he most savage
Indian tribes on the continent, the relations of which with the whites
were either unsettled or hostile. But, nothing daunted, the projectors
decided to carry out their design, win or lose. They purchased six
hundred Texas bronchos, built all the necessary stations, employed all
the men required to operate and defend them, and secured seventy-five
riders from the adventurous men found on the borders. The wages paid the
riders were from $125 to $150 a month, with rations, and singular as it
may seem to people of to-day, these positions were much sought for.
Danger among this class of men has an irresistible fascination, and
writing about it recalls an incident which verifies the assertion fully.
When I lived in Carson City, Nev., the office of sheriff of Ormsby
county, in which Carson was situated, was the most coveted position in
the gift of the people, and it was well known that there never was an
incumbent of it who had not died in his boots.

The whole arrangement was perfected with western rapidity, and the first
pony started from St. Joseph in Missouri on the third day of April,
1860. On the same day and hour the western pony started from Sacramento
in California. The distance between the stations was about forty miles,
and was ridden in the shortest time possible. Two minutes were allowed
for refreshments and change of horses. Each rider carried about ten
pounds, and the freight charged for the full distance was five dollars
an ounce. The line was maintained successfully for about two years,
without any interruption more serious than the occasional killing of a
rider by the Indians, when, in June, 1862, the first transcontinental
telegraph went into operation, and the pony express, being no longer
profitable, yielded, as many other things have since, to the
all-conquering invader, electricity.

The first pony carried from the president of the United States a
congratulatory message to the governor of California. The best time ever
made between the two extreme points was when the last message of
President Buchanan reached Sacramento in eight and one-half days from
Washington. It seems almost incredible that such time could have been
made with animals, when we reflect that the first expedition sent out by
Mr. Astor, was eleven months in crossing the continent.

The pony express was a success financially to its projectors, and
satisfied the hungering of the people for news from points so distant
from