By Mary Davis
On April 3,
1860 two horseback riders raced across the West, one westbound from St. Joseph,
Missouri and the other eastbound from Sacramento, California. And the PONY
EXPRESS was born, filling a much needed gap until the telegraph line could be completed.
The telegraph was finished on October 24, 1861, rendering the Pony Express obsolete.
As a
rider would approach a station, a lookout called, “RIDER COMING IN!” A special
“bare bones” saddle was strapped onto a fresh horse and stood ready. The
incoming rider would jump down, the four-pocket, leather mochila transferred to
the waiting horse, the timecard marked, and the same rider or a new one would
leap up and race off. The exchange took about two minutes.
Pony
Express stations were set up 10-15 miles apart with fresh horses. A rider
typically rode 75-100 miles. Bob Haslam is reported to have once ridden 380
miles in 36 hours. Buffalo Bill Cody claims the longest ride by four miles.
Though postage
cost $10 an ounce at the start and $2 by the end, the Pony Express grossed only
$90,000 and lost as much as $200,000.
The Pony
Express was mostly used by the military as the Civil War approached and began.
Because of the high cost, ordinary folks almost never used the Pony Express.
“The
story of the Pony Express is one of the most romanticized events in the history
of the United States. In some ways, the Pony Express could be considered one of
the most famous financial failures about which little is truly known, but much
is told.” (Here Comes the Pony! By William E. Hill)
Mary's story in THE PONY EXPRESS ROMANCE COLLECTION is An Unlikely Hero.
BethAnn along with her
little sister are running from a mistake and finds security at a Pony Express
station and love in the quiet affection of a shy Pony Express rider known as
the “Fox.”
AN UNLIKELY HERO
Excerpt from Chapter One
June 1861
No one would
likely be following them tonight. BethAnn White tightened her hold around her
twelve-year-old sister as the eastbound stagecoach came to a lurching stop.
The driver called out, “Head of Echo Canyon Stagecoach and
Pony Express Station.”
BethAnn accepted the offered hand and stepped down from the
stage, then turned to help Molly. She gazed in the direction they’d come from.
The sun was just dipping behind the western ridge.
She heard rapidly approaching hoofbeats but couldn’t tell
which direction they were coming from in the dimming evening light. The sound
bounced off the canyon walls, making the sound appear to be coming from
everywhere.
“Rider coming in!” someone yelled. That, too, bounced
around and came from everywhere.
This could be exciting to see a Pony Express rider exchange.
She searched the area around her. Where was Molly?
The hoofbeats grew louder, and station personnel scurried
around.
Molly would not want to miss this. Where was she? BethAnn
stepped out in front of the stagecoach team and saw the outline of the rider
racing in from the east.
Then she saw her.
Her baby sister.
Her only family.
In the path of a several-hundred-pound charging animal.
Award-winning novelist MARY DAVIS has over two dozen titles in both historical and
contemporary themes. She is a member of ACFW and active in two critique groups.
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