The Coolidge examiner., 1934-10-12

'Tbose marked with an are living at The
present time.
During the same year Howard r. briggs prcsi-
dent OF the Oregon Trail Memorial association
and a weIl.known historian of pioneer days in
tie West. said In an article IN the New York
Tribune magazine
They can De counted on the fingers OF one
hand the few that remain Of the hundred or
more daring boys who helped put Americas FIRST
mail across from old Saint Joe TO Sacramento
during those stirring days OF the early COS
Right now only bare handful OF the orig
lnhl riders are let 20 take part. And they can
participate only as onlookers; FOR every one Of
them Is over eighty years OF age.
These survivors. according 10 last reports
are John Seebeck of Alameda. Calf; Charles
CHI Of 81. Joseph No.; and Elijah Maxheld of
foa Utah Two or three others have been named
wiih some uncertainty Several station keepers
and substitute riders haye also teeu reported
alive. More may be discovered through N. cele-
bration In progress: but the three Pony Express
men just named seem to be the only regular
riders that llngev TO give hrst.hand experience
% that thrilling epoch in Americas story"
II will be noticed that MIR Driggs llsi Of sur
sivors checks with Miss Packs lis, only In re-
gard 10 Charles CHI and John seebeck. He does
not mention four In her list-Charies Becker
William Pridham Tom Ranahan and W. ii.
Streeper-and she does not mention one ot his
thrce-Elitah Maxwell And neither OF them
mentions another survivor. Henry Avis. who was
a resident of Kansas City until his death Ia
1927.
In Root and Connellcys Overland Stage to
California" appears "A partial list. 50 far Is
known. of the men who rode the Pony Express
aud contributed To the lasting fame OF the enter.
prise" II contains iT names. - fewer than
Miss Packs list. but II names three which she
does not have. They are William Bouiton. VIII
liam Carrigan and II. ]. Faust.
one Of Miss Packs lis, Just missed being
marked with an as a survivor. He was Joseph
Donovan CJoe Donoyaul who died In Denver.
July &c. 1923. just month before the Pony
Express celebration began Besides being Pony
Express rider. Donovan had a stirring career
as a government scout and Indian fighter. ac-
cordlng 10 the accounts OF his death In the Den
yer newspapers. lie was said 10 have held the
distinction OF being the only Denver citizen, AT
the time OF his death. who had visited the site
OF that city prior to 1859.
Even more famous as a scout was another
Pony Express rider who lies buried
Lookout mountain near Denver. His name APP
pears on the Pony Express roll as William f.
Cody but the whole world TO know him in
the future as Buffalo Bill" Most accounts OF
the Pony Express give prominent mention TO
Cody as one OF the youngest OF its riders (he
was only fourteen at the timel and the rider
who made zone OF the longest and probably
the longest continuous performance without a
formal rest period In the history OF this any
other courier seryice"-S22 miles In 81 hours.
Unfortunately for Codys fame as a Pony Ex-
press rider. just as Is the case in some OF the
other phases OF his career. the record Is not clear
enough TO be accepted unquestionIngly. One OF
his most trustworthy bIographers. Richard J..
Walsh In his book "The Making OF Buffalo Bill. =
says Ellis Pony Express record is accepted by
historians but all OF the testimony Is hearsay
and the accounts OF that period are highly con-
fused Alexander Majors vouched for Cody's
service on the Overland trails but Majors, when
he told the story, was an old man In sore straits
and grateful to Buffalo Bill for financial assist
ance and Majors book was written for him by
none other than PrentIss Ingraham, the dime
novelist"
Elsewhere In his book Walsh says: AT first,
he (the fourteen -year-old Cody was given an
easy route. forty-five miles, which he had to
make in three hours with three changes Of
mounts This easy route was probably the
regular road between Leayenworth and St Jo-
seph, over which Cody rode the Office boy o.
horseback Ga term by which Majors once char.
acterlzed him). carrying mail TO be placed In the
Pony Express bags at ST. Joseph. Conneley
civilian f. Connelley. late secretary OF the
Kansas Historical society and one OF the most
careful investigators and reliable historians Of
that part OF the Wesp believes that this is the
only Pony Express riding ever done by Cody" !"
Perhaps the name of Tom Ranahan the
PONY Express rolls means little to the average
person but to anyone who has ev2r read the