Riders of the Pony Express

Riders of the Pony ExpressPrior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri across two thousand miles of mountains,

Prior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri--across two thousand miles of mountains, deserts, and plains--guaranteed in ten days or less. Russell hired eighty of the best and bravest riders, bought four hundred of the fastest and hardiest horses, and built relay stations along a central route--through modern-day Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, to California. Informed by his intimate knowledge of horses and Western geography, Ralph Moody's exciting account of the eighteen critical months that the Pony Express operated between April 1860 and October 1861 pays tribute to the true grit and determination of the riders and horses of the Pony Express.
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Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 09/01/2004
ISBN: 9780803283053
Pages: 183
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.40d

Review Citations: Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2005 pg. 414 - Below Average, With Minor Flaw