THE PONY EXPRESS: COURAGEOUS RUN INTO HISTORY

"Wanted: Young skinny wiry fellows--not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week. Apply, Central Overland Express, Alta Bldg., Montgomery St." This ad appeared on flyers and in newspapers in 1859 in cities across the country. The Pony Express was looking for a few good men.

The legend of the Pony Express began with the first run on April 3, 1860. The goal was to deliver mail and important communications between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California--a 2,000 mile distance--in ten days or less (15 days in the winter).

The idea to improve communications between the east and west coasts was the idea of Senator William Gwin of California. He convinced the founders of the Overland Stage Line of Leavenworth, Kansas which provided daily transportation between the Missouri River and Salt Lake City. While the stage line owners felt the time, distance, harsh climate, Indians, battling soldiers and other extreme factors would eat away any profit potential, a commitment to Senator Gwin drove them forward.

Four division agents were selected to handle the operation in St. Joseph, Julesburg, Salt Lake City, and Carson City. The Carson City agent was Bolivar Roberts. In short time, these agents managed to find 80 experienced riders and 500 horses, and build 190 stations along the route. Many of the men were seasoned scouts and guides. The horses were, for the most part, half-breed California mustangs. The stations were a mixed bag of adobe huts, log cabins, and stone structures. There were approximately 30 stations built in Nevada, three of which resided in Churchill County: Carson Sink Station, Sand Springs, and Cold Springs.

Despite the Pony Express' long-lived and romantic reputation, it lasted only 18 months until October 1861. The "Pony" was fast and efficient, but, despite the high price of mail ($1 to $5 an ounce and sometimes totaling $1,000 in receipts per day) it was a financial disaster. In addition, technology was bearing down on it. The Transcontinental telegraph was under construction. When the telegraph was completed on October 24, 1864, messages via the Pony Express that once took ten days now took only ten seconds.

But legends were born during the short-lived Pony Express including that of Robert Haslam better known as "Pony Bob" who road the entire 2,000-mile distance in the fastest time ever after encountering one disaster after another at each station along the way.

A lone cottonwood tree in Fallon has been the subject of Pony Express legend since 1860. The tale typifies the determination of the Pony Express rider to fulfill his oath and protect the mail. The story involves Emmet McCain, the Pony Express rider from Buckland's Station to Sand Springs. After receiving the "hand-off" from "Pony Bob," McCain galloped off only to find that Indians had run off the horses at the next station. Changing course in an attempt to avoid the Indians, McCain rode on. But, when his horse shied fearfully, he looked back to see a band of Indians on his trail.

McCain knew he was about to be overtaken; but, in a determined effort to save the mail if not himself, he drew up and threw the mail pouch in a marshy hole and trampled dirt over it with the horse's hooves. Then, he thrust the cottonwood switch he carried as a whip into the ground as a marker. He raced on only to be run down and killed... The cottonwood switch is said to have grown into a beautiful tree that for eighty years stood out upon the plain.

That 'lone" tree (of the legend) was five miles south of Fallon and a mile west at the intersection of Lone Tree Road and Allen Road. While that tree was cut down in 1930, the legend lives on.

One can visit one of the best preserved Pony Express stations in Nevada, Sand Springs, 25 miles east of Fallon off U.S. Highway 50. There’s more information at the website: www.ponyexpressnevada.com