Storymania - The Mail's On The Saddle by Frank Dunsmore

The Mail's On The Saddle
Frank Dunsmore

Two young boys sat on the fence chewing weed straws. The morning sun made the mountains and desert glow and sparkle and a hawk glided lazily as it looked for food. The horizon was quiet and still but the next moment dust and the silhouette of a horse and rider appeared. In the distance the horse could not be heard but he was galloping with such speed that the boys didn’t dare blink their eyes or move from the fence.

The rider and horse charged right at the boys and they gazed in awe. Now they heard the thundering gallop of hoof beats and snorting of the horse and they saw the rider’s face. The rider waved his hat and said, "Howdy boys, see ya in Sacramento!" Then he was past and soon out of sight. The boys had just seen a Pony Express rider and they hoped some day they too could be riders.

Chattering telegraph keys sent coded messages up and down the eastern seaboard and railroad tracks ran in all directions for hundreds of miles. The west, however, had no telegraph wires or railroad tracks yet.

The government tried several ways to get the mail through and delivery took at least four weeks and up to six months. Ships, mules, camels, and every route except the Central Route were used but nothing was reliable or timely.

In 1856 thousands of Californians demanded the government provide an overland mail route with faster service. The government complied but there were political interests involved. War between the North and South was smoldering and both sides wanted the route in their territory.

In 1857 Postmaster General Aaron Brown of Tennessee chose John Butterfield’s Stage Coach Company to deliver mail on the Southern Route. Brown explained that the Southern Route avoided the severe cold and snow of the Northern Central Route. He didn’t mention that the Southern Route was eight hundred miles longer than the Northern Central Route, would take twenty-three days, and was dangerous because of Apache and Comanche Indian attacks.

William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell owned a freight company that supplied the West with general staples. In the winter of 1859-60 William Russell went to Washington DC to talk with California Senator William Gwin about a better mail service. Russell came away with an idea of delivering mail by relay riders.

He believed relay riders could deliver the mail faster than any service ever before. Russell sent his son a telegram on January 27th, 1860, "Have determined to establish a Pony Express to Sacramento, California, commencing 3rd of April. Time ten days."

The Pony Express was in operation in two months and ran on the Central Route, from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. A rider going east from Sacramento and a rider going west from St. Joseph would start the service. The mail was relayed by horses and riders, day and night, and all seasons.

The mail was carried in the mochila, a light weight leather covering that fit over the saddle. Each corner of the mochila had a cantina, a leather pouch for the mail. The mochila was very light and a rider threw it to his relay rider at the station so he could make a fast start.

The Central Route was one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-six miles, had twenty-five home stations, and one hundred and sixty-five swing stations. The rider gave the mochila to the next relief rider at the relay or home station. The rider changed horses six to eight times at swing stations on his lap of the route.

Russell, Majors, and Williams were proud owners of the Pony Express. Their first important business was the purchase of five hundred horses. They chose Mustangs for the west end of the route, to cope with the moutains and desert. Thoroughbreds were the choice for the east end of the route, to race on the Great Plains.

An ad to recruit riders read:

"WANTED! Young skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week."

Every lad who read the ad wanted to be a Pony Express rider. At the beginning, only eighty were hired and each took an oath of no swearing, no drinking, no quarreling and Alexander Majors gave each rider a small Bible.

W. W. Finney, assistant to William Russell, recruited the riders and in his inspiring speech to the young riders he said, "The Nation is in peril—several states in the South are ready to split off on the slavery question. War between North and South may come any day. Messages from Washington must get to the West quickly. Every day counts. You must get the mail through!"

Most of the newspaper stories and talk in the east and west were all about the Pony Express. It soon was affectionately called "The Pony." Nothing this exciting had happened since the discovery of gold in ’48. People were amazed by William Russell’s claim that the Pony Express would run from St. Joseph to Sacramento in just ten days. One man said, "They must be feedin’ them ponies some powerful oats."

On Tuesday, April 3rd, 1860 at approximately 5:00 PM in St. Joseph, Missouri and at 4:00 PM in San Francisco, California the Pony Express mail service began. In St. Joseph the mail for Sacramento was quickly placed in the cantinas. One of the cantinas held a telegram from President Buchanan, congratulating the Pony Express.

American flags waved and a band played as the people of St. Joe proudly cheered the little horse and its slightly built rider. St. Joseph was proud to be the starting point for the majority of settlers that went west on the Central Trail and tonight it was the starting point for the Pony Express going west on the Central Route.

Johnny Fry, the first west bound rider, threw the mochila on the saddle and then mounted his small but powerful steed. He rode his pony through the excited crowd, anxious to find an opening so they could break loose and gallop away.

Some of the crowd wanted a souvenir and plucked the hair from the pony’s mane and tail. The little fellow neighed in protest and then a cannon boomed, the crowd roared, and Johnny Fry and his pony sped to the Denver ferryboat that took them across the Missouri River.

From there he rode seventy miles to Kickapoo Station and tossed the mochila to Don Rising. Don rode almost seventy-five miles to Marysville and tossed the mochila to Jack Keetley and he galloped out of sight. Settlers in wagons saw the pony rider flash by them and a young boy said, "Wow, look at him go!"

In San Francisco, people outside the Alta Telegraph Office cheered, a band played, and a cannon boomed as the mochila was placed over the saddle. A mock rider and pony rode to the Antelope Steamboat. It sailed and delivered the mail to Sacramento, the real Western terminal, where the ride to the east would begin.

Billy Hamilton and his pony didn’t leave Sacramento till after 3:00 in the morning of April 4th. The delay was due to the celebration in San Francisco and the late mail delivery by steamship. Everyone in Sacramento was asleep so there was no cheering crowd, no band playing, no boom of a cannon. Billy placed the mochila on the saddle, mounted up, and road into the rain and darkness.

He realized the rain meant snow up in the mountains so he pushed his pony to arrive ahead of schedule. He rode past Fort Sutter, and changed horses at Folsom, Five Mile House, Fifteen mile House, Mormon Tavern, and Placerville. He arrived at Sportman’s Hall half an hour ahead of schedule and there Warren Upson took the mochila.

Upson had to ride over the Sierra Nevadas. The snow was a blinding blizzard and he dismounted and led his pony up the trail. After several hours of trudging and leading his pony, he crossed the summit, not seeing but sensing his downward steps. Upson changed horses at Strawberry, plodded on to Hope Valley, Genoa, and finally to his home station, Carson City, Nevada.

"Pony Bob" Haslam caught the mochila at Carson City and road to Buckland’s Station. Between Carson City and Salt Lake was desert with alkali dust that choked man and horse if it was stirred into the air. This was a long, desolate ride with only an occasional cactus and drifting tumble weed. There were forty-seven swing stations to change horses. On future runs each rider who rode this stretch said, "It’s the most discussed and cussed part of the whole gosh darned route!"

Rider after rider rode east, carrying the mochila to Ruby Valley, Egan Canyon, Deep Creek, Camp Floyd and on. The eastbound rider, his pony, and the mochila were almost lost in the fast current of the Platte River. The rider made it to shore with his fists clenching the mochila but his pony was swept downstream. The rider rode off on a horse given to him by one of the men in the cheering crowd and the Express Pony was rescued by other men downstream.

Sometime during April 8th, just east of Salt Lake City, the east and westbound riders approached and passed each other. They may have waved their hats as a salute.

At 3:55 PM on April 13th, Johnny Fry delivered the eastbound mail to the Pony Express Office in St. Joe. At 5:30 PM on April 13th, Billy Hamilton rode to the Sacramento Agency Office and delivered the westbound mail.

There was celebration and gratitude in both towns. Bands played, bonfires and fireworks lit up the night, people cheered, sang, and danced. One woman was so happy, she tied her bonnet on the pony’s head.

William Russell had kept his word. The Pony Express relay riders had delivered the mail to the east and west in ten days, less than half the time of Butterfield’s Southern Route. In Sacramento, a store window sign read, "Hurray for the Pony Express and the Central Route!"

The Pony ran on schedule for the remaining eight rides in April. In May the Paiute Indians attacked settlers and Pony Express stations in the desert and canyons near Carson City. For two hundred and fifty miles on the Central Route, stations were burned, sixteen station hands and one pony rider were killed, and many ponies were rustled off.

Alexander Majors said the Pony Express would not run unless it had protection from the government and it did not run in May. The government wanted to keep Californians happy and sent the U.S. Cavalry. The Cavalry stopped the Indian attacks but the month long war cost Russell, Majors, and Waddell $75,000.

There are many daring tales of how the riders got the mail through. On March 4th, 1861 Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President. The young riders broke all records by delivering the President’s speech to the west in seven days and seventeen hours.

Fifteen year old William F. Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill, rode his pony three hundred and eighty-four miles because there were no relief riders.

On a cold winter night, sixteen-year-old George Little was riding to Salt Lake City and his horse collapsed. George threw the mochila over his shoulder and walked the remainder of the way in a snow storm.

Twenty-year-old Howard Egan saw a glowing fire in the distant canyon. He had to ride through the canyon and he knew there were Indians. He dug his spurs into his pony and galloped with fury right through the Indian camp. He fired his Colt revolver at the canyon walls and the Indians fled for cover, thinking he was the Cavalry.

The Butterfield Southern Route service was under government contract. Russell, Majors, and Waddell had no government contract and were financially responsible for the Pony Express. The Pony Express cost $1,000 a day to operate. It cost $38 for a rider’s wages and horse feed to deliver a $2 to $10 letter. They were proud of their Pony Express but as a business, it couldn’t break even.

Russell went to Washington with hopes for a solution to their financial problems. Russell was encouraged and borrowed $870,000 in bonds from the Indian Trust Fund. Later he was accused of embezzlement, arrested, and jailed. He was released on bail, never brought to trial but his disgrace hurt his cause to raise money for the Pony Express.

Over forty thousand wooden poles were used to connect the transcontinental telegraph wires between Omaha and Salt Lake City and Salt Lake City and Virginia City. The east and west were connected by telegraph on October 24th, 1861. The Pony Express became a legend and memory.

The Pony Express mail service lasted only eighteen months but in that brief time it showed the way on the Central Route for the transcontinental telegraph and the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The east and west were brought together and people felt like the country was one.

The spirit of the Pony Express captured the hearts and imaginations of all ages around the world. If you listen closely you can hear the distant hoof beats of a pony, headin’ for Sacramento, to get the mail through.