THE OVERLAND MAIL.
Over thirty-two years ago, when a bachelor occupied the President's
mansion at Washington, and there was no Pacific Railroad and no
transcontinental telegraph line in operation over the Great American
Desert of the old schoolbooks, and the wild Indian was lord of the
manor--a true native American sovereign--St. Joseph, Mo., was the
western terminus of railway transportation. Beyond that point the
traveler bound for the regions of the Occident had his choice of a
stage-coach, an ox-team, a pack-mule, or some equally stirring method of
reaching San Francisco.
Just at that interesting period in our history--when the gold and silver
excitement, and other local advantages of the Pacific Coast, had
concentrated an enterprising population and business at San Francisco
and the adjacent districts--the difficulty of communication with the
East was greatly deplored, and the rapid overland mail service became an
object of general solicitude. In the year 1859 several magnates in Wall
Street formed a formidable lobby at Washington in the interests of an
overland mail route to California, and asked Congress for a subsidy for
carrying the mails overland for one year between New York and San
Francisco.
The distance was 1,950 miles. Mr. Russell proposed to cover this
distance with a mail line between St. Joseph, Mo., and San Francisco,
that would deliver letters at either end of the route within ten days.
Five hundred of the fleetest horses to be procured were immediately
purchased, and the services of over two hundred competent men were
secured. Eighty of these men were selected for express riders.
Light-weights were deemed the most eligible for the purpose; the lighter
the man the better for the horse, as some portions of the route had to
be traversed at a speed of twenty miles an hour. Relays were established
at stations, the distance between which was, in each instance,
determined by the character of the country.
These stations dotted a wild, uninhabited expanse of country 2,000 miles
wide, infested with road-agents and warlike Indians, who roamed in
formidable hunting parties, ready to sacrifice human life with as little
unconcern as they would slaughter a buffalo. The Pony Express,
therefore, was not only an important, but a daring and romantic
enterprise. At each station a sufficient number of horses were kept, and
at every third station the thin, wiry, and hardy pony-riders held
themselves in readiness to press forward with the mails. These were
filled with important business letters and press dispatches from Eastern
cities and San Francisco, printed upon tissue paper, and thus especially
adapted by their weight for this mode of transportation.
The schedule time for the trip was fixed at ten days. In this manner
they supplied the place of the electric telegraph and the lightning
express train of the gigantic railway enterprise that subsequently
superseded it.
The men were faithful, daring fellows, and their service was full of
novelty and adventure. The facility and energy with which they journeyed
was a marvel. The news of Abraham Lincoln's election was carried through
from St. Joseph to Denver, Colo., 665 miles, in two days and twenty-one
hours, the last ten miles having been covered in thirty-one minutes. The
last route on the occasion was traversed by Robert H. Haslam, better
known as "Pony Bob," who carried the news 120 miles in eight hours and
ten minutes, riding from Smith's Creek to Fort Churchill, on the Carson
River, Nevada, the first telegraph station on the Pacific Coast.
On another occasion, it is recorded, one of these riders journeyed a
single stretch of 300 miles--the other men who should have relieved him
being either disabled or indisposed--and reached the terminal station on
schedule time.
The distance between relay riders' stations varied from sixty-five to
one hundred miles, and often more. The weight to be carried by each was
fixed at ten pounds or under, and the charge for transportation was $5
in gold for each half of an ounce. The entire distance between New York
City and San Francisco occupied but fourteen days. The riders received
from $120 to $125 per month for their arduous services. The pony express
enterprise continued for about two years, at the end of which time
telegraph service between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was
established. Few men remember those days of excitement and interest. The
danger surrounding the riders can not be told. Not only were they
remarkable for lightness of weight and energy, but their service
required continual vigilance, bravery, and agility. Among their number
were skillful guides, scouts, and couriers, accustomed to adventures and
hardships on the plains--men of strong wills and wonderful powers of
endurance. The horses were mostly half-breed California mustangs, as
alert and energetic as their riders, and their part in the
service--sure-footed and fleet--was invaluable. Only two minutes were
allowed at stations for changing mails and horses. Everybody was on the
_qui vive_. The adventures with which the service was rife are numerous
and exciting.
The day of THE FIRST START, the 3d of April, 1860, at noon, Harry Roff,
mounted on a spirited half-breed broncho, started from Sacramento on his
perilous ride, and covered the first twenty miles, including one change,
in fifty-nine minutes. On reaching Folson, he changed again and started
for Placerville, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountain, fifty-five
miles distant. There he connected with "Boston," who took the route to
Friday's Station, crossing the eastern summit of the Sierra Nevada. Sam
Hamilton next fell into line, and pursued his way to Genoa, Carson City,
Dayton, Reed's Station, and Fort Churchill--seventy-five miles. The
entire run, 185 miles, was made in fifteen hours and twenty minutes, and
included the crossing of the western summits of the Sierras, through
thirty feet of snow. This seems almost impossible, and would have been,
had not pack trains of mules and horses kept the trail open. Here "Pony
Bob"--Robert H. Haslam--took the road from Fort Churchill to Smith's
Creek, 120 miles distant, through a hostile Indian country. From this
point Jay G. Kelley rode from Smith's Creek to Ruby Valley, Utah, 116
miles; from Ruby Valley to Deep Creek, H. Richardson, 105 miles; from
Deep Creek to Rush Valley, old Camp Floyd, eighty miles; from Camp Floyd
to Salt Lake City, fifty miles; George Thacher the last end. This ended
the Western Division, under the management of Bolivar Roberts, now in
Salt Lake City.
Among the most noted and daring riders of the Pony Express was Hon.
William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, whose reputation is now
established the world over. While engaged in the express service, his
route lay between Red Buttes and Three Crossings, a distance of 116
miles. It was a most dangerous, long, and lonely trail, including the
perilous crossing of the North Platte River, one-half mile wide, and
though generally shallow, in some places twelve feet deep, often much
swollen and turbulent. An average of fifteen miles an hour had to be
made, including changes of horses, detours for safety, and time for
meals. Once, upon reaching Three Crossings, he found that the rider on
the next division, who had a route of seventy-six miles, had been killed
during the night before, and he was called on to make the extra trip
until another rider could be employed. This was a request the compliance
with which would involve the most taxing labors and an endurance few
persons are capable of; nevertheless, young Cody was promptly on hand
for the additional journey, and reached Rocky Ridge, the limit of the
second route, on time. This round trip of 384 miles was made without a
stop, except for meals and to change horses, and every station on the
route was entered on time. This is one of the longest and best ridden
pony express journeys ever made.
[Illustration: A FRONTIER VILLAGE.]
Pony Bob also had a series of stirring adventures while performing his
great equestrian feat, which he thus describes:
"About eight months after the Pony Express commenced operations, the
Piute war began in Nevada, and as no regular troops were then at hand, a
volunteer corps, raised in California, with Col. Jack Hayes and Henry
Meredith--the latter being killed in the first battle at Plymouth
Lake--in command, came over the mountains to defend the whites. Virginia
City, Nev., then the principal point of interest, and hourly expecting
an attack from the hostile Indians, was only in its infancy. A stone
hotel on C Street was in course of erection, and had reached an
elevation of two stories. This was hastily transformed into a fort for
the protection of the women and children.
"From the city the signal fires of the Indians could be seen on every
mountain peak, and all available men and horses were pressed into
service to repel the impending assault of the savages. When I reached
Reed's Station, on the Carson River, I found no change of horses, as all
those at the station had been seized by the whites to take part in the
approaching battle. I fed the animal that I rode, and started for the
next station, called Buckland's, afterward known as Fort Churchill,
fifteen miles farther down the river. This point was to have been the
termination of my journey (as I had been changed from my old route to
this one, in which I had had many narrow escapes and been twice wounded
by Indians), as I had ridden seventy-five miles, but to my great
astonishment, the other rider refused to go on. The superintendent, W.
C. Marley, was at the station, but all his persuasion could not prevail
on the rider, Johnnie Richardson, to take the road. Turning then to me,
Marley said:
[Illustration: "PONY BOB."]
"'Bob, I will give you $50 if you make this ride.'
"I replied:
"'I will go you once.'
"Within ten minutes, when I had adjusted my Spencer rifle--a
seven-shooter--and my Colt's revolver, with two cylinders ready for use
in case of an emergency, I started. From the station onward was a lonely
and dangerous ride of thirty-five miles, without a change, to the Sink
of the Carson. I arrived there all right, however, and pushed on to
Sand's Spring, through an alkali bottom and sand-hills, thirty miles
farther, without a drop of water all along the route. At Sand's Springs
I changed horses, and continued on to Cold Springs, a distance of
thirty-seven miles. Another change, and a ride of thirty miles more,
brought me to Smith's Creek. Here I was relieved by J. G. Kelley. I had
ridden 185 miles, stopping only to eat and change horses.
"After remaining at Smith's Creek about nine hours, I started to retrace
my journey with the return express. When I arrived at Cold Springs, to
my horror I found that the station had been attacked by Indians, and the
keeper killed and all the horses taken away. What course to pursue I
decided in a moment--I would go on. I watered my horse--having ridden
him thirty miles on time, he was pretty tired--and started for Sand
Springs, thirty-seven miles away. It was growing dark, and my road lay
through heavy sage-brush, high enough in some places to conceal a horse.
I kept a bright lookout, and closely watched every motion of my poor
horse's ears, which is a signal for danger in an Indian country. I was
prepared for a fight, but the stillness of the night and the howling of
the wolves and coyotes made cold chills run through me at times, but I
reached Sand Springs in safety and reported what had happened. Before
leaving I advised the station-keeper to come with me to the Sink of the
Carson, for I was sure the Indians would be upon him the next day. He
took my advice, and so probably saved his life, for the following
morning Smith's Creek was attacked. The whites, however, were well
protected in the shelter of a stone house, from which they fought the
Indians for four days. At the end of that time they were relieved by the
appearance of about fifty volunteers from Cold Springs. These men
reported that they had buried John Williams, the brave station-keeper of
that station, but not before he had been nearly devoured by wolves.
"When I arrived at the Sink of the Carson, I found the station men badly
frightened, for they had seen some fifty warriors, decked out in their
war-paint and reconnoitering the station. There were fifteen white men
here, well armed and ready for a fight. The station was built of adobe,
and was large enough for the men and ten or fifteen horses, with a fine
spring of water within ten feet of it. I rested here an hour, and after
dark started for Buckland's, where I arrived without a mishap and only
three and a half hours behind the schedule time. I found Mr. Marley at
Buckland's, and when I related to him the story of the Cold Springs
tragedy and my success, he raised his previous offer of $50 for my ride
to $100. I was rather tired, but the excitement of the trip had braced
me up to withstand the fatigue of the journey. After the rest of one and
one-half hours, I proceeded over my own route, from Buckland's to
Friday's Station, crossing the western summit of the Sierra Nevada. I
had traveled 380 miles within a few hours of schedule time, and
surrounded by perils on every hand."
After the "Overland Pony Express" was discontinued, "Pony Bob" was
employed by Wells, Fargo & Co., as a pony express rider, in the
prosecution of their transportation business. His route was between
Virginia City, Nev., and Friday's Station, and return, about one hundred
miles, every twenty-four hours, schedule time ten hours. This engagement
continued for more than a year; but as the Union Pacific Railway
gradually extended its line and operations, the pony express business as
gradually diminished. Finally the track was completed to Reno, Nev.,
twenty-three miles from Virginia City, and over this route "Pony Bob"
rode for over six months, making the run every day, with fifteen horses,
inside of one hour. When the telegraph line was completed, the pony
express over this route was withdrawn, and "Pony Bob" was sent to Idaho,
to ride the company's express route of 100 miles, with one horse, from
Queen's River to the Owhyee River. He was at the former station when
Major McDermott was killed, at the breaking out of the Modoc war. On one
of his rides he passed the remains of ninety Chinamen who had been
killed by the Indians, only one escaping to tell the tale, and whose
bodies lay bleaching in the sun for a distance of more than ten miles
from the mouth of Ive's Cañon to Crooked Creek. This was "Pony Bob's"
last experience as a pony express rider. His successor, Sye Macaulas,
was killed the first trip he tried to make. Bob bought a Flathead Indian
pony at Boise City, Idaho, and started for Salt Lake City, 400 miles
away, where his brother-in-law, Joshua Hosmer, was United States
Marshal. Here "Pony Bob" was appointed a deputy, but not liking the
business, was again employed by Theodore Tracy--Wells-Fargo's agent--as
first messenger from that city to Denver after Ben Holliday had sold out
to Wells, Fargo & Co.--a distance of 720 miles by stage--which position
Bob filled a long time.
"Pony Bob" is now a resident of Chicago, where he is engaged in
business.