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07 - Story of the Pony Express by Glenn D. Bradley · Story of the Pony Express

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven of the Story of the Pony Express by
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  Speaker 1: Glen D. Bradley. This LibriVox recording is in the public
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  Speaker 1: domain recording by Roger Moline, Chapter seven anecdotes of the
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  Speaker 1: Trail and Honor Roll. No detailed account of the Pony
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  Speaker 1: Express would be complete without mentioning the adventures of Robert
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  Speaker 1: Haslem in those days called Pony Bob, and William F. Cody,
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  Speaker 1: who is known to fame and posterity as Buffalo Bill.
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  Speaker 1: Haslum's banner performance came about in a matter of fact way,
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  Speaker 1: as is generally the case with deeds of heroism. On
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  Speaker 1: a certain trip through the Ute raids mentioned in the
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  Speaker 1: last chapter, he stopped at Reed's station on the Carson
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  Speaker 1: River in Nevada and found no change of horses, since
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  Speaker 1: all the animals had been appropriated by the white men
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  Speaker 1: of the vicinity for a campaign against the Indians. Haslem
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  Speaker 1: therefore fed the horse he was riding, and after a
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  Speaker 1: short rest, started for Buckland's, afterwards named Fort Churchill. This
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  Speaker 1: ride took place in the summer of eighteen sixty. The
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  Speaker 1: next station, which was fifteen miles down the river, he
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  Speaker 1: had already ridden seventy five miles and was due to
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  Speaker 1: lay off at the latter place, but on arriving his successor,
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  Speaker 1: a man named Johnson Richardson, was unable or indisposed to
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  Speaker 1: go on with the mail. Note. Some reports say that
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  Speaker 1: Richardson was stricken with fear, that he was probably suffering
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  Speaker 1: from overwrought nerves resulting from excessive risks which his run
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  Speaker 1: had involved, is a more correct inference. This is the
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  Speaker 1: only case on record of a pony messenger failing to
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  Speaker 1: respond to duty unless killed or disabled. It happened that
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  Speaker 1: Division Superintendent W. C. Marley was at Buckland's when Haslam arrived,
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  Speaker 1: and since Richardson would not go on duty, Marley offered
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  Speaker 1: pony Bob fifty dollars bonus if he would take up
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  Speaker 1: the route. Haslam promptly accepted the proposal, and within ten
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  Speaker 1: minutes was off, armed with a revolver and a carbine.
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  Speaker 1: On his new journey, he at first had a lonesome
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  Speaker 1: ride of thirty five miles to the sink of the carson,
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  Speaker 1: reaching the place without mishap, he changed mounts and hurried
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  Speaker 1: on for thirty seven miles over the alkali waste and
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  Speaker 1: through the sand until he came to Cold Springs, Here
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  Speaker 1: he again changed horses and once more dashed on, this
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  Speaker 1: time for thirty miles without stopping, till Smith's Creek was reached,
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  Speaker 1: where he was relieved by J. G. Kelley. Bob had
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  Speaker 1: thus ridden one hundred and eighty five miles without stopping
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  Speaker 1: except to change mounts. At Smith's Creek he slept nine
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  Speaker 1: hours and then started back with the return mail. On
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  Speaker 1: reaching Old Springs once more, he found himself in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of tragedy. The Indians had been there, the horses
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  Speaker 1: had been stolen, all was in ruins. Near By lay
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  Speaker 1: the corpse of the faithful station keeper. Small cheer for
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  Speaker 1: a tired horse and rider, Haslem watered his steed and
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  Speaker 1: pounded ahead without rest or refreshment. Before he had covered
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  Speaker 1: half the distance to the next station, darkness was falling.
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  Speaker 1: The journey was enshrouded with danger. On every side were
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  Speaker 1: huge clumps of sagebrush, which would offer excellent chances for
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  Speaker 1: savages to lie in ambush. The howling of wolves added
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  Speaker 1: to the dolefulness of the trip, and haunting him continuously
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  Speaker 1: was the thought of the ruined little station and the
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  Speaker 1: stiffened corpse behind him. But pony riders were men of
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  Speaker 1: courage and nerve, and Bob was no exception. He arrived
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  Speaker 1: at sand Spring's safely, but here there was to be
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  Speaker 1: no rest nor delay. After reporting the outrage he had
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  Speaker 1: just seen, he advised the station man of his danger, and,
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  Speaker 1: after changing horses, induced the ladder to accompany him on
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  Speaker 1: to the sink of the carson, which moved doubtless saved
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  Speaker 1: the ladder's life. Reaching the carson, they found a badly
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  Speaker 1: frightened lot of men who had been attacked by the
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  Speaker 1: Indians only a few hours previously. A party of fifteen,
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  Speaker 1: with plenty of arms and ammunition, had gathered in the
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  Speaker 1: Adobe station, which was large enough also to accommodate as
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  Speaker 1: many horses. Near by was a cool spring of water,
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  Speaker 1: and thus fortified. They were to remain in a state
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  Speaker 1: of siege if necessary, until the marauders withdrew from that vicinity.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, they implored Haslm to remain with them and
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  Speaker 1: not risk his life venturing away with the mail. But
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  Speaker 1: the mail must go, and the schedule, hard as it was,
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  Speaker 1: must be maintained. Bob had no conception of fear, and
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  Speaker 1: so he galloped away after an hour's rest, and back
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  Speaker 1: into Buckland's he came unharmed after having suffered only three
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  Speaker 1: and a half hours of delay. Superintendent Marley, who was
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  Speaker 1: still present when the daring rider returned, at once raised
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  Speaker 1: his bonus from fifty to one hundred dollars. Nor was
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  Speaker 1: this all of Haslum's great achievement. The westbound mail would
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  Speaker 1: soon arrive, and there was nobody to take his regular run,
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  Speaker 1: so after resting an hour and a half, he resumed
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  Speaker 1: the saddle and hurried back along his old trail over
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  Speaker 1: the Sierras to Friday's station. Then Bob rested after having
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  Speaker 1: ridden three hundred and eighty miles with scarcely eleven hours
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  Speaker 1: of layoff, and within a very few hours of regular
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  Speaker 1: schedule time all the way. In speaking of this performance afterwards,
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  Speaker 1: Haslem modestly admitted that he was rather tired, but that
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  Speaker 1: the excitement of the trip had braced him up to
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  Speaker 1: stand the journey. Note. After the California Pony Express was abandoned,
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  Speaker 1: Bob rode for Wells, Fargo and Company between Friday Station
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  Speaker 1: and Virginia City, Nevada, a distance of one hundred miles.
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  Speaker 1: He seems to have enjoyed horseback riding, for he made
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  Speaker 1: this round trip journey in twenty four hours when the
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  Speaker 1: Central Pacific Railroad was built, and this pony line abandoned
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  Speaker 1: Haslam Road for six months, a twenty three mile division
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  Speaker 1: between Virginia City and Reno, traveling the distance in less
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  Speaker 1: than one hour. To accomplish this feat, he used a
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  Speaker 1: relay of fifteen horses. He was afterwards transferred to Idaho,
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  Speaker 1: where he continued in a similar capacity on a one
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  Speaker 1: hundred mile run before quitting the service for a less
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  Speaker 1: exciting vocation. The most widely known of all the pony
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  Speaker 1: riders is William F. Cody, usually called Bill, who in
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  Speaker 1: early life resided in Kansas and was raised amid the
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  Speaker 1: exciting scenes of frontier life. Cody had an unusually dangerous
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  Speaker 1: route between Red Buttes and Three Crossings. The latter place
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  Speaker 1: was on the Sweetwater River and derived its name from
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  Speaker 1: the fact that the stream, which followed the bed of
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  Speaker 1: a rocky canyon had to be crossed three times within
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  Speaker 1: a space of sixty yards. The water coming down from
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  Speaker 1: the mountains was always icy cold, and the current swift,
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  Speaker 1: deep and treacherous. The whole bottom of the canyon was
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  Speaker 1: often submerged, and in attempting to follow its course, along
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  Speaker 1: the channel of the stream. Both horse and rider were
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  Speaker 1: liable to plunge at any time into some abysmal whirlpool.
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  Speaker 1: Besides the excitement which the three crossings and an Indian
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  Speaker 1: country furnished, Cody's trail ran through a region that was
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  Speaker 1: often frequented by desperadoes. Furthermore, he had to ford the
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  Speaker 1: North Platte at a point where the stream was half
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  Speaker 1: a mile in width and in places twelve feet deep.
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  Speaker 1: Though the current was at times slow, dangers from quicksand
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  Speaker 1: were always to be feared on these prairie rivers. Cody,
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  Speaker 1: then but a youth, had to surmount these obstacles and
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  Speaker 1: cover his trip at an average of fifteen miles an hour.
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  Speaker 1: Cody entered the Pony Express Service just after the line
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  Speaker 1: had been organized. At Julesburg, he met George Chrisman, an
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  Speaker 1: old friend who was head wagon master for Russell Majors
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  Speaker 1: and Waddell's freighting department. Chrisman was at the time acting
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  Speaker 1: as an agent for the express line, and out of
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  Speaker 1: deference to the youth, he hired him temporarily to ride
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  Speaker 1: the division, then held by a pony man named Trotter.
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  Speaker 1: It was a short route, one of the shortest on
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  Speaker 1: the system, aggregating only forty five miles and with three
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  Speaker 1: relays of horses each way. Cody, who had been accustomed
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  Speaker 1: to the saddle all his young life, had no trouble
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  Speaker 1: in following the schedule. But after keeping the run several weeks,
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  Speaker 1: the Lad was relieved by the regular incumbent and then
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  Speaker 1: went east to Leavenworth, where he fell in with another
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  Speaker 1: old friend, Lewis Simpson, then acting as wagon boss and
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  Speaker 1: fitting up at Atchies in a wagon train of supplies
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  Speaker 1: for the old stage line at Fort Laramie and points beyond.
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  Speaker 1: Acting through Simpson, Cody obtained a letter of recommendation from
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  Speaker 1: mister Russell, the head of the firm, addressed to Jack Slade,
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  Speaker 1: superintendent of the division between Julesburg and Rocky Ridge, with
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  Speaker 1: headquarters at Horseshoe Station, thirty six miles west of Fort
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  Speaker 1: Laramie in what is now Wyoming. Armed with this letter,
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  Speaker 1: young Cody accompanied Simpson's wagon train to Laramie and soon
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  Speaker 1: found Superintendent Slade. The superintendent, observing the Lad's tender years
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  Speaker 1: and frail stature, was skeptical of his ability to serve
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  Speaker 1: as a pony rider, but on learning that Cody was
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  Speaker 1: the boy who had already given satisfactory service as a
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  Speaker 1: substitute some months before, at once engaged him and assigned
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  Speaker 1: him to the perilous run of seventy six miles between
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  Speaker 1: Red Buttes and Three Crossings. For some weeks. All went well.
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  Speaker 1: Then one day, when he reached his terminal at Three Crossings,
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  Speaker 1: Cody found that his successor, who was to have taken
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  Speaker 1: the mail out, had been killed the night before. As
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  Speaker 1: there was no extra rider available, it fell to young
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  Speaker 1: Cody to fill the dead courier's place until a successor
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  Speaker 1: could be procured. The lad was undaunted and anxious for
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  Speaker 1: the added responsibility. Within a moment, he was off on
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  Speaker 1: a fresh horse for Rocky Ridge, eighty five miles away.
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  Speaker 1: Notwithstanding the dangers and great fatigue of the trip, Cody
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  Speaker 1: rode safely from Three Crossings to his terminal and returned
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  Speaker 1: with the eastbound mail, going back over his own division
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  Speaker 1: and into Red Buttes without delay or mishap, an aggregate
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  Speaker 1: run of three hundred and twenty two miles. This was
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  Speaker 1: probably the longest continuous performance without formal rest period in
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  Speaker 1: the history of this or any other courier service. Not
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  Speaker 1: long afterward, Cody was chased by a band of Sioux
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  Speaker 1: Indians while making one of his regular trips. The savages
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  Speaker 1: were armed with revolvers and for a few minutes made
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  Speaker 1: it lively for the young messenger, but the superior speed
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  Speaker 1: and endurance of his steed soon told. Lying flat on
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  Speaker 1: the animal's neck, he quickly distanced his assailants and thundered
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  Speaker 1: into sweet Water, the next station, ahead of schedule. Here
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  Speaker 1: he found, as so often happened in the history of
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  Speaker 1: the Express Service, that the place had been raided, the
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  Speaker 1: keeper slain, and the horses driven off. There was nothing
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  Speaker 1: to do but drive his tired pony twelve miles further
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  Speaker 1: to Plout station, where he got a fresh horse, briefly
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  Speaker 1: reported what he had observed, and completed his run without mishap.
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  Speaker 1: On another occasion, it became mysteriously rumored that a certain
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  Speaker 1: pony Express pouch would carry a large sum of currency.
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  Speaker 1: Knowing that there was great likelihood of some bandits or
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  Speaker 1: road agents as they were commonly called, getting wind of
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  Speaker 1: the consignment and attempting a hold up, Cody hit upon
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  Speaker 1: a little emergency ruse. He provided himself with an extra moshilla,
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  Speaker 1: which he stuffed with waste papers and placed over the
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  Speaker 1: saddle in the regular position. The pouch containing the currency
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  Speaker 1: was hidden under a special saddle blanket. With his customary
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  Speaker 1: revolver loaded and ready, Cody then started. His suspicions were
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  Speaker 1: soon confirmed, for on reaching a particularly secluded spot, two
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  Speaker 1: highwaymen stepped from concealment and with leveled rifles, compelled the
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  Speaker 1: boy to stop. At the same time demanding the letter pouch.
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  Speaker 1: Holding up his hands as ordered, Cody began to remonstrate
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  Speaker 1: with the thugs for robbing the express at the same
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  Speaker 1: time declaring to them that they would hang for their
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  Speaker 1: meanness if they carried out their plans. In reply to this,
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  Speaker 1: they told Cody that they would take their own chances.
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  Speaker 1: They knew what he carried, and they wanted it. They
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  Speaker 1: had no particular desire to harm him, but unless he
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  Speaker 1: handed over the pouch without delay, they would shoot him
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  Speaker 1: full of holes and take it. Anyhow. Knowing that to
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  Speaker 1: resist meant certain death, Cody began slowly to unfasten the
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  Speaker 1: dummy pouch, still protesting with much indignation. Finally, after having
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  Speaker 1: loosed it, he raised the pouch and hurled it at
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  Speaker 1: the head off the nearest outlaw who dodged, half amused
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  Speaker 1: at the young fellow's spirit. Both men were thus taken
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  Speaker 1: slightly off their guard, and that instant the rider acted
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  Speaker 1: like a flash. Whipping out his revolver, he disabled the
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  Speaker 1: farther villain, and before the other, who had stooped to
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  Speaker 1: recover the supposed mail sack, could straighten up or use
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  Speaker 1: a weapon, Cody dug the spurs into his horse, knocked
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  Speaker 1: him down, rode over him, and was gone. Before the
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  Speaker 1: half stunned robber could re cover himself to shoot. Horse
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  Speaker 1: and rider were out of range and running like mad
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  Speaker 1: for the next station, where they arrived ahead of schedule.
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  Speaker 1: The following is a partial list, so far as is
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  Speaker 1: known of the men who rode the Pony Express and
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  Speaker 1: contributed to the lasting fame of the enterprise. Bond, Melville Beatley,
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  Speaker 1: Jim Boston, Bolton, William Brink, James W. Burnett, John Bucklin,
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  Speaker 1: Jimmy carr William Carrigan, William Cats, Bill Clark, Jimmy Cliff,
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  Speaker 1: Charles Cody, William F. Egan, Major Ellis, J. K. Faust, H. J. Fisher,
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  Speaker 1: John Frye, Johnny Gentry, Jim Gilson, Jim Hamilton, Sam Haslam,
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  Speaker 1: Robert Hogan first name missing, Huntington, Let, Irish, Tom, James,
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  Speaker 1: William Jenkins, will D. Kelly, J. G. Keatley, Jack Little,
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  Speaker 1: Yank Martin, Bob McCall, J. G. McDonald, James McNaughton, Jim Moore,
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  Speaker 1: Jim Perkins, Josh Rand, Theodore Richardson, Johnson, Ryles Bart Rising,
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  Speaker 1: Don c Roth, Harry Spur, George Thatcher, George Town, George Wallace,
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  Speaker 1: Henry Westcott, Dan Zaugoalts Jose. Many of these men were
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  Speaker 1: rough and unlettered. Many died deaths of violence. The bones
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  Speaker 1: of many lie in unknown graves. Some doubtless lie unburied
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  Speaker 1: somewhere in the Great West, in the winning of which
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  Speaker 1: their lives were lost. Yet be it always remembered that
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  Speaker 1: in the history of the American nation they played an
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  Speaker 1: important part. They were bold hearted citizen knights, to whom
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  Speaker 1: is due the honors of uncrowned kings. End of Chapter seven,
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  Speaker 1: recording by Roger Moline