Pony Express: An Illustrated History

by C.W. Guthrie, Bart Smith

“Orphans preferred” was the call that went out to the daring of heart when the Pony Express was organized nearly 150 years ago in April 1860. Called “The Greatest Enterprise of Modern Times,” the endeavor―which lasted only nineteenth months―recruited young men willing to risk life and limb in a relay race that crossed the frontier on a route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, speeding the delivery of mail to an astonishing ten days. The Pony Express combines the legends and lore of this remarkable mail service with contemporary photography and archival images and documents from the past, and celebrates the sesquicentennial of the start―and end―of those daring rides, which ended with the completion of the transcontinental railroad. It is a befitting tribute to an American icon whose legacy is marked to this day by Pony Express museums all along the route from Missouri to California.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Angelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the history as well as the pictures in this book. Hope one day I can see some of these places on the Pony Express Trail.

[Pamela Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most amazing fact: it cost $5 to send a letter and the cost to the owners of the company was $16 per letter! One of the reasons of course they were only in business 18 months. But, my, what a remarkable 18 months!