Evening star., 1901-02-02
RODE THE PoNN EXPRESS
THE BRAVE HORsEMEN WHO ANTE
DATED THE RAILROADS.
Travelled Great Distances I'm an In
credibly Short Time-Frequent-
ly Beset by Hostile Indians.

Al Thomas and the amount OF riding he
does and the number of miles he rides dur
ing the sales, which, II kept track Of Is
truly wonderful. Now, done as 1t is with
the additional muscular exertion Of leading,
1t certainly stamps him as a man Of won
derful physique and endurance.
Nobody can understand 1t as well as a
man who has had experience at that par
ucular work. have put In many hard
day at 1t myself, and 1 know what it
means. I have always had a curiosity for
collecting accounts of famous rides, and
looking over an old scrapbook we have at
home thought some of the stories would
make interesting reading for the Spirit OF
the Times.
The names of most Of the riders who
have performed those marvellous feats of
long-distance riding are familiar to old
Californians. In which country l lived for
several years, and was acquainted with
some Of the old pony express riders and
have heard many tales Of long-distance
riding which have never been published,
but some of the stories below. published
at various times, were collected and kept
for their graphic description of events in
the pioneer days of the western country,
and the feats Of the pony express riders
and others will always live In the minds
America had produced the greatest riders
and horses the world ever saw.
Famous Ride.
The greatest physical achievement ever
accomplished in this country was the ride
of F.. X. Aubrey from the plaza Of Santa
Fe, NJ NJ, to the public square at 1nde-
pendence, Mo-, a distance Of nearly SOO
miles, through country Inhabited by war
like Indians, /. large part of which was
then sandy desert. 1t was about the
year 1851 that Aubrey gave his wonderful
test of human endurance, before Whlch all
other attempts of the kind pale into insig-
nificance He was a short, heavy-set man,
thrty-eight years of age, in the prime OF
manhood and strength. His business for
ten years as a Santa Fe trader had made
him perfectly familiar with the trail and
all the stopping places. He was a perfect
horesman, and although there were great
riders in those days, none of them cared TO
dispute the pal n with Aubrey. On wager
of 81 OGO he undertook to ride alone from
Santa Fe to independence inside Of six
days. 1t was forty-nine years ago that he
undertook the terrible feat. 1t was to be
the supreme effort of his life and he sent
half a dozen q the sWifteSt horses ahead
to be stationed at different points for use
in the ride. He left Santa Fe In sweep
ing galop, and that was the pace kept up
during nearly every hour of the time until
he fell fainting from his foam-coyered
horse in the square at Independence. No
man could keep up with the rider. and he
would have killed every horse in the west
rather than to have failed in the undertake
ing. 1t took him just five days and nine
teen hours to perform the feat. and it cost
the lives of several of his best horses.
After being carried into room at the old
hotel at Independence Aubrey lay for for
ty-eight hours in dead stupor before he
came to his senses. He would never have
recovered from the shock had it not been
for his wonderful constitution. The feat
was unanimously regarded by western men
as the greatest exhibition of strength and
lxyn fha ,1oin
Origin of the Express.
In the winter of 1859 and 1860 Senator
Gwinn Of California. several money mag
mates Of New York and Alexander Majors.
one of firm who were at that time trans
portation kings on the plains west of the
Missouri river, met in Washington, D. c.
The result Of that meeting was the incep-
ton of one of the most daring and roman
tic business ventures this country has ever
knowr-the pony express-by which the
time Of transmitting news across the con-
tinent was reduced from twenty-one days
to ten days. 1t is $500 miles by our most
direct railway route from New York to
San Francisco, and it took seven days,
three hours and forty-fve minutes actual
time to cover the distance our fastest
express trains during the first years Of rail-
road history. In 1859 there was not mile
of railway west Of the Missouri river. st.
Joseph, Mo, was the western terminus of
communication, ana between Cndt
city and the young city Of the Golden Gate
intervened 1900 miles Of wild. uninhabited
country, infested with warlike Indians.
Through this uninviting region led the
trails over which 1t was proposed to ride
the flying ponies.
Majors Russell and Wadell established and
for number Of years four
teen-day schedule by rail and pony express
between New York and San Francisco,
making the trip on the running ponies from
st. Joseph to Sacramento, which requires
five days by rail today. exactly upon the
schedule time as do our malls today. By
using the telegraph to ST. Joe and the pony
express beyond news was carried from
ocean to ocean in ten days. In 1860 Pres
ident James Buchanan's last message was
carried into San Francisco in eight days
and five hours. But even this time was
bettered with President Lincoln's inaugural
address. which reached the Golden Gate in
seven days and fourteen hours.
A Mntchless Feat.
Five hundred feet-footed horses of the
tough and tireless ''broncho," Indian and
"cayuse" breeds were secured. Two hun
dred men were engaged for the service, and
eighty Of them were selected as riders.
These latter were chosen because of their
experience in the saddle and having the
hardihood to withstand the fatigue Of a
gallop that at times extended into hundreds
of miles straightaway. They had to pos
sess, too, the bravery to face the dangers
that beset their lonely routes. and the judg-
ment that would enable them to get all the
speed out of their horses there was In them
and yet not overtax them. Finally they
must be of a weight Of 1876 pounds or less.
They We're paid $125 per month for their
hard and dangerous service.
Majors Russell and Wadell were at this
time already operating a stage line from st.
Joseph to Salt Lake City, and this enabled
them to use the same relay stations for the
pony express that served for the stage line.
But beyond Salt Lake City lay over 800
miles of the most desOiate and difficult Sec
ton Of desert and mountains on this CONT
nent. Here relay stations had to be built
and trails made, and this was entirely In
the country of hostile Indians.
On April 3. 1860, at high noon the first
fleet-footed pony was mounted at st. Jo-
seph, Mo-, and went swiftly across the roll
ing prairie toward the setting sun. No rec
ord has been left of the name Of the rider
who made the initial dash, carried news
that had come ticking over the wires from
the east and was then borne as swiftly as
flying hoofs could carry it across 1000 miles
Of plain, mountain and desert-desert, noun
tain and plain-on, on, day and night. with
only hahs of two minutes each for the
rider to throw himself and his precious
pouch from the tired pony at the end Of his
dash to a fresh one. Each rider had six to
ten relays Of ponies, making his ride sixty
to 100 miles. according as the country
was rough or smooth. Day and
night the mad race went on until at the