Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-01-21

the race against time on wager Of
100000. From BILLY" Ryan, one o.
the bold riders who helped 80 win that |
great race, and who Is still living in
st. Joseph, Mo-. the story of the be.
| ginning of the pony express" was |
related to me. The starting of the |
service from St Joseph on April 3, |
1860, was an important event in the |
history Of the West. The facts and |
irCidents connected with his ride Of
2CG0 miles to San EranC'sco form "a
most interesting chapter in tn" story
OF early Western progress.
In 1859 st. Joseph was the western
terminus OF railroad communication
This side OF the Missouri river tho
stage coach. the saddle horse and the
CN.trains were the only means Of com
4 mCrCe and communication with the
Rocky Mountains and the Pacific
slope, across a space now trayersCd
by dozen vestibulod trains daily.
In the winter of 1860 there was a
Wall street lobby at Washington try
Il ing to get Sj.00O.0O0 for carrying the
mails from New York to San Francisco
for period of one year. he PROPOSE
ton was nothing more nor less than
al attempt to bdunCO the Government.
II William H. Russell, who was then
largely interested in freighting bust.
ness on the plains. backed by Floyd.
the Secretary Of War, resolved to give
the lobby a cold shower bath. Russell
offered to wager S2O0,0OO that he could
put on n mail line between San Fran.
cisco and st. Joseph that could make
W the distanCe-l95O mles--in ten days.
H The wager was accepted. and April s,
a 1860, was fixed upon as the date Tor
starting.
81 Mr. Russell summoned his partner
and general manager Of business on
n the plains. A. B. Miller, for many years
prominent citizen OF Denver. told
what he had done and asked II he
could perform tho feat Miller re.
= piled: Yes. I'll do 1t, and I'll do II by
pony express" To accomplish this
4 service Miller purchased 300 of the
fcetest horses he could find in the
West and employed 1875 brave and har.
dy riders. These men were selected
with reference to their light weight
and their known bravery and courage
II was highly essential that the horses
should be loaded as lgh,.y as possible
for the reason that some portions OF
~ the route had to be covered at the rate
of twenty miles an hour.
81 The horses were stationed from ten
ri to twenty miles apart and each rider
: was required to ride sixty miles. Fol-
each change OF animals and the trans
IA fer OF the United States mails two min
NJ utes were allowed. Where there were
tX no stage stations at proper distances
u tents capable Of accommodating one
~ man and two horses were provided
III InLIans. it was supposed would some
~ times give chase. but their Cayuse pc
IN MES could make very sorry show ir
M pursuit of MillCr's thOrOughbTcds
~ many OF which could make a singl,
mile in a minute and fifty seconds.
~ All arrangements being completed
~ for this great undertaking. a sigma
~ gun on a steamboat at Sacramento
proclaimed the meridian of April s
- 1860 the hour for starting. At tina
signal Mr.. Miller's private saddle
3 horse. Border Ruflian with a brave
rider in the saddle, bounded away to
ward the foothills OF the sierra Ne
vadas. The first twenty miles wer,
covered in fOrty.nine minutes and thil
feat was repeated until the mountains
Il were reached. The SHOWS were deel
II in the mountains and one rider wa
= lost for several hours in a snowstorm
H. After Salt Lake valley had been reach
H ed additional speed became ncCessar!
XII to reach St. Joseph on time. From
r. there on, however, all went well unit
. the Platte river was TO be crossed Il
81 Julesburg.
RI The stream was swollen and run
"a ming rapidly, but the horse plunged
+ into the food, only, however, to mir,
~ in Quicksand and drown. The COurie
W succeeded in reaching the shore Will
~ his mail bag safe and travelled nearl!
. ten miles on loot to reach the mex
relay. The journey from this point t.
~ within sixty miles OF st. Joseph wa
y made quickly and without incident
Johnny Fry, popular rider Of his day
was to make the tinisM. lie had siXt,
miles to ride with six heet-fOOtc,
horses on which to do 1t. The loss an,
l. gain of 100000 might turn upon
single minute. Fry was told that h
would be expected to make the rid
o! his life. And he did it.
Fry had just three hours and thirt
minutes to win. II was the finish o
the longest race and largest stalk
49, ever run in America. When the tim
for Fry's arrival was nearly up, a
= least five thousand people stood upo
the Missouri river bank at the foot @
Francis street In St Joseph. with eye
" turned toward the woods from whiC
* the horse and its rider must emery
AN into the open country in the rear c
S Elwood, a small town on the Kansa
- side of the river opposite st. JOSEPH
one mile from the finish.
Tick tick" went hundreds {
watches.
Hank. "Hurrah," A shout goes II
nom the assembled multitude. TIL
courier comes! A noble little mar
darts like an arrow from the bow an
made the run OF the last mile in on
minute and fifty seconds. landing upO
the ferry boat which was to carr
horse and rider across the river. wit
five minutes and fraction to spare.
The story of this remarkable feat
but a scrap of history now. A few {
the riders who participated in tn
great race-"Billy" Ryan among tn
number-are still living. Hundreds G
old-tmers still living IN and abOu
Elwood and st. Joseph recall tn
scenes and incidents that marked tn
finish of the splendid contest agains
inn N in hi