Evening star., 1901-02-02

have been embalmed in the history Of the
west.
At noon April 81. 1sso. Harry" Rolf got
the word Co and was soon hidden in
the cloud of dust his "cayuse' was raising
with his flying hoofs He changed ponies
once in the first twenty miles and covered
the distance In fifty-nine minutes. At the
end of sixty miles, at Placerville, he turned
his dispatches over to a man called "Bos-
ton." "Bostons" route lay up and over the
Sierras. He made the schedule and at FRI
day station was relieved by Sam Hamilton.
who. pushed with all speed to Fort
Churchill. Both Boston" and Hamilton
encountered very deep snow on the Sierras,
yet made the 1S5 miles from Sacramento
In fifteen hours. speed OF over twelve
miles per hour over the hardest trail on
the route, and by many thought to be i'm
passabe. At Fort Churchill Robert Has
lam c'Pony Bob'). who afterward became
one of the most noted of pony riders, took
the saddle for dash of 120 miles to Smith
creek. This trail lay through hostile In
dian country. From Smith creek to Ruby
valley J. G. Kelly was in the saddle; from
Ruby valley to Deep creek the mount was
II. Richardson: from Deep creek to Salt
Lake the ride was made by Geo. Thatcher.
Supplemented by the Telegraph.
This was the eastern terminus Of the
western division and was under the super
intendence Of Bolivar Roberts. Salt Lake
was reached on schedule time, as was also
st. Joe Mo. The pony express was operated
for over two years. At thesend of that time
an enterprsing citizen Of Omaha. Edward
Creighton completed a telegraph line across
the continent and the swift pony was su-
perseded by swifter lightning. Messages
carried by the pony express were required
to be written on tissue paper, thus combin-
ing lightness and compactness. The. rate
charged was S. an ounce, and the weight
carried each trip was limited to ten pounds.
1t was a losing venture, but 1t opened the
way for the telegraph and railway lines.
One Of the riders of the pony express of
wide fame, Colonel w. F. Cody c'Bunalo
Bill'), then much lighter weight In aVoir-
dupois and in frame than he is today, rode
route of 116 miles over rough and dan
gerous trail, through a hostile Indian coun-
try in a section now comprised in the Black
Hill region. On one OCCASION on reaching
the end of this route. he found the rider
who should succeed him had been killed
by the Indians. Young Cody was called
upon to push forward on the route OF the
dead rider. This he did, making ride of
3S4 miles without rest or stop except the
two-minute changes of horses and for his
meals He made the journey in twenty
four hours, riding an average of sixteen
miles an hour and changing horses thirty
six times.
The ride of Jim Moore. noted frontiers
man of the pioneer days. is also worthy of
mention Moore was a man of almost per-
ards he was model. He weighed 100
pounds, stood five feet ten inches. straight
as an arrow, with good neck well set on his
shoulders, small waist, but good loins, and
had the limbs of thoroughbred. No finer
looking man physically ever rode broncho
than Jim Moore. He could run like an In
dian, was as active as panther, the best
natured man in the world. but as cour-
ageous as a lion. In the early eos he was a
pony express rider.
Relays Caused Little Delay.
His route was from Midway station. half
way between Fort Kearney and Cotton
wood Springs, to Julesburg. distance of
40 miles. Moore rode the round trip of 2s0
miles once week. The stations were from
ten to fourteen miles apart. and fresh
horse of Spanish blood was obtained at
each station. There was little delay in
these changes of horses as the rider gave
the "coyote yell' half mile away, and.
day or night. the station men had the pony
ready, so that the rider had only to dis
mount from one horse and mount the other,
and with a dig of his spurs he was on a
run again. This ride of 140 miles usually
was made in twelve hours. On each route
there were two express riders, one going
each way. AS easy as 1t may seem to some
for a man to bestride horse after horse for
1xJ miles, there were few men able to stand
up to 1t. Upon the occasion Of which
speak Moore's route partner had been all
ing and Moore was anticipating and dread
ing that he might have to double the route.
In this anticipation he realized that there
Is time limit to endurance, and therefore
he gave the "bronchos' a little more of the
steel than usual and made the trip to Jules
burg in eleven hours. Arriving at Jules
burg he had his fears confirmed. His part
ner was in bed. He had hoped that he
might have a few hours for rest, but be-
fore he had time to dismount and stretch
his cramped and tired muscles the coyote
yell' of the eastgoing rider was heard. He
drank some cold coffee. filled his pocket
with cold meat and was In the saddle again
for another 140-mile ride In order to be
auie to live the route out he sent his ponies
for ali there was in them, with the result
that he arrived at Midway, after having
ridden $50 miles, in twenty-five hours from
the time he had left there. Ben Holiday
gave him a gold watch and a certificate of
this remarkable performance. Many of the
old from ntiersmen now living knew Moore.
knew Of his 2SO-mile ride in twenty-five
hours and have seen the watch and certifi-
cate.