The Coolidge examiner., 1934-10-12

%H-tlt- other 4AF press dispatches carried
81 tie news that "one ~ the last ~ the
- old-time Pony Express riders" had
12lt, died 10 the West at the aEc ~ eighty
90 Il Eve The only trouble wlih that news
1l1L item was This. II hls ase az the time
se.~ssl - his death was given correctly. then
CALr he must have been bray4ng the perls
- which constantly threatened members
ot that famous corps Of daredevil
riders. az the tender age of eleven years. Know
inE whaf We do % the history % the Pony EK-
press. what was required OF lts riders and the
conditions under which they operated. q doesn't
secm likely that an eleycn-y -year-old boy was one
o. them.
And yet this particular news stem is not
unique. Tor the last two decades such items
have been appearing regularly In our newspapers
and almost invariably eheckup the dates
IN them would reveal The fact that this sup
posed Pony Express rider had been engaged
in his dangerous task while stil mere child.
Indeed one of them who Was characterized as
PONY Express rider would have been oniy SIX
years ola ai the time
The explanation % this Inconsistency lies In
the fact that there j. much confusion rs 10
exactly shat is meant by the term Pony TX
press rider Strictly speaking. that title can
Re applied only - men who we're engaged by
the Central Overland California and pixies Peak
Express company for rs Pony Express service.
founded by William n Russell of the famous
FIRM ~ Russell Majors aud waddell In lSG0
started in April Of that year and discontinued
IN October. 1861 That was the original Pony
Express whose brief career of IS months forms
one og the most romantic chapters Ia the his
tory o. The old frontier
IN later years throughout the West the mails
were carried over long stretches of territory by
horsemeu until their work was taken over by
stage coach lines which. In turn. were succeeded
BY the railroads. During these years II became
somewhat the fashion 10 refer 20 these horsemen
as "Pony Express riders characterization
which persisted after the passing OF the from
tier without any special inquiry into the appro
priateuess Of the title
So IN these modern days. when odtlmer
dies and Il becomes known that he had once
carried the malls on horseback out West. he is
Immediately set down as a "Pony Express rider. -
which accounts for some of the news items
spoken OF at the beginning OF this article
Mounted mail carriers they may have been but
they we're not real Pony Express riders-at least
not all OF them.
Who. then. were the real Pony Express ridersl
IL Is doubtful II = complete roster OF their
names ever be compiled. when operation OF
the Pony Express service began, there were 50
OF them but this number varied during the next
Is months and Il Is probable that NJ least 100
in the service.
In connection with the celebration held In 1923.
the Unlon Pacific Magazine issued n special
Pony Express number In which Miss Mary Pack.
writing on The Romance 81 the Pony Express, .
listed the following as known riders Tor the
original organization:
Baughn. Melville tAleD Kelly. Jay G.
Reatley. James tJiml King Thomas ow"a
Becker. Charles Little Yank"
Boston" Mscaulas
Hrlnk James w Martin Bob
Bueklin Jimmy Mccall, J. g..
Burnett. John Mcdonald James
Campbell. William McNaughton, Jim
Carlisle. Alex. G. McEneany
carr. William Moore. James tJIm)
Gates Bill Perkins. Josh
Clark Jimmy Pridham. William
CIiT. Charles Ranahan. Tom'
Cody. William r. Rand. Theodore
Donovan Joe Richardson, Johnson
Egan. Howard Ransom Riles. Bart
Fgan. Richard Erastus Rising Don c.
Ellis J. X Roff, Harry
Fisher. John Sangiovanni. G. G.
Fisher. William CBJ'' Seebeck, john
Frey Johnnie Spur. George
Gentry Jim Streeper ". H
ellison. Jim Strickland Robert c.
Hamilton sam Thacher George
Haslam Robert Towne. George
Hogan. Martin Wallace, Henry
Huntington. Let Westcott. Dan
Irish Tom" whelan. Michael N.
James. William tBlID "whpsaw'
Jenkins. WIN ID. ZowSaltz Jose
Keetley. Jack