The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-07-12
RIDER OF FIRST
PONY EXPRESS
Hot Controversy at st. Joseph,
Mo-, Settled by Girl Who
Finds Sailor First.

st. Joseph, Most. Joseph is excit-
ed. Groups gather on street corners
In pool halls and near-beer shops 10
talk about the situation. And the
cause Of it all is a controversy Over
the Identity of the first rider to leave
st. Joseph In the now famous Pong
Express ride.
The Pony Express is experiencing q
revival, and the historic ride of hardy
horsemen Is to be relived this fall,
when riders will SCI our again from
st. Joseph and San Francisco over the
old route. Towns and cities along the
way are preparing for the event, which
will be celebrated in all the states
through which the first riders passed.
When the proposal to revive the ride
was made, no n thought it would re
suit In such a furore. The movement
started in the West, and since then
! committees have been at loggerheads
over the first rider. There seems to be
no doubt about the man who left San
Francisco with the first bag of mail.
hut in st. Joseph opinions differ.
While no homes have been divided
in the strife, some very heated tits
have occurred. Of course. lone of
the first riders are now living. as the
date Of the initial trip was April 8,
1860. Those FIRST riders who are
backed for honors are Johnnie Fry,
John Burnett and one sailor named
William Richardson. At the present
writing Richardson seems to have the
contest tucked away. but at any mo
ment an antique letter or document
may be sprung on the committee and
swing the contest in another direction.
WrangIe over Horses Color.
The argument does not stop with the
name of the first rider. The color of
and the part of the city from which
the rider set off are all in question.
Strangely. the interest In such an old
affair Is not confined to the old folk.
Usually in a case like this the younger
and, Of course. smarter set are content
to sit back, casting supercilious sneers
at the petty arguments of their grand
pan thto. Out NV tiiS iluC
In fact, the strongest hacker of Rich ,
and the one who placed him at I
the head of the race, is a young wom- !
an. And If she had not discovered him, II
Johnnie Fry would now, in all prob
be riding at the head Of all
first riders. :
But while some were willing to agree
% let the shade of Mr.. Fry absorb all
# the glory, this young woman went {
about the libraries, gathering I
lp data on the ride. She dug up musty /
lev spapers and faded letters on which
he writing was hardly dlscernible. She
'ompared dates and more dates, and :,
hen one day she startled the home =
by appearing before the ride 7
ommittee and demanding that Mr., f
'ry be hauled out Of the saddle and q
is place be given to Sailor Richard
on, who left the bounding main to 2
Idle away over the rolling prairies.
She proved to the committees salts H
action that Fry was the second rider,
that he left st. Joseph seven days
fter the first rider departed. :
Dangerous Dash Across Plains.
The Pony Express was the first
leans by which mail was carried over
md to the Pacific coast. In 1859 the
astern outpost of railroads was st. q
oseph. Mail destined to the Western So
.rritories had to be sent by sailing -.
around Cape Horn. 10
However, the Pony Express COM r.
was given assurances by the gov nc
nment that 1t might have the con- We
act for carrying the mail If 1t could tn
axe faster time than the vessels took. ba
he company then prepared for the ST
itlal ride on which hung the fate Of -
e contract.
The best riders OF the West were
cured, and hundreds Of fast horses
ere purchased. On the appointed
y, April 8, 1860, a horseman set out
om San Francisco, carrying the mail
stward. At the same time another
was being ferrled across the
issouri river, bound for Seneca,
an., a distance of 20 miles.
The result Of the ride is known. The
p was completed in ten days, and
e company received the contract.
Seneca was the first stop for a rider
,m st. Joseph. He was relieved
ere, and waited for the rider from
e West, whom he in turn relieved.
( horses were used in riding the dis
ace, and the riders were supposed
make the distance In eight hours.
was a hazardous undertaking, as the
Inns were at that time overrun by
dams, and many a rider was found
the trail, his body pierced with a
arrow.
But when the ride Is made this fall
, horsemen will find conditions diff
'ent, and if old William Richardson
,uld wander back to this earth he
uld probably be surprised to see his
lica hurrying along over a hard-sur-
ed highway, while unfamiliar OBJ
is, which people call motorcnrs.