Pony Express: Trail of Death

by Peter Randolph Keim

The Pony Express was the brainchild of three smart, industrious Missouri businessmen. Pony riders began riding west in April of 1860. These three businessmen created a unique plan to race letters, telegrams and newspapers on horseback from one coast to the other. For their efforts, they lost nearly $600,000 in the process. The venture lasted only nineteen months but became an iconic symbol of the Old West. Fraught with danger on the trail and at every one of 184 relay stations, many riders and station keepers did their best to earn their pay. Many died on the job. Many simply were never seen or heard from again.

The Pony Express' mystique continues to this day. In this brief glimpse of the day-to-day operations, the story reveals the romance as well as the danger while riding a lightning-fast pony through rugged terrain to deliver mail and news from afar.

Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2021