Back in the days before the Internet and Blackberrys, in the untamed western parts of the USA, the only way to send a message was by horse and rider. In 1860 three entrepreneurs; William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors founded the Pony Express to bring mail across the continent from St Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. The innovation that these professionals in the supply trade introduced was the idea of riding non-stop across the country in relays getting the mail through far faster than the stagecoach. The Pony Express became the fastest form of communication in North America as hardy young riders risked life and limb in the name of transporting a padlocked pouch of mail.

April 3rd, 2010, marked the 150th anniversary of the day the first Pony Express rider left the stables in St. Joseph and crossed the Missouri River heading west on that historic first ride to California which took approximately 10 days. In March of 1860, ads appeared announcing the new mail service and looking for prospective riders. It wasn’t a job many could do. Firstly, there was the weight issue: riders had to be small and light.

Then, there was the stamina issue as the riders would be going at full speed in all weather conditions. Last but not least was the danger of riding alone through potentially hostile territory – the riders had to be brave, or maybe a little crazy. One attractive thing was the pay,; Express riders were paid $25 per day at a time when the average daily wage was $1. No one knows how those original ads read, but journalist John L. Considine improvised in the October 1923 issue of Sunset magazine in his article “Eleven Days to St. Joe”: “Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders.

Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.” Though the ad was a fabrication, the historical embellishment took hold, and the Pony Express became evenmore mythic in the American imagination. A Horse and rider was expected to go at full gallop. Night and day‚ crossing mountains, rivers, and desert, through hostile Indian territory without regard to blizzards, tornadoes, or brutal sun‚ as they rode into the Wild West and into American history.

Unfortunately, because the Pony Express operated for only 18 months and because no one at the time thought what they were doing was that remarkable or noteworthy, very few records were kept about many of the riders. Ultimately, the Pony Express was beaten not by finances but by technology. In 1860, the government got behind the building of the transcontinental telegraph.

Two days after the line reached Carson City, Nevada, the Pony Express shut down.