One point of interest in the history of the Pony Express is how short its history really was.
Not known how many riders really rode, and were not many papers in the country at the time,
so not a lot in print to follow up on.  It is not really known how many riders there were and
there were not many newspapers in the west to report on the Pony Express.  Some reports say
that there were 120 thought to have ridden.  One early rider was William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody.
Another was William Campbell, the one that carried a copy of Lincoln's first message to Con-
gress in 1861 to California. That was an especially important message since peace or war rode
on it so all haste was taken to get it out fast. They delivered it in seven days, ten days being the
average. Campbell died in 1932 at 90 years old, the last living Pony Express rider.

A few other famous riders were "Uncle Nick" Wilson, who also drove for the Overland Stage.
In 1889 he drove the first covered wagons over teton Pass at Jackson Hole Wyoming.  The
town Wilson is named after him.  John Brown, aka Kootenai Brown, was also a famous rider
that was captured by a band of Sioux led by Sitting Bull and kept captive, until he escaped.

© 1998-09 Benford E. Standley. All Rights Reserved.
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