The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-02-06
THE PONY EXPRESS.

! thousand miles of practically unin
habited prairie, plain, mountain anC
desert interviewed between the Missour
| River and the Pacific Ocean when Johr
| c. Fremont was seeking and finding 9
| pathway through the Rockies and the
| Sierras. Some years later, when st
Joseph, Mo, hal become the extreme
western terminus of the then existing
railway system of the United States
and until the Union Pacific began &c
creep out from Omaha, the choice OF
those desiring to travCl beyond the
Big Muddy lay between a prairie
schooner and Ben Halliday stage
coach, while for the transportation Of
goods and mails the accommodation
cnsisted of the great "freighter" cara
vans and the pony express, operated by
Russell, Majors & Waddell.
General Fremonts pathfnding and
the discovery Of gold in the Sierra Ne
vadas gave rise to a migration for
which the Wes. was entirely unpre,
pared Great numbers from the East.
ern states, attracted by the gold excite.
ment, went round the Horn, and others
crossed the isthmus in order to get to
California, but by far the greater mum
Der took the overland route, and took
it as best they might The number
crossing the plains between the Mis-
souri, River and the diggings, in '49,
was estimated az 1900. In the height
of the overland traffic, as many as GOO
wagons would pass through Fort kear-
ney, Neb., in a single day.
The immigrants soon began to find
other things than gold in the West
and, before long, welltraveled trails
were developed toward the Northwest
and Southwest. The famous Oregon
Trail was one Of these; the still more
famous Santa Fe Trail was another.
The new settlers had to subsist some
how while waiting for the yield OF their
first sowing. and as the population in
creased on the Pacific slope, the prob
lem OF supplying the necessaries be.
came pronounced and urgent Hence
the great wagon trains that were
started from Independence, Kan; St
Joseph, Mo. and Nebraska City, Neb,
every day. Then naturally came the
problem of communicating with these
people, and the no less important prob
lem OF arranging matters so that they
could communicate with their friends
back home For four or five months
at a time settlers in the rich valleys
of California were without mail com
Nr,ryr.ryiat, paVnal IAhn
A. Thompson proposed to carry the
mail in the winter on snowshoes, and
actually made some successful trips be.
tween San Francisco and the camps.
No official attempt was made to carry
the mail overland to California until
October, 1858. The first mail across
the continent reached San Francisco
on oct 10 of that year But Russell
Majors & Waddel, in 1860, organized
the pony express, and from that time
it was a matter of breaking
records in mail transmission between
the Atlantic and the Pacific. 1t took
twenty-three days to get the first over
land mail through In 1858, and this was
but small gain over the passage by
sea- The promoters of the pony cX-
press proposed to cut this time by one
half. and the government, having been
of their ability at least TO
reduce the time appreciably gave them
on April 5, 1860, the
pony express left Placervlle, Cal, AM
ST. Joseph, Mo, simultaneously, AMI
carried the mail through in ten days.
The second trip, however, consumed
fourteen days, the third nine days, the
fourth ten days, the fifth nine days,
he sixth nine days, and nine days came
10 be the average time. The actual
distance from St Joseph to Placerville
vas 1876 miles.
The best of horses and bravest of
men ,ere required to make this
Journey. They had to be in readiness
II the starting place and at the relay
stations, ram or shine, in calm or storm,
IN time. At each station on the route
/ pony, bridled and saddled, awaited the
'ider. and at regular intervals the rider
himself was relieved by a fresh man.
There was no waiting. No sooner had
he rider dashed up to one station lhdu
,e was given a new mount for the
next run. Serious obstacles were often
and scarcely single trip |
vas made, while the service lasted, that
vas devoid of adventure. Many of the
'iders became well known to the ma
ion later. and some achieved an inter
lational reputation. Among these were
William Frederick Cody Buffalo BID, |
lanes Butler Hickok wild BiD, and
,aptain Jack" Crawford, the Poet
scout"
The construction of the Union Pacific
abroad put an end to the freighter
he stage and the pony express, but
he prairie schooner survived the in
rusion of the iron horse by many