Fun Facts about the Pony Express

Fun Facts about the Pony Express

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  Riders had to weigh less than 125 pounds, and they were supposed to be tough, loyal, honest and brave.
  
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  Orphans were preferred, because they had no relatives to worry about them – and it was a very dangerous job.
  
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  Riders were paid $25 a week when the average laborer only earned $1 a week – but some earned more, and were paid bonuses for extra trips or danger.
  
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  Riders were supposed to be at least 16, but they often lied about their age – the youngest was only 11!
  
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  Only one rider ever refused to do his route – because of Indian hostilities – but the first rider took the journey instead.
  
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  Before the Pony Express, it took 21 days to take mail from New York to San Francisco, as long as 30 days by stagecoach, and 6 months to a year by ship.
  
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  Riders raced at great speed, then dismounted and leaped atop a rested horse at each station, and rode between seventy-five and one hundred miles.
  
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  Stations that were sabout ten to twelve miles apart. The horses averaged ten miles per hour and each rider changed horses eight to ten times.
  
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  Pony Express riders took an oath that “I will (not) use profane language; that I will drink no intoxicating liquors; that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that ….I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers. So help me God.”
  
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  Mark Twain only met a Pony Express rider for two minutes, but he got a whole chapter of “Roughing It” out of that meeting.
  
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  Riders were allowed to carry twenty pounds of personal items – a water sack, a Bible, a horn to alert the station master, and either a rifle or revolver.
  
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  The mochila was leather rectangle that fit easily over the saddle and had four pockets sewn into it to hold 20 pounds of mail.
  
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  About 500 riders rode for the Pony Express, making about 300 trips each way, carrying more than 33,000 pieces of mail for 660,000 miles in the short 19 months the company was in business.
  
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  Letters were written on lightweight paper and wrapped in oiled silk to protect them from the elements. It cost five dollars per half ounce to send a letter at first, but later the price dropped to one dollar per half ounce.
  
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  It cost the Pony Express $16 for each piece of mail it delivered, and earned, on average, $3 per letter in delivery charges.
  
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  "Bronco Charlie" Miller was the youngest rider of the Pony Express, and survived two arrows from hostile Indians. His real name was Julius Mortimer. He was the last surviving Pony Express rider, dying at 105!
  
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  Buffalo Bill Cody was only 15 when he started as a Pony Express rider – he went on to create his famous Wild West Show that traveled all over the world giving people a glimpse of the people and animals of the West.
  
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  Billy Fisher, a young rider from Salt Lake City, dismounted and sat down by a tree in the middle of a blinding blizzard and started to fall asleep. He woke up to find a rabbit licking his face – he called it an act of providence that saved him from freezing to death.
  

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  His great-great grandson William Fisher is also an adventurer – an astronaut who flew in the space shuttle.
  
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  You can still see some short segments of the original Pony Express trail in Utah and California – the rest have been paved over . But there are still 50 stations or station ruins, and many statues dedicated to the honor of the Pony Express.
  

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  Airin' the lungs: cussin'
  
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  Biscuit shooter: the ranch cook
  
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  Colorado mockingbird: a burro
  
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  Dally: a half-hitch of rope around a saddle horn
  
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  used when roping
  
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  Dog house: the bunkhouse
  
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  Flea trap: a cowboy's bedroll
  
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  Greasy belly: a cook
  
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  Gut hooks: spurs
  
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  Hay shaker: a farmer
  
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  Hot rock: a biscuit
  
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  Idaho brain storm: a tornado
  
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  Kack: a saddle
  
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  Kack biscuit: a saddle sore
  
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  Latigo: a leather strap used to fasten a saddle on a horse
  
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  Maniac den: a sheep wagon or camp
  
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  Maverick: an unbranded animal
  
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  Necktie social: a hanging
  
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  Tasting gravel: thrown from a horse
  

Try adding these zippy cowboy phrases to your next conversation:

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  Above my huckleberry - Too hard for me to do
  
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  All horns and rattles - Someone who is very angry
  
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  Barkin' at the knot - Wasting your time, trying to do something useless
  
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  Doesn't use up all his kindlin' to make a fire - Someone who doesn't waste words on small talk
  
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  Don't go wakin' snakes - Don't make trouble
  
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  He's a featherheaded loco! - He's a crazy fool!
  
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  I'm busted! -I've spent all my money
  
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  I'm sick of prairie strawberries every day! - Not baked beans again!
  
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  Let's hit the trail - Time to get going!
  
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  Looks like a goose-drowner - It's going to rain cats and dogs
  
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  Mad as a peeled rattler - Very angry
  

Tenderfoot: A newcomer to the cowboy life; also called a greenhorn.