Mystery Rider Many newspapers wrote about the first run of the Pony Express However none named the rider who left St Joseph Many believe the young rider was either Billy Richardson or Johnny Frey Although it was behind schedule the mail did not leave right away First people made speeches At last a cannon boomed and the rider raced down the street to the Missouri River There he boarded a ferry for the short trip to the Kansas Territory On the Kansas side the young man rode on through the darkness He stopped at Pony Express stations along the way At each station he quickly switched to a new horse and then started off again Several hours A ferry carries a covered wagon across a river Pony Express riders also used ferries to cross rivers ﱚ6ﱚ
later he handed the mailbag or mochila to another rider His part of the journey was over More than 2,000 miles 3,200 kilometers away much the same thing was happening A mochila filled with mail left San Francisco California on April 3 It traveled upriver to Sacramento arriving after midnight on April 4 Mail from Sacramento was added to the pouch Then a rider set off toward the East Later that day he handed the mailbag to another rider From one rider to another the mail traveled on From the East riders crossed the grasslands of Nebraska Territory They rode into Utah Territory and through Salt Lake City They crossed the dusty deserts of what is now Nevada They struggled up the steep and snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains Riders from the West made the journey in reverse Each rider stopped only to change horses and to pick up mail At the end of one rider’s run another took over On April 13 a rider from the West reached the last Pony Express station in the Kansas Territory He took the mailbag and rode to the river A ferry carried him and the mail to Missouri It was after dark when the rider arrived in St Joseph Still there was a crowd waiting for him People lit bonfires rang church bells and set off fireworks At about the same time in Placerville California another crowd had gathered They were waiting for Billy Hamilton who had the honor of being the last rider to ﱚ7ﱚ
Last Train Stop Why did the Pony Express route begin in St Joseph Missouri Trains could carry mail back and forth between St Joseph and the East Coast However there was no rail service west beyond St Joseph in 1860 carry mail arriving from the East Hamilton rode into Placerville from the Sportsman’s Hall station where he had been given a mochila filled with mail The crowd cheered as Hamilton rode out of town toward Sacramento A few hours later Hamilton rode into Sacramento The city went wild Bands played bells rang and flags waved The people of Sacramento California celebrate as the first Pony Express messenger rides into town ﱚ8ﱚ
This replica mochila is part of a museum exhibit The mail was sorted Then another rider headed for the river with the mail for San Francisco The steamer reached the city a little after midnight Although it was late cheering crowds waited here as well Something unbelievable had happened Until that time it had taken almost four weeks to deliver mail to California The Pony Express cut the time to ten days The Pony Express was a success So why was it out of business only eighteen months later The answer is not simple It involves weather money two wars some dishonesty and the telegraph ﱚ9ﱚ
