The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-04-17
FAMOUS PONY EXPRESS.
The Start of a Romantic System On
the Plains Years Ago.

The famous pony express establish
ed by Wells Fargo & Co., was IN
operation only two years, and yet its
reputation has resounded down the
years. 1t was daring experiment,
says The Wells Fargo Messenger. ,
Think of it. Two thousand miles on
horseback, across a country overrun
with hostile Indians, destitute of all
cultivation, through region wild,
desolate and unknown! But an i'm
perative duty was performed. Mes
sages of vital Importance were trans
mitted from state to state, without
the aid of the mail coach or the rail-
road, which had not up to that time
penetrated the mountainous regions
of the west.
The need of quick communication
between the country east of the Mis-
souri, river and the west was recog-
nized from an early time. The over
land stage routes proved too slow for
mail and express to the Pacific. The
best of the stage lines brought the
time down to % days, but the pony
express did better By hard riding
it crossed 1900 miles within an av-
erage OF ten days.
Few of the old-timers personally
acquainted with the Wells Fargo
Pony Express in the early days will
ever forget the exciting trips which
intrepid riders made, each braving all
peril, regardless of self, and intent
only upon the speedy delivery of the
precious mochilla to the next hardy
horseman.
1t was in 1859 that the Wells Far
go Pony express was established, TAX
ing route due west from the historic
gateway town of st. Joseph, Mo-, to
Fort Kearney, up the Platte to Juels-
burg, thence by Fort Laramie and
Fort Bridger to Salt Lake City, thence
to Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley, the
Humboldt, Carson City, Placerville,
Folsom and Sacramento, from which
San Francisco could be reached by
boat.
Mark Twain had happy facility
for telling the story of the pony ex-
press rider, and in "Roughing It,
may be found a fairly accurate de-
scription of this picturesque factor
in the rapid progress of transporta-
tion in the west:
There was no riding time for the
pony rider on duty" he says. He
rode so miles without stopping by
daylight, moonlight, starlight or
through the blackness of darkness,
just as it happened. He rode a splen-
did horse that was born a racer and
fed andlo dyed as gentleman. He
kept him at his utmost speed for ten
miles and then as he came crashing
I'D to the station, where stood two
men holding fast fresh, impatient
steed, the transfer of rider and mail
bag was made in the twinkling of ar
eve. and away flew the eager pair.
and was out of sight before the
spectator could hardly get a ghost OF
a look. Both rider and horse were
flying light. "
And on every day, except Sunday,
for two years a rider left st. Joseph
at noon and Sacramento at a. m.
When, on October "a, 1861, the first
transcontinental telegraph went into
operation, the pony express service
had been supplanted. But, in spite
of it's brief career the enterprise was
a great success, and it plainly indicat-
ed the extraordinary demand for
quick communication between the At
lantic and Pacific seaboards. The
fastest time ever made from Washing
ton to the California coast, with the
aid of the pony express, was achieved
in transmitting President Buchanan S
last message to congress to Sacra-
mento in eight and half days. The
news of the attack on Fort Sumter
came through in eight days and IA
hours, and from that time on Cali
fornia business men gave bonus to
the pony express company to be dis
tributed among the riders for carry
ing war news of President Lincoln's
inaugural speech as fast as possible.
Later quick delivery of the news of
the battle of Antietam brought special
reward for the venturesome pony ex-
press.
NEGRO SHOT AND KILLED.