Pony Express Quick Facts

Riders:

Approximately 80 young riders were in use at any one time. In addition, some 400 other employees included station keepers, stock tenders and route superintendents.

Salary:

Riders were paid $100 to $125 per month.

Qualifications:

Age ranged from 11 to mid 40s. Riders had to weigh less than 125 lbs.

Earliest Riders:

Johnny Fry (St. Joseph), James Randall (San Francisco), Billy Hamilton (Sacramento)

Youngest Rider:

Legend has it that Bronco Charlie Miller was eleven years old when he rode.

Riders Changed:

75 to 100 miles.

Horses Changed:

10 to 15 miles.

Speed of Rider:

Average 10 miles per hour.

Horses:

About 400

Stations:

Estimated between 150 and 190 of them. Located every 5 - 20 miles.

Mochila:

Saddlebag designed especially to carry mail on the eastern end were made by Israel Landis. The mochila had a hole in the front to fit over the saddle horn and a slit for the cantle behind. At the corners of the mochila were four locked leather boxes called cantinas where the mail was kept.

Route:

1966 miles from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.Through the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. Crossed Missouri River by Ferry boat, at the foot of Francis Street.

Time:

10 days.

Quickest Run:

7 days and 17 hours. The riders were carrying President Lincoln's Inaugural Address.

Total Miles Covered:

Approximately 650,000 miles.

Longest Ride:

Pony Bob Haslam. rode 370 miles -- Friday Station to Smith Creek Station and back.

Cost of Mail:

$5 per 1/2 ounce at first. Later, the price was $1 per 1/2 ounce.

Founders:

Russell, Majors, and Waddell. The company was Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company (C.O.C. & P.P.). The Pony Express was a subsidiary for the freight and stage company.

Dates:

April 3, 1860 through October 1861.

Telegraph Completed:

October 24, 1861

Success:

Proved the Central Route to California was usable year round. The government moved the Overland Mail Company, who had the mail contract, from the southern/Butterfield Route to the Central Route in 1861. Keeping the lines of communication open and the flow of mail going influenced California's remaining in the Union.

Failure:

Financially, the Pony Express was a failure. The owners invested $700,000 and left a $200,000 deficit. The company failed to get the government mail contract. The company was sold at auction to Ben Holladay in March 1862. Four years later he sold out to Wells Fargo for $2,000,000. One secret of the speed of the Pony Express was in the conditioning of its horses. The Pony Express horses had great endurance in part because they were grain fed rather than grass fed. However, this too cost the Pony Express much in financial terms. The grain had to be shipped in from Iowa Farms to the Pony Express stations along the long route---an expensive enterprise.

Buffalo Bill:

At 15 years of age William Cody was employed as a Pony Express rider and given a short 45-mile run from Julesburg to the west. After some months he was transferred to Slade's Division in Wyoming where he made the longest non-stop ride from Red Buttes Station to Rocky Ridge Station and back when he found that his relief rider had been killed. The distance of 322 miles over one of the most dangerous portions of the entire trail was completed in 21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 horses.

Back to the Top »