Author: Jim DeFelice Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 0062496794 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 303
Book Description
Western Writers of America Spur Awards Finalist, Best Western Historical Nonfiction "A GROUNDBREAKING WORK. ... The first comprehensive history of the legendary transcontinental experiment in mail delivery in sixty years." —True West "This rollicking account of the daring enterprise known as the Pony Express brings its era and its legendary characters to life." —San Francisco Chronicle The new definitive history of the Pony Express by the #1 bestselling coauthor of American Sniper, illustrated with 50 images On the eve of the Civil War, three American businessmen launched an audacious plan to create a financial empire by transforming communications across the hostile territory between the nation’s two coasts. In the process, they created one of the most enduring icons of the American West: the Pony Express. Daring young men with colorful names like “Bronco Charlie” and “Sawed-Off Jim” galloped at speed over a vast and unforgiving landscape, etching an irresistible tale that passed into myth almost instantly. Equally an improbable success and a business disaster, the Pony Express came and went in just eighteen months, but not before uniting and captivating a nation on the brink of being torn apart. Jim DeFelice’s brilliantly entertaining West Like Lightning is the first major history of the Pony Express to put its birth, life, and legacy into the full context of the American story. The Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company—or “Pony Express,” as it came to be known—was part of a plan by William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell to create the next American Express, a transportation and financial juggernaut that already dominated commerce back east. All that stood in their way were almost two thousand miles of uninhabited desert, ice-capped mountains, oceanic plains roamed by Indian tribes, whitewater-choked rivers, and harsh, unsettled wilderness. The Pony used a relay system of courageous horseback riders to ferry mail halfway across a continent in just ten days. The challenges the riders faced were enormous, yet the Pony Express succeeded, delivering thousands of letters at record speed. The service instantly became the most direct means of communication between the eastern United States and its far western territories, helping to firmly connect them to the Union. Populated with cast of characters including Abraham Lincoln (news of whose electoral victory the Express delivered to California), Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill Cody (who fed the legend of the Express in his Wild West Show), and Mark Twain (who celebrated the riders in Roughing It), West Like Lightning masterfully traces the development of the Pony Express and follows it from its start in St. Joseph, Missouri—the edge of the civilized world—west to Sacramento, the capital of California, then booming from the gold rush. Jim DeFelice, who traveled the Pony’s route in his research, plumbs the legends, myths, and surprising truth of the service, exploring its lasting relevance today as a symbol of American enterprise, audacity, and daring.
Author: Michael P. Spradlin Publisher: Walker Childrens ISBN: 9780802796530 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In 1860, the first Pony Express rider set out on a trail from Missouri to California. With him, he carried a special delivery-the first mail ever carried by hand to the West. Over the next eleven days, he and many other riders would endure harsh weather, dangerous animals, and more, but nothing would diminish their unflagging determination and courage. Meticulously researched and gorgeously illustrated, Michael P. Spradlin and Layne Johnson's Off Like the Wind! brings to life an adventurous journey, full of suspense and excitement, that celebrates America's can-do attitude and pioneering spirit.
Author: Ralph Moody Publisher: U of Nebraska Press ISBN: 9780803235984 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 194
Book Description
Chronicles the eighteen-month operation of the Pony Express, explaining why and how it was created, describing the challenges faced by riders, and discussing.
Author: William E. Hill Publisher: U of Nebraska Press ISBN: 0870044958 Category : Travel Languages : en Pages : 350
Book Description
Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press It operated less than two years. It lost an enormous amount of money. But the Pony Express delivered the mail across a continent at a critical time and captured the imagination of people all over the world like few events in the history of the American West.
Author: Becky Lower Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1440578966 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 271
Book Description
Samantha Hughes has one day to escape from her wicked uncle, and a sign in the post office is her answer. She'll cut her hair to pose as a man and become Sam Hughes, a Pony Express rider. Valerian Fitzpatrick doesn't want the weight of responsibility that his brothers have in the family business. Fortunately, the Pony Express offers a chance to make his own way in the world. He assumes his new buddy, Sam, is on the run from the law, until she's hit by a stray gunshot and he has to undress her to staunch the wound. Friendship quickly turns to attraction - and more - but when Sam's uncle tracks her down, she is forced to run yet again. Val's determined to find her, but will a future with Sam mean giving up the freedom he's always craved? Sensuality Level: Sensual
Author: Christopher Corbett Publisher: National Geographic Books ISBN: 0767906934 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
“WANTED. YOUNG, SKINNY, WIRY FELLOWS. NOT OVER 18. MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS. WILLING TO RISK DEATH DAILY. ORPHANS PREFERRED.” —California newspaper help-wanted ad, 1860 The Pony Express is one of the most celebrated and enduring chapters in the history of the United States, a story of the all-American traits of bravery, bravado, and entrepreneurial risk that are part of the very fabric of the Old West. No image of the American West in the mid-1800s is more familiar, more beloved, and more powerful than that of the lone rider galloping the mail across hostile Indian territory. No image is more revered. And none is less understood. Orphans Preferred is both a revisionist history of this magnificent and ill-fated adventure and an entertaining look at the often larger-than-life individuals who created and perpetuated the myth of “the Pony,” as it is known along the Pony Express trail that runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express is a story that exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide, a story as heroic as the journey of Lewis and Clark, as complex and revealing as the legacy of Custer’s Last Stand, and as muddled and freighted with yarns as Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Orphans Preferred is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.
Author: Cheryl Harness Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers ISBN: 9780689851216 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In 1860, with North and South about to be divided by war, East and West were united through an extraordinary venture -- the Pony Express. Over the course of ten days in April, eighty riders and five hundred horses delivered mail between California and Missouri -- a mission that took three weeks by stagecoach. Although it existed for only a year and a half, the Pony Express remains a legendary chapter in American history and a symbol of the bold, adventurous character of the Old West. The spirit of the brave riders and their ponies is captured perfectly in Cheryl Harness's lively, brightly illustrated, and information-filled account.
Author: Jim DeFelice
Author: Michael P. Spradlin
Author: Ralph Moody
Author: William E. Hill
Author: 
Author: Becky Lower
Author: Christopher Corbett
Author: Cheryl Harness
Author: Richard E. Fike
Author: Richard C. Frajola