CHAPTER 1 OFF AND RUNNING A crowd gathered along the dusty main street of St Joseph Missouri People huddled in the early evening chill of a spring day in April 1860 They watched eagerly as a thin young man climbed on a spirited horse A cannon boomed in the distance The race against time had begun FUN FACT At first the western run of the Pony Express ended at Sacramento California From there mail went by boat to San Francisco California Later on riders sometimes carried mail all the way to San Francisco
The rider picked up a leather mochila which had four pockets to carry letters He threw the mochila over the horse's saddle Horse and rider raced to the bank of the Missouri River A ferry boat waited there to carry them across the water As the boat moved west the crowd broke into applause Some cheered A few even cried Why were people so excited It was the first leg of the first journey of the Pony Express This new service promised to deliver mail from St Joseph to Sacramento California in just 10 days That would be more than twice as fast as what until then was the best service offered by stagecoach mochila a specially designed lightweight leather bag used by the Pony Express to carry the mail
To meet the deadline a series of riders would have to cover nearly 2 000 miles 3 219 kilometers through what are now eight states They had to cross plains and deserts They faced steep mountains and swift rivers They braved dangerous weather including bone chilling cold Riders also had to pass through the lands of many American Indian tribes Some tribes were friendly Others were hostile angered by white settlers moving onto their land The journey promised adventure and danger plain a large flat area of land with few trees hostile unfriendly or angry
Few written records of the Pony Express remain Historians argue about who made that first ride on April 3 1860 No one knows who made the first ride but everyone agrees on one thing The Pony Express became a legend and its legend kept growing over the years FUN FACT The Pony Express route passed through the present states of Missouri Kansas Nebraska Wyoming Colorado Utah Nevada and California Wyoming Nebraska Nevada Utah Colorado Kansas Missouri California
