“WANTED. YOUNG, SKINNY, WIRY FELLOWS. NOT OVER 18. MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS. WILLING TO RISK DEATH DAILY. ORPHANS PREFERRED.”
—California newspaper help-wanted ad, 1860
The Pony Express is one of the most celebrated and enduring chapters in the history of the United States, a story of the all-American traits of bravery, bravado, and entrepreneurial risk that are part of the very fabric of the Old West. No image of the American...

In the spring of 1860, on the eve of a civil war that threatened to tear the country apart, two Americans conceived of an audacious plan for linking the nation's two coasts, thereby joining its present with its future. This book traces the development of the Pony Express and follows it from its start in St. Joseph, Missouri, 1,500 miles west to Sacramento.

"Young wild colt Sky must find his way over rough terrain to rejoin his family after being captured for the Pony Express"--Title verso page.

Prior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri—across two thousand miles of mountains,

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Sixteen-year-old Bill finds adventure when he becomes a rider for the Pony Express (though his letters home never hint at the dangers he encounters).

"On the Pony Express Trail recounts Scott Alumbaugh's experience bikepacking the Pony Express Trail over five weeks during June and July 2021. It uses the trail as a prism through which to survey a wide spectrum of mid-1800s historical events. Sixty-two-year-old Alumbaugh rode the Pony Express Bikepacking Route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Salt Lake City, Utah, over 1,400 miles, mostly off-road, sometimes through very remote territory. The narrative...

Imagine waiting months to get your mail or find out the news. That was the reality for thousands of settlers in the western United States in 1860. At that time, the only way to deliver mail was by boat or overland by stagecoach. These journeys covered thousands of miles and took weeks or months to complete. Then, in 1860, the Pony Express burst across the West. Its teams of brave young men riding fast horses delivered the mail in record time and delighted...

Mail-order bride Josephine Dooley's trip West was supposed to end in marriage to her intended groom - not with the discovery that he hadn't actually placed the bridal ad! Now her only choice is to convince Pony Express rider Thomas Young to wed her anyway to save her from her scheming uncle. A bride shouldn't be a surprise package, and when Thomas finds out about his meddling brother's ruse, he plans to send his would-be wife packing. However, when...

Pony Express manager Clayton Young arrives for his new assignment at a Wyoming ranch just in time to save Maggie Fillmore's ailing baby. The lovely young widow is struggling to care for a ranch, her sister and a newborn, and Clayton plans to pursue medicine-not marriage. Yet Maggie's dire situation spurs him to offer a match of convenience... Maggie hoped never to rely on any man again, even one as kind as Clayton. But with her late husband's greedy...

"Examines the history of the Pony Express, including why it formed, the dangers riders faced, and why its legend lives on today"--