Pony Express
The Pony Express was a mail service organized as an equestrian relay in the United States and the fastest mail connection in North America for around a year. The more than 3000 km long route ran from Saint Joseph and the developed settlement areas in Missouri through the largely deserted prairies and over the Rocky Mountains to Sacramento in California.
The Pony Express started operating on April 3, 1860 on an initiative by William Hepburn Russell . Its course was designated as the Pony Express National Historic Trail in 1992 and included in the National Trails System .
business
The route ran from Saint Joseph , Missouri , to Sacramento , California over a distance of 3,100 km. There was an intermediate stop approximately every 15 to 20 km. The mail riders were on horseback. The work was not without danger; so mainly young, unattached men, preferably orphans , who were not older than 18 years and not heavier than 60 kg were employed. One of the most famous was Buffalo Bill .
The Pony Express was very fast because of its relay system. Each courier was changed after a maximum of 300 km. He carried about 10 kg of express mail with him. On average, a new boy took over the post after 80 km. They needed around 120 horses and 40 riders for the entire route. After ten days they were there.
The Pony Express comprised 153 intermediate stations, 80 couriers, 500 horses and 200 grooms.
Most of their ride went through hostile Indian territory. Again and again operations had to be stopped due to attacks by hostile Indians . In addition, horses and riders quickly reached their performance limits.
On October 22, 1861, after only about one and a half years, her service was taken over by the transcontinental telegraph line . Despite its logistics, the Pony Express turned into a financial disaster; however, he had a great reputation among the population.
Routing
The route, which extends over approximately 3,100 km, followed the Oregon Trail and the California Trail to Fort Bridger , Wyoming, and on the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake City , Utah . From here it followed the Central Nevada Route to Carson City , Nevada , and from there to cross the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento in California . If you include the transport to San Francisco , which was carried out on horseback or by ship, the total length is about 3200 km.
The route began in Saint Joseph (Missouri) and followed today's Route 36 (the "Pony Express Highway") to Marysville , Kansas , and from there in a northwesterly direction to follow the Little Blue River to Fort Kearny , Nebraska . From here it followed the Great Platte River Road through Gothenburg (Nebraska), Courthouse Rock , Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff until it reached Julesburg Colorado , from where it continued to Fort Laramie and Register Cliff in Wyoming . From here she followed the Sweetwater River to Independence Rock , Devils Gate and Split Rock to Fort Caspar , over the South Pass to Fort Bridger and on to Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake City it followed exactly the Central Nevada Route, as mapped in 1859 by Captain James H. Simpson of the Corps of Topographical Engineers . This route corresponds roughly to today's US Highway 50 through Nevada and Utah. It crosses the Great Basin , the Utah-Nevada Desert, and the Sierra Nevada at Lake Tahoe before reaching Sacramento. From here the mail was sent on by steamboat across the Sacramento River to San Francisco . If a steamboat was not available, the riders would take the mail on horseback to Oakland , California .
statistics
- First ride: April 3, 1860 to April 14, 1860
- Youngest riders: David Lay and William Frederick Cody ( Buffalo Bill ), each 14 years old
- Fastest Transfer: 7 days, 17 hours with Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address
- Longest rides: "Pony Bob" Haslam with 380 miles and WF Cody with 384 miles
- Total statistics: 120 riders, 650,000 miles traveled, one rider was killed by Indians, one shipment did not arrive in full, one was lost.
reception
- In the US television series Bonanza of the 1960s, the Pony Express was themed in episodes 17 and 18 of the seventh season. This double episode was also summarized in a movie that ran in German cinemas in 1970 under the title Die Männer von Bonanza, they rode like the wind .
- In the early 1990s, a television series with Stephen Baldwin , Josh Brolin , Christopher Pettiet , Anthony Zerbe and others in the lead roles was created under the title The Young Riders . The series dealt with the everyday life of the Pony Express riders, but also addresses slavery and problems of the Kiowa Indians.
- The Pony Express is also the subject of a Lucky Luke comic and the point-and-click adventure Day of the Tentacle .
literature
- Carol W. Guthrie: The pony express. An illustrated history . Twodot Publ., Guilford, Conn. 2010, ISBN 978-0-7627-4816-7 .
- Max Mittler : Conquering a continent. The great departure in the American West. Atlantis, Freiburg im Breisgau, Zurich 1968 DNB 457611618 ; 3rd edition 1980, ISBN 3-7611-0359-X .
- Fred Reinfeld: Pony Express . University Press, Lincoln, Neb. 1973, ISBN 0-8032-5786-4 .
Web links
- National Park Service: Pony Express National Historic Trail (official site; English)
- Pony Express History (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Nancy Pope: National Postal Museum: The Story Of The Pony Express ( English ) National Postal Museum. 1992. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Anthony Godfrey: Pony Express National Historic Trail: Historic Resource Study ( English ) National Park Service. August 1994. Retrieved March 25, 2010.