The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-11-02
THE FAMOUS PONY EXPRESS.
Fast, Hard and Dangerous Riding With
Letters for the Gold DiGgers.

THE FAMOUS PONY EXPRESS.
Fast, Hard and Dangerous Riding With
Letters for the Gold Diggers.
The regular work of the daring and
romantic overland Pony Express riders
has never been exceeded, even by the
recent specially trained for long dis
lance riding of the German and Aus
trian army officers. When it is consid-
cred that those Pony Express riders
travelled over wild country, without
bridges, or even roads deserving the
name, crossed two great mountain
chains, vast alkali deserts, and had to
fight Indians and wolves along much of
their journeys, and that the average
time made was two hundred and fifty
miles a day, it will be seen that even
the governments which pay attention
to such matters have no such courier
system to call upon. But this system
was organized for the accommodation
of the gold miners of California, who
were able and willing to pay, and in
fact did pay, FIVE dollars for each half
ounce of mail brought to them from
the old folks at home by the daring
little Pony Express riders. Each rider
was limited to fifteen pounds of mail,
which was divided into four packages
of equal weight and carried in saddle
pockets, two in front and two behind
the rider. So it will be seen that each
rider carried mail for which the COM
pany received twelve hundred dollars,
in addition, of course, to the United
States postage.
The route of the Pony Express began
at st. Joseph, Mo-, and extended due
west to Fort Kearney, Neb.. thence up
the Platte river to Julesburg, Col,
across the Platte and to Forts Laramie
and Bridges, Wy, and on to Salt Lake,
Utah. The descent into the plains OF
Nevada was made by the route through
Ruby Valley and thence along the
Humboldt river. The Sierra Nevadas
were crossed by way of Canon City,
Placerville, then known as Hangtown,
and the Sacramento Valley, reached
by the road the miners had made down
by Folsom to Sacramento, and thence
along the valley and over the foothills
into San Francisco, where the long
journey ended.
There were always eighty riders In
the saddle, forty going east and forty
west. Change stations were close to-
gether, especially over the mountain
Gus sections. as the ponies were kept
at top speed from station to station. no
matter what kind of country they had
to travel. Many of the brave light
weights who rode in the Pony Express
service lost their lives in Indian fights,
for the gentle red man seemed to es-
TEEN it peculiarly high honor to
dansis ~. a,s,>-~..s. ,.is.As,s- snals, st- ai-
belt
The wonder was that the service was
kept up at all; that so many of the
riders escaped the Indians, and the
dangers of flood, storm, snow, heat
| and cold Their chief advantage IN
encounters with the Indians was tina,
the Pony Express riders were always
better mounted on better fed horses,
than the Indians, and could take care
of themselves in a chase. They were
wary and experienced lot and diff
| cult to ambuscade, so that while an
occasional scalp was lost there were
not many of the letters longed for
which never came over that dangerous
route.
The Pony Express went out OF ex
istence when the overland railroad and
telegraph service was completed in
1869. Few of the old riders are still
living, and the promoter of the scheme,
William H. Russell, and his chief as
sistant, Is. +. Ficklin, are both dead
n. Y. Sun.