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del.icio.usPony Express has Kansas link
The Wichita Eagle
This is one in a series of vignettes celebrating Kansas history. The series' name comes from the state motto, Ad astra per aspera: "To the stars through difficulties."
BY BECCY TANNER
"Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred."
--Newspaper ad
It was an experiment in express mail.
In April 1860, the government wanted men who could ride horseback through any kind of weather and face Indians and outlaws daily.
It would last only 18 months, but the pony express experiment became an iconic moment in Old West lore.
Nearly 2,000 miles stretched between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif. By using a relay of horses and riders, the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Co. promised the fastest communication between the East and West coasts -- until it was replaced by the telegraph.
New riders took over every 75 to 100 miles along the route; fresh horses were replaced every 10 to 15 miles. Pay was $100 a month.
The route covered plains, deserts and mountains.
The promise was to deliver a letter from St. Joseph to Sacramento in 10 days, although the record was seven days and 17 hours.
The route followed the Oregon-California Trail, which ran 123 miles through Kansas.
Some of the more noted stations in Kansas included Hollenberg Pony Express Station, which today is the only unaltered Pony Express station still on its original location.
A Kansas State Historical Society road marker on U.S. 36, south of Hollenberg in Washington County, reads:
"At each station two minutes was allowed for transferring saddlebags to a fresh pony. Every few stations a new rider took over. Day and night, summer and winter, over sun-baked plains and icy mountain trails, the schedule was maintained."
Other stops in Kansas included Marysville and Seneca.
One of the most famous riders was rugged frontiersman, Army scout, author and entertainer, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody.
At age 14 and considering himself an expert rider willing to face death, Cody became a Pony Express rider.
When a transcontinental telegraph line linked the coasts, the horses and riders were retired in the fall of 1861.
Reach Beccy Tanner at 316-268-6336 or btanner@wichitaeagle.com.