Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express

by Christopher Corbett

“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 West in the mid-1800s is more familiar, more beloved, and more powerful than that of the lone rider galloping the mail across hostile Indian territory. No image is more revered. And none is less understood. Orphans Preferred is both a revisionist history of this magnificent and ill-fated adventure and an entertaining look at the often larger-than-life individuals who created and perpetuated the myth of “the Pony,” as it is known along the Pony Express trail that runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express is a story that exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide, a story as heroic as the journey of Lewis and Clark, as complex and revealing as the legacy of Custer’s Last Stand, and as muddled and freighted with yarns as Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Orphans Preferred is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, 19th Century, Westerns

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2003

Reviews

[Soyeun · Rating 2 out of 5]

The topic is fascinating but the writing is in need of organization to improve structure and pacing. The patchiness might have been the frustrated result of working with unreliable source material (a fact that the author points out repeatedly) but was not fun to read.

A better approach to learning this material might be to read Mark Twain's book Roughing It and otherwise, the biographies of the famous men and women who were alive at the time.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is less about the Pony Express and more about the people who have spun so many Old West tall tales. I was hoping for more information about the Pony Express route but the author was more interested in writing about journalists and dime store novelists and those in between, such as Mark Twain.

I realize that getting definite facts about this era in American history is challenging. Yet Corbett doesn’t seem to even care about that. He is more focused on the identity of the first Pony express rider than the route that was followed, the content of deliveries, or how this service impacted the country as a whole. There is nary a mention of the transcontinental railroad that was being built along the same Central Route.

There is good material here, but it was left half-baked. I was left wishing it was more.

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this much more than I did. The problem is, the myth is more interesting than the reality, and the reality is fairly convoluted due to unreliable sources. I learned a few things that were interesting but ended up being a struggle to finish.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an interesting tale of the first Pony Express (which ran from Missouri to California) and the riders who worked the line, unfortunately a lot of the material can’t be backed up and the author discusses that problem. I found it interesting that the first Pony Express did not last long - from April 1860 till October 1861 when the trains took over the route, though other Pony Express routes lasted longer.

[Keith Beasley-Topliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Corbett knows a great deal about the Pony Express, having read everything about it he can find: newpaper accounts, memoirs of riders, dime novels, other attempts at history. The problem is that he wants to put it all in this book. So sometimes he'll give a colorful account of some event and then point out that more reliable witnesses contradict much of the story he's just told. He talks about the Pony Express as depicted in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as well as several movies. He quotes colorful accounts from Sam Clemens and Sir Richard Francis Burton of their travels (by coach) along the route of the Pony express. In short, there's a lot of information here, some of it is true, and Corbett seems to take a throw everything against the wall and see what sticks approach. So it was fascinating, frustrating, confusing--and somehow that seems appropriate.

[Christopher Corbett · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The legend overwhelmed the facts long ago, and journalist Christopher Corbett maintains a healthy respect for both in Orphans Preferred, his history of what one contemporaneous newspaper dubbed "the greatest enterprise of modern times." Though he puts such hyperbole aside, Corbett keeps a healthy awe for the Pony, never selling short the accomplishment of traveling all those miles across so much unforgiving terrain, but also winnowing out the more fabulous accounts to reconstruct the workings of the business, as well as the world in which it operated. . . . Throughout, Corbett remains a witty guide."
--The Onion

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orphans were not preferred, and many other stories about the Pony Express are also myths. This is a good, well researched book on the topic. Somewhat tedious and sometimes repetitive, but worth reading nevertheless.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“WANTED: Young, skinny, wiry fellows, not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages -- $25 per week.”

So went the ad -- allegedly -- in western newspapers seeking riders for the newly-founded Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company, fondly recalled as the Pony Express.

Only California was a state west of the Missouri. Everything else was still a vast expanse of territories. The telegraph lines ended at St. Joe. The Pony Express provided “express” communication between east and west for a year and a half, until the wires reached the west coast.

The author does a yeoman’s job of sifting through the many books, magazine stories and newspaper articles to find the truth about this great American mythology.

It is true that young men, good riders all, were hired to ride break-neck day and night, non-stop, regardless of danger and hazards, across the wild terrain, nearly 2,000 miles, to carry mail between St. Louis and San Francisco.

Other true points:

Men, mostly seen as boys, would change horses every 15 miles or so at stations. After hours of backbreaking trail they would be replaced by a fresh rider. The horses were ready; the changes took less than two minutes.

Riders simultaneously rode from east and west in opposite directions.

News of Lincoln’s election reached California via The Pony.

Mark Twain, Sir Richard Burton, and Horace Greeley were eyewitnesses to The Pony and reported what they saw.

This expensive and daring service was founded by three partners.

It operated from April 3, 1860, for 18 months, after the beginning of the Civil War.

Corbett includes tremendous context for the time and region of the Pony Express. It makes for a grand and thrilling narrative. He includes excerpts and interviews that illustrate how the mythology of the Pony Express grew. Everybody who was anybody in that era (and later) has been included in the mythmaking, much of it demonstrably not real. But sifting down to just the lean facts, as outlined earlier, makes the Pony Express an enduring American legend.

I was aghast to discover that my college-educated grandson-in-law had never heard of it.

My only complaint about this book is the repetitive nature of the many sources.

[Mrs.Chardonnay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say this is interesting, detailed, and worth reading -- with one caveat. I chose this because there are some articles out there that present this as "the" definitive book on the subject, but it fell short for me in that regard. I wasn't expecting roughly half of the book to be devoted to various peripheral characters who were involved. I was aching for fewer details about the newspaper columnists, politicians and businessmen; and more details about the actual young men who raced across the miles with Indians and wolves at their heels. Where was the trail, exactly? Will we ever know what happened to the ones who simply never showed up? But practically speaking, it's no wonder those questions go unanswered. The Pony Express only operated for a brief 18 months, from April 1860 to October 1861; most newspapers from that period have gone to dust; and by the time serious historians got around to documenting it, many of the major players had passed on. Still -- if I had known that going in, I probably would have skipped the last half of the book. It also would have been nice to see the historical photos and illustrations at the end of each chapter; most were torn out of my library copy by the person who checked it out before me. (Why would someone do that?!) Gah!

[Jerry Rabushka · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all. it's a lot about legend, and "can we really believe what these people said," and "did they really ride because if they did they'd be 120 years old about now." It's been a minute since I read it but I think he mentioned a lot of paperwork and info has been lost. There's a good history nonetheless, and a lot more about the mythology that sprung up afterwards. Re: people who say the author has a choppy writing style, well, sometimes he does. There's a good deal of "human interest" and some chapters are definitely more interesting than others. There's a whole chapter about a guy who said he was involved but probably wasn't, but perhaps that's the "twisted truth." The story is true, but the story might be about a serial liar. In the end I knew a lot more than when I started.

[Suzie Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The challenge of creating a historically accurate book like this is the lack of primary source documents, which is the central issue with which the author grapples. Corbett tells the Pony Express story trying to get to the facts, which are muddled under a mountain of myth. It took me a while to get used to the structure of the book, but once I ‘got it’ I was hooked... each muddled detail is examined for accuracy and fact. So much of what we believe we know about this topic is nonsense! I enjoyed how much this book extended my understanding of the events and time period, but would have really enjoyed a more detailed map. Definitely a good choice for those interested in western history.

[Amanda Dodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author states several times that there’s not a lot of documentation on the Pony Express and goes into all the misinformation and myths about the route. It’s interesting stuff.

Funny enough, the book felt light and there seems to be a lot of either irrelevant information or repeated information that could have been edited out. It’s like he was writing to hit a word count.

I wonder if he set out to write a book about the Pony and realized how little there was to included after he already sold the idea to the publisher.

Still learned a lot!

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read on an interesting topic. Some reviewers complained that the author jumped around, but I did not find this to be the case. He did an initial chapter where he basically laid out the historically known facts. After that, each chapter dealt either with an aspect of the pony express legend, ( I.e. who was the first rider) or an individual or group's description of it ( E.G Mark, Twain, Richard Burton.)

[Scott Ericksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first half of the book to be very interesting covering the history and beginning of the Pony Express. I love American history from the Civil War to First World War; the cattle drive day, so this was a good introductory book on the subject. The second half of the book, not so much; with exception of the Broncho Charlie Miller chapter. This guy sounds like quite a character who fabricated himself into history!

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, well, I definitely learned some things, the biggest being that the Pony Express only ran for 18 months! But overall…I couldn’t quite figure out why this book exists. The “facts” of the Pony Express are few and far between. The author spent as much or more time on the fantasy as the “facts.” I guess we are to assume that this is a collection of the few “facts” there are gleaned from all the previously written sources? I don’t know. But I learned some stuff, so there ya go.

[David Scheffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. I was hoping to find out a bit more about the Pony Express itself and the exact routes and why they were chosen, etc. Maybe more of a day-to-day experience of the rider. I don't know if there is a lot of information about that subject that exists, so that may be why. But it was certainly interesting and fun to read.

[Robert Meade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a couple of years ago and it is the second book about the Pony Express I have read. They were both real good books because they do a lot for your imagination. You can just get absorbed with everything about the subject and picture what it must have been like to live and work in those wild times in the the wild west. You know what I am saying.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, entertaining, well-researched, and even has a rare non-fiction plot twist! Very good at giving you the story despite a lack of primary sources. Enjoyed. [For a book that laments the lack of source annotation and documentation as much as it does, this book does not have an index or footnotes!🙄 Also the font and leading are tiny -⭐️]

[Focus on Family Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved that the author was upfront with the reader that there is not a lot of concrete factual information about the Pony Express and explained where different information assumed to be true originated.

[Kim Sheibley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually didn't finish this book. I didn't like the author's writing style, and the story seemed to drag on and on. I didn't realize that the Pony Express was only in existence for so short a time (months, not years!). I definitely expected a more exciting tale.

[Rene Blansette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit of a fun read. The author wrote not only about the background of the Pony Express, but where the legends came from.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this, I have to think that all those western movies and Little House on the Prairie romanticized what the Old West was really like...wait, no, that couldn't be...

[Debby Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book with lots of information. Great for research.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about the history of the Pony Express. It is a fast read, too.

[Doug Cornelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Legend tells us that this help wanted ad appeared in a California newspaper in 1860:

Wanted.
Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18.
Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily.
Orphans preferred.

The tales of the Pony Express are legendary. It turns out that there are more legends than truth. Most of that is largely because of Buffalo Bill Cody. His traveling show of the wild west was a huge international attraction and spread the legend and grew the legend of the Pony Express. Christopher Corbett brings this all together in his book, Orphans Preferred .

Mrs. Doug is from St. Joseph, Missouri, the eastern starting point of the Pony Express route. The rider would mount in front of the Patee House, then charge downhill to a ferry that would take him across the Missouri River and head out to Salt Lake City and on to Sacramento, traveling almost 2,000 miles. In 1860, the Missouri River marked the beginning of the West and the end of American civilization. The railroads and telegraphs ended here.

I find the Pony Express is a great example of the evolution of communication, especially in the current explosion of web-based communications. There is plenty of hype and legend about the evolution of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others. The legend is bigger than reality in these money-losing ventures. Perhaps if the Pony Express founders had venture capital money and IPOs they would have turned out differently. Instead, the experiment lasted only 18 months and lost hundreds of thousands of 1860 dollars.

On October 24, 1861, the president of the Overland Telegraph Company sent a two sentence message across a wire from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., telling President Abraham Lincoln that the telegraph has been completed. Two days later, the Pony Express went out of business.

For that short period of time, the Pony Express brought California ten to twelve days closer to the rest of the civilized world.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. It's a little slow past the first chapter in which Corbett fills the book out with a wealth of detailed information of everything having connections to the Pony Express.
Apparantly, there isn't much factual information out there that can be definately said about the Pony Express, so the book would be incredibly short (already it is not a thick novel) without the additional information. I started to enjoy the asides in the second half of the book when he talks in detail about figures such as "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Robert "Pony Bob" Haslam, Mark Twain and Wild Bill Hickock and their contributions to the Pony Express and the Wild West.

The thorough knowledge of everything having to do (and not directly having to do) with the Pony Express makes me confident as a reader that Corbett has done his homework and knows the subject well enough that I can trust what I'm reading. I also liked that his opinions didn't come into the book too often, and gave a rather journalistic and unbiased picture so I can draw my own conclusions.

[Steve Garriott · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a kid, I grew up on such TV fare as Roy Rogers, Rin-Tin-Tin, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Bonanza... The list goes on. Westerns were big, really big. So, I couldn't help but feel like a little kid again when I read books about the Old West. Of course, I always thought the facts about the Pony Express were solid. Evidently not. Considering the whole enterprise lasted only 18 months during 1861 - 1862, and that it was a private enterprise of three gentlemen who would soon go bankrupt, then it makes a little more sense as to why. Corbett's book is a great start in understanding the truth, the fiction, and the amalgam of the two that still follows us along. The bibliography at the end provides extensive directions for any further research. Some of the books -- Majors' Seventy Years on the Frontier and Twain's Roughing It -- are available on Project Gutenberg.

[Russ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who considers this book 'boring' as one person said, is probably not interested in history unless it is dramatized, sexualized, and propagandized. I found this book to be a very complete and yes interesting telling of how the Pony Express came into being, what it did, who did it, and its historical significance. I would credit this book with fanning the flames of my own interest in the subject. Chris Corbett's book is well worth the reading if one has any interest in the Pony Express. Otherwise, I suppose a person can flip on the TV and see who gets "voted off the island" or something.

[Cori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Corbett explores the fascinating world of the Pony Express. A lot of it was interesting, but Corbett's choppy writing style was distracting. Every other sentence led me to a pause. And many more that broke my rhythm. I also know that the author knew his stuff, but filled the book with a bit of fluff and a lot digs too into the legends. I do appreciate him taking the time to dispel other book's inaccuracies, but as a non scholar of the Pony Express this wasn't for me.

If you are interested in the Pony Express, don't let my rating stop you from reading this book. Personally I finished it and said "It was ok."

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an unusual book! Not only is it informative, but quite often funny, too. We all know the history of the Pony Express as we were taught in school. But few of us would recognize how much of it is legend and not true. Living in NE Kansas near St Joe, it was fun hearing the history behind the founding of St. Joe and its historical characters. I'll be sharing this book with others near and dear to me.