I'll confess, one of the reasons I like to explore the Pony Express Trail is that it gives me yet another excuse to visit Nebraska, one of my favorite vacation states. But above and beyond that, there's something inherently romantic about this trail and what it represents. This is the stuff of which the corny cowboy shows of my boyhood were made, but the real story is anything by corny.

The Pony Express Trail lasted for a trifling 19 months. Yet we've all heard of it and imagine it to have played a major rôle in the history of the Great Plains. Well, actually, it did. In fact, in a roundabout way, it may have been crucial to keeping this country united during our awful Civil War, as you'll see later.

The trail ran through parts of eight different states. My partner and I have only visited three of these so far, and hence have quite a bit more traveling to do. But perhaps if you stop back here at a later date, you'll find some more entries!

The Pony Express in the Cinema

About the Historic Pony Express Trail

By 1860 or so, a freight and stage route was in place which followed quite a bit of the Oregon and California Trails across the American continent. However, this hadn't become a profitable affair yet, and so the owner, one William Russell, proposed establishing an additional mail service with the intent of generating new revenue. Instead of cumbersome wagons, speedy ponies would be pressed into service to carry letters and lighter parcels across the country. It was hoped that this would bolster profits and draw attention to the ailing freight company.

And so the Central Overland and Pike's Peak Express was formed, or the Pony Express for short. This was owned and operated by the partnership of Russell (mentioned above) and A. Majors and W. B. Waddell.

Mail service was inaugurated on April 3, 1860. At five dollars per half-ounce, a letter was carried by a relay of speedy horses from St. Joseph to Sacramento, a distance of some 1900 miles. And these really were very dedicated men and stallions; they literally pushed themselves to the limit, covering that immense distance across some rather rugged terrain in around ten days.

To maintain this sort of breakneck pace, the riders switched horses at relay stations about every ten miles. And then the men themselves swapped off duties at home stations which were spread out about every 50 or 60 miles.

Pony Express Trail Trivia

Russell, Majors and Waddell were fastidious about the 80 or so riders they hired. They had to be young men, orphans preferably, and under the weight of 120 pounds. Each employee swore an oath of allegiance to the firm, which also included provisions concerning drinking, swearing and fighting. I can see that I would have never cut the mustard with this outfit. By the way, supposedly Buffalo Bill Cody was a rider when just a lad, although I've heard it said that this might have been nothing more than a self-aggrandizing embellishment to his résumé.

As mentioned above, the average service was executed in just ten days. But when Abraham Lincoln was elected President, his inaugural address was carried from Missouri to California in little more than a mere seven days! The import of this is not just symbolic, by the way. One of the reasons Washington wanted to get the word out was to ensure that the California territory would become part of the Union. As the dates 1860/1861 suggest, tensions leading to our Civil War were brewing, and it was essential that this large, new and rich territory on the Pacific Coast should remain loyal to the federal government. It was hoped that a speedy and reliable communication link would ensure this.

However, if you're at all interested in the history of science, like I am, then you know something else was in the wind that would cause Russell, Majors and Waddell to fold up shop and lose some $100,000 in the process (an astronomical amount in those days). For the telegraph had been invented not too many years earlier and was starting to catch on. Can't you just picture the faithful Pony Express rider zipping along the Platte and looking with dismay upon the wired poles sprouting like pine trees? (In fact, I've seen a painting of a scene like this somewhere — I can't remember where just now). And so, after only 19 months of service, having made over 300 successful runs with only one casualty, this glamorous part of the Old West came to an end.

Finding the Trail Today

Since the Pony Express used, well, ponies, and only over a limited time, it didn't really leave any signs of the trail behind. In any event, since that era, erosion would have wiped the slate clean. Contrast this with the Oregon Trail; there were so many emigrants — perhaps 350,000 — traveling in laden wagons with iron rimmed wheels, that it was inevitable traces would persist these many years later. Of course, the Pony Express followed the Oregon and California Trails, so in that sense you can still find telltale marks here and there (like the marvelous Guernsey Ruts.).

Anyway, it's not the actual footprints that matter. Instead it's the pleasure of coming across remnants of the old stations along the way. Some of these were home stations capable of bunking several men for a well deserved rest, while others were little more than a lean-to serving only as a convenient place to make a quick switch of mounts.

Surprisingly, there is a fair number of Pony Express Trail stops still standing in the Great Plains, places you can visit for memorable expeditions. We've had some great times out in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado exploring these. We usually design "combination" vacations, including some stops along the Oregon, California and Pony Express Trails, and perhaps throwing in a visit to one of the National Grasslands. I can tell you, we've had the times of our lives over the past several years; the Great Plains is the ultimate destination for really unwinding!

To get your bearings, you'll no doubt want to lay your hands on a Pony Express Trail map or guide. When we planned our first trip, I wrote away to the Long Distance Trails Office requesting any material it might have to help us out. (See the link below). A courteous letter was all it took, and this federal agency responded with a huge package of literature. Included in this were beautiful maps (suitable for framing, actually), guides, etc. And believe it or not, they also threw in several full length books (each about an inch thick). Called Historic Resource Studies, they cover how the National Historic Trails will be administered and include very detailed, point-by-point descriptions of each stop and its history. Wow! I get a little disgusted with certain aspects of our American government from time to time, but there's no doubt that the Long Distance Trails Office is genuinely committed to serving us citizens.

By the way, like most Historic Trails, several agencies are involved in overseeing its sites, most notably the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service, individual State Historical Societies and State Park systems, and in some cases even municipal governments. I'll try to provide you with plenty of links to these as we work our way along the Trail.

Exploring the Pony Express on this Web Site

If you make a choice from the mini-menu at the top of this and all of the other Pony Express pages, you'll be taken directly to the appropriate section in my scrapbook. Once there, you'll find some of my own photos and observations, along with links to a number of "official" Web sites.

If you would prefer to read all of my Pony Express experiences, simply click the big blue arrow at the bottom of each page. This will chain you sequentially from one stop to the next, in east-to-west order. The left arrow will take you back one notch to the previous stop. Thus, using the blue arrows lets you read all of the pages of this Web site in order just like you might a book.

As usual, in the pages to follow, most photos are shown in thumbnail (reduced size) format. If you'd like to see the real thing, just click the thumbnail. This will enlarge the picture to its normal size.

The Pony Express
on the Oregon Trail

So, if you're ready to head out on the Trail, strap on your mochila and select your first destination!

• Federal
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • National Park Service
  • Pony Express Trail (BLM)
  
  
• State
  • State of California Division of Tourism
  • State of Colorado Travel and Tourism
  • State of Kansas Travel and Tourism
  • State of Missouri Tourism
  • State of Nebraska Travel and Tourism
  • State of Nevada Commission on Tourism
  • State of Utah Tourism
  • State of Wyoming Tourism
  
  
• Other Interesting Sites
  • Buffalo Bill Cody
  • Gold Rush Chronicles on the Pony Express
  • What Hath God Wrought? (the telegraph)
  • XP Pony Express Home Station