floyd. resolved to give
the lobby u cold shower bath He
therefore offered to bet two hundred
thousand dollars that he could put on
q mail from sacramento Cal. TO St. Jo-
seph. Mo-. that would make the dis
tance - nineteen hundred and fifty
miles-in ten days. The bet was
taken and April fixed upon as the
day for starting.
Mr.. Russell called upon his partner
and general manager OF mail route
business upon the plains. A b. Miller.
and asked IL he could perform the feat
Miller replied: ayes, sir. I win do
IL, and by q pony express
To accomplish this, Miller purchased
three hundred of the feetest horses be-
could find In the west, and employed
one hundred and twenty-five men.
Eighty of these men we're 20 he post
riders These he selected with refer
enoe 10 their light weight and known
courage. IL was very essential that
the horses be loaded % light 80 poe
sible; therefore the lighter the man
the better. 1t was necessary that
some portions Of the route should be
made at the rate Of twenty miles an
hour The horses were stationed from
ten 10 twenty miles apart and each
rider would be required TO ride sixty
miles. For the change of animals and
the shifting of the mails. two minutes
were allowed. Where there were no
stage stations At proper distances
tents sufficient TO accommodate one
man and two horses would Re pro-
vided Indians would sometimes give
chase. but their cayuse ponies made
bat sorry show in their stern chase
after Miller's thoroughbreds. many Of
which could make n single mile in one
minute and forty seconds.
All arrangements being completed.
signal gun on the steamer sacramento
proclaimed the meridian Of sth April.
iseo-the hour for startsng--when
Border Rufian. Mr.. Muler's private
saddle horse. with Billy Baker In the
saddle. bounded away toward the
foothills of the Sierra Nevada. and
made his ride OF twenty miles in forty
Ia the mountains and one rider WA
lost for several hours In . snowstorui:
and after the Salt Lake valley was
reached additional speed became no.
essary 20 reach So Joseph ON ums
Prom there al went well until the
Platte WAS 20 be crossed &c JulcsSuryy
The river was mp and Running rapidly.
but into tho focd the rider plunged
his horse, only, however, ~ mire and
drown in tbs guickssnd The courtnr
saec~edcd In reaching the shore with
fstT Hs@s t~~N ~ hstttts sAfsf asNNtFa tEn
miles on feOt ~ reach the pext r~lsy.
Johnny Frv. popular rider % his
day. wss 80 make the finish. He had
sixty miles ~ ride and six hours 20 30
Il IN. When the last courier arrived 81
the sisty mile post cat from 81 Joseph.
he was one hour behind time heavy
rain bad set In add the road vas slip
pery. Two hundred Thousand dollAI-s
turned upon q single minute. Fry had
jasf three hours Ard tAirty minuss. in
vhIeh ~ sin Ihis wss the finish ~
to longest rzce for he largest sssAss
ever run In America When the tire
for his sTrfvsl vac s~srly up 81 least
Eve thousand people stccd ur-on ne
ri~-r bank. With ey~~ turned tcwzs-s
IRE woods frpn which fhe ho--e srri
rider shortly emerged irso ne opsn
eysunsry N the reAr OF Eimwo-sd. enc
Halie from TIE sntsh Tirk. tsrki tex.
zen. thousands - Watches. TIE tine
wss nesriy ap-but seven minutes re-
uaaia@di Asrk' A shoas gees pp from