Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-08
FAMOUS PONY EXPRESS
The Start Of a Romantic System o,
a.. pI,;,. N.sr. Ara

The Start Of Romantic System on
"a tho 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. It was a daring experiment,
says "The Wells Fargo Messenger
Think Of It! Two thousand miles on
horseback, across country overrun
with hostile Indians. destitute Of all
cultivation, through a region wild,
desolate an & 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. i3e % h5Js l;s
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 25 days, but the pony
express did better. BY hard riding
It crossed 1000 miles within an ay--.
erage Of ten days. +
Few Of the old-tirners personally
acquainted with the Wells Fargo
Pony Express in the early days will
ever forget the exciting days will
intrepid riders mads each braying all
peril, regardless Of self, and intent
only upon the speedy delivery OF the
precious mochilla to the next hardy
horseman. as ,aa; js ~ 4 I'm 8-49
1t was in 1859 that the Wells Fargo
Pony express was established. taking
a 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 jBridger to Salt Lake City. thence
to Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley, the
Humboldt, Carson City, Piacervilie.
Folsom. and Sacramento. from which
San Francisco could be reached by
boat. sis
Mark Twain had a happy facility
for telling the story Of the pony exT
press rider, and In "Roughing IT. may
be found q fairly accurate descrip-
ton Of this picturesque factor In the
rapid progress Of transportation In the
west:
,.rx -. -....,..1 sfat. - tEx.n 90. tto
pony rider on duty" he says. He
rode so miles without stopping by
daylight. moonlight, starlight or
through the biackness of darkness,
just as Il happened. He rode a splen-
did horse that was born q racer and
fed and lodged as a gentleman. He
kept him at his utmost speed for ten
miles and then as he came crashing
up to the station, where stood two
men holding fast a fresh, impatient
steed, the transfer Of rider and mall
bag was made in the twinkling Of an
eye, and away flew the eager pair.
and was out Of sight before the spec
tator could hardly get ghost Of a
look. Both rider and horse were
flying light" ifa5t t'l'- -
And on every day, except Sunday,
for two years q rider left St 10 at
uOOu dlu oS os HA.
When, on October "a, 1851, the first
transcontinental telegraph went into
operation, the pony express service
had been supplanted. But, in spite of
Its brief career the enterprise was a
great success, and II plainly Indicated
the extraordinary demand for quick
communication between the Atlantic
and Pacific seaboards. The fastest
time ever made from Washington 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
tributei among the riders for, carry
ing war news of President Lincoln's
inaugural speech as fast as possible.
Later quick delivery o; the news Of
the battle Of Antietam brought special
reward for the venturesorne pony ex-
yrooo