The Pony Express still runs once a year (as the Hashknife Pony Express) carrying mail from Holbrook to Scottsdale, AZ. It's officially sanctioned by the USPS and all riders are sworn in as mail carriers in a ceremony outside the Holbrook courthouse. I was just contracted to photograph it a couple months ago.
In 1983 the Pony Express rode again after a mudslide closed US Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada. It was only a 40 mile route, but volunteer post riders carried mail from the post office in Pollock Pines to the four communities that had been cut off for about a month.
Another Pony Express rider of note would be the ancestor relative of Gracie Allen, "Hickock Allen." This amazing rider reinvented how to help the Pony Express by not stopping at stations, instead he would bring several horses with him, running them all at full speed, and when the horse of which Hickock Allen was riding got tired, he would simply move onto another horse. Hickock Allen would break a Pony Express travel time record by taking several months to get from Missouri to California. (All this information courtesy of the late/great Gracie Allen and George Burns)
Amazing how quickly the mail was delivered by these brave and adventurous men. Just 14 years earlier, it took the Donner Party months to cross virtually the same distance to California. Here, it took less than two weeks to send mail west.
I recommend you guys make a video on US Highway 80, it connected Savannah Georgia to San Diego California and it was the only other road to rival Route 66 in its heyday, in fact at one point more people entered California by US80 than Route 66
I learned more from you than the video... thanks for the tip! I am clueless about US 80. Is that I-8 now? I used to live in SD, and drove the 8 from SD to Texas.
Well you should look up the Lincoln highway before 80 before rt 66 there was the Lincoln highway from Times Square to San Francisco in fact rt 80 was the demise of the western sections of the road but most of it still exists as old rt 30
@@crazycaseyandoldmanangus7143 We live two blocks from what was the Lincoln Highway (in Lodi, CA). My wife stays on it all the way to work, and there are the LH posts reminding her all along the way, the red "L" is hard to miss.
@@zelphx thats awesome im planning to take the Lincoln from NYC to San fran I've explored it from Pittsburgh to Chicago above I misinterpreted which 80 I thought you were speaking of I-80 and it has nothing to do with the pony express lol
There's an elementary school in Eagle Mountain Utah called Pony Express Elementary, right off of Pony Express Pkwy. For whatever reason, looking at homes near this area a number of years ago had given me interest in the Pony Express....after having not thought about it since I was a kid. To that end, I appreciate this video!
When I read some books by Conn Iggulden on the history of Ghengis Khan, I was surprised to learn that the Mongolian Empire set up a communication system very similar to the Pony Express much earlier in 1162-1227. The Mongolian system also made use of relay stations with fresh horses. Kevin Costner's post-apocalyptic film "The Postman" felt like a tribute to the Pony Express.
The Pony Express still exists today. Wait ... what? The act of Congress which allowed private bidders (like the Pony Express) to carry US Mail was passed in 1845 and the Pony Express was one of these, as they were called at the time, "Star Routes". These bids became known as "celerity, certainty and security bids" and were designated on the route registers by three stars (***), thus becoming known as "star routes". In 1970, the Post Office changed the terminology, but the authorization for these routes still goes back to the original. The new (1970) designation was "Highway Contract Route". These companies deliver mail from office to office and to customers in rural areas. Chances are you, dear reader, have seen a truck on a highway with "HCR ######" labeled on the back, and not known what it meant. Since 2000, the Post Office has renamed these routes again, to "Contract Delivery Service" (CDS). But inside the Post Office, many of the contracts and terminology still refer to Star Routes and HCR Routes. My favorite is that even today, if a driver stops and exits the vehicle, it's referred to as ... wait for it .... wait for it ... a DISMOUNT. Yep. The Pony Express lives on, in modern form!
This video is great and learned things I didn't already know. I'm originally from the St. Joseph, MO area and have visited the museum/stable many times. While at the station you can also see the home where Jesse James was shot and killed. The house is not at it's original location; however, it's still in the original shape you can even see the bullet hole from where the bullet exited James' head.
i am a current pony express rider and have been for the 22 years. it runs ever June from st jo Missouri to Sacramento, ca my ride is out of strawberry, ca in the sierra Nevada to the brockliss bridge out of fresh pond. the national pony express association has a web site and we are always looking for adventurous riders
For history hounds near Littleton, CO, the Upull parts yard on Highway 85 features a small building near the drop-down driveway ramp which must remain in its location; it was one of the original way stations along the route.
When I first learned about the Pony Express I wished I was born back then so I could be a rider! Oh how cool it would have been!!! Ah to be young again, lol...
Interesting story. Like it or not, much of what we enjoy today in the USA started by and for the very rich: overnight mail, two way radio - computers in our purses and pockets, air craft, automobiles, surgery, exotic foods, Internet, etc. Thank you for highlighting the bloodshed as first peoples are pushed aside by invaders.
Most innovations are initially geared towards the wealthy. Smart and industrious people expand on those innovations to make them accessible to all. Money drives new ideas and the financial risks they entail, and those brave and imaginative people that take that leap and succeed should be admired and looked to as examples of what our free enterprise system can accomplish.
Bold riders on pony express trail Rode hard an fast delivering mail Before telegraph along a train rail An stories they did tale still prevail Out running Indians like a bat out of Hell
Missouri had 3 stations? Unlikely as St. Joseph was the origination point, the eastern end of the route. St. Joseph sets on the Missouri River which is the western edge of of the state.
Patee House Station (the home office where the riders were housed), Pikes Peak station (the stables currently the Pony Express Museum), and the Missouri River Ferry station where the riders would board a ferry to cross into Kansas. St. Joseph had 3 stations.
I love your videos, and certainly appreciate the effort it must take to create them as often as you do. However, your vocabulary could use some work. Every video has at least one error. This one had at least three. Untenable, not unattainable, annals, not annuals, and in describing the Pony Express's operational deficit, you said their expenses were $700,000, and "profits" were only $500,000. It should be revenue, not profit, seeing that only positive returns would be considered profit.
@@lylecoglianese1645 15 miles at full gallop, will exhaust the horse, after all how hot was it when they are galloping, they didn't do it in the snow, they galloped in the heat of the sun, so even if they did gallop only for 15 miles, it can bring on heat exhaustion, as well dehydration, and it could cause heart murmers. So the horse to me is still more of the hero in this story, then the men.
I can see the no drinking and conflicts with coworkers but why No swearing? Riding In brutal heat and getting chased by angry Native Americans. I say they would of had every right in the world to swear. I would swear all day and only turn it off when I got to a rest station or in a town. I would also sneak a swig of alcohol in between rest stops.
The Pony Express still runs once a year (as the Hashknife Pony Express) carrying mail from Holbrook to Scottsdale, AZ. It's officially sanctioned by the USPS and all riders are sworn in as mail carriers in a ceremony outside the Holbrook courthouse. I was just contracted to photograph it a couple months ago.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for that info. That’s great!
Sounds like something my ECV brother's there would be in to this u should get ahold of them and see
William Cody is like my great great great uncle . It's cool to find bits of family history when not intending to.
In 1983 the Pony Express rode again after a mudslide closed US Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada. It was only a 40 mile route, but volunteer post riders carried mail from the post office in Pollock Pines to the four communities that had been cut off for about a month.
Why are the end of your sentences being cut off. As always, top rate content.
Probibly just crap editing.
Maybe some compressor level turned up too high
I noticed that too
Because.... this is how you narrate.... when you make videos for robots.
I noticed that too kinda distracting
Woodward dying in 1951? I think you meant 1851.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only to notice that. Lol
Just one of many careless mistakes
Another Pony Express rider of note would be the ancestor relative of Gracie Allen, "Hickock Allen." This amazing rider reinvented how to help the Pony Express by not stopping at stations, instead he would bring several horses with him, running them all at full speed, and when the horse of which Hickock Allen was riding got tired, he would simply move onto another horse. Hickock Allen would break a Pony Express travel time record by taking several months to get from Missouri to California. (All this information courtesy of the late/great Gracie Allen and George Burns)
Amazing how quickly the mail was delivered by these brave and adventurous men.
Just 14 years earlier, it took the Donner Party months to cross virtually the same distance to California. Here, it took less than two weeks to send mail west.
Love the interesting content of your channel you help keep history alive
At 6:07, you stated Absalon Woodward passed in 1951 instead of 1851
I recommend you guys make a video on US Highway 80, it connected Savannah Georgia to San Diego California and it was the only other road to rival Route 66 in its heyday, in fact at one point more people entered California by US80 than Route 66
I learned more from you than the video... thanks for the tip! I am clueless about US 80. Is that I-8 now? I used to live in SD, and drove the 8 from SD to Texas.
@@zelphx no it's still US80 and currently still runs from Savannah to DFW Texas then I-20 runs its route till it ends then I-10
Well you should look up the Lincoln highway before 80 before rt 66 there was the Lincoln highway from Times Square to San Francisco in fact rt 80 was the demise of the western sections of the road but most of it still exists as old rt 30
@@crazycaseyandoldmanangus7143 We live two blocks from what was the Lincoln Highway (in Lodi, CA). My wife stays on it all the way to work, and there are the LH posts reminding her all along the way, the red "L" is hard to miss.
@@zelphx thats awesome im planning to take the Lincoln from NYC to San fran I've explored it from Pittsburgh to Chicago above I misinterpreted which 80 I thought you were speaking of I-80 and it has nothing to do with the pony express lol
There's an elementary school in Eagle Mountain Utah called Pony Express Elementary, right off of Pony Express Pkwy. For whatever reason, looking at homes near this area a number of years ago had given me interest in the Pony Express....after having not thought about it since I was a kid. To that end, I appreciate this video!
I would love to see a video on old Route 66.
Thanks for doing this. I think it helps for when you mention the P.E. in other videos about westward expansion.
When I read some books by Conn Iggulden on the history of Ghengis Khan, I was surprised to learn that the Mongolian Empire set up a communication system very similar to the Pony Express much earlier in 1162-1227. The Mongolian system also made use of relay stations with fresh horses. Kevin Costner's post-apocalyptic film "The Postman" felt like a tribute to the Pony Express.
That was a good damn film! It even had Tom Petty in it.
The Mongols actually created the first passport when displaying a talisman with an official seal at each relay station.
The Pony Express still exists today.
Wait ... what?
The act of Congress which allowed private bidders (like the Pony Express) to carry US Mail was passed in 1845 and the Pony Express was one of these, as they were called at the time, "Star Routes". These bids became known as "celerity, certainty and security bids" and were designated on the route registers by three stars (***), thus becoming known as "star routes".
In 1970, the Post Office changed the terminology, but the authorization for these routes still goes back to the original. The new (1970) designation was "Highway Contract Route". These companies deliver mail from office to office and to customers in rural areas. Chances are you, dear reader, have seen a truck on a highway with "HCR ######" labeled on the back, and not known what it meant.
Since 2000, the Post Office has renamed these routes again, to "Contract Delivery Service" (CDS). But inside the Post Office, many of the contracts and terminology still refer to Star Routes and HCR Routes. My favorite is that even today, if a driver stops and exits the vehicle, it's referred to as ... wait for it .... wait for it ... a DISMOUNT. Yep.
The Pony Express lives on, in modern form!
Definitley in my top 5 creators. Cant say channels, because fact boy has like 50.
AM I RIGHT, PETER?!
This video is great and learned things I didn't already know. I'm originally from the St. Joseph, MO area and have visited the museum/stable many times. While at the station you can also see the home where Jesse James was shot and killed. The house is not at it's original location; however, it's still in the original shape you can even see the bullet hole from where the bullet exited James' head.
St. Joseph, Missouri: Where the Pony Express started and Jesse James ended.
Always cool to see another St. Joe native online.
fun tv show with a young josh brolin
i am a current pony express rider and have been for the 22 years. it runs ever June from st jo Missouri to Sacramento, ca
my ride is out of strawberry, ca in the sierra Nevada to the brockliss bridge out of fresh pond. the national pony express association has a web site and we are always looking for adventurous riders
Can you please make a video about victorian houses in usa
Adjusted for inflation, how much did it cost to send each letter once all expenses are calculated?
For history hounds near Littleton, CO, the Upull parts yard on Highway 85 features a small building near the drop-down driveway ramp which must remain in its location; it was one of the original way stations along the route.
I have always said i don't know why there hasn't been any pony express movies and shows because they could be amazing
Thanks for the report.
Good stuff Great information
When I first learned about the Pony Express I wished I was born back then so I could be a rider! Oh how cool it would have been!!!
Ah to be young again, lol...
6:05 did he say 1951?
Yes
I hope you'll find a title for the video that attracts as many views as this deserves 👏
7:19, it was the Persians that had the first relay system by horseback to deliver messages over their empire 2500 years ago.
10 days ... beats our mail service.
I enjoy the information of the video but the editing has something to be desired.
Excellent 👍
Hello from Kansas 🇺🇸
Very impressive🐎🐴
Nice
Wondering around my town I found a marker that says it was a campsite and stop along the pony express in the salt lake valley
Interesting story. Like it or not, much of what we enjoy today in the USA started by and for the very rich: overnight mail, two way radio - computers in our purses and pockets, air craft, automobiles, surgery, exotic foods, Internet, etc. Thank you for highlighting the bloodshed as first peoples are pushed aside by invaders.
Most innovations are initially geared towards the wealthy. Smart and industrious people expand on those innovations to make them accessible to all. Money drives new ideas and the financial risks they entail, and those brave and imaginative people that take that leap and succeed should be admired and looked to as examples of what our free enterprise system can accomplish.
@@JohnDaker_singer Exactly. Risk takers and free thinkers usually improve life for most.
Pony Bob was awesome
Annals of history, not annuals of history BUT the rest was great....
Bold riders on pony express trail
Rode hard an fast delivering mail
Before telegraph along a train rail
An stories they did tale still prevail
Out running Indians like a bat out of Hell
Why would the man’s death in 1951 have affected the service? @ 6:00
Missouri had 3 stations? Unlikely as St. Joseph was the origination point, the eastern end of the route. St. Joseph sets on the Missouri River which is the western edge of of the state.
Patee House Station (the home office where the riders were housed), Pikes Peak station (the stables currently the Pony Express Museum), and the Missouri River Ferry station where the riders would board a ferry to cross into Kansas. St. Joseph had 3 stations.
This is a history of the Pony Express and not what remains of it.
6:05 1951?
I love your videos, and certainly appreciate the effort it must take to create them as often as you do. However, your vocabulary could use some work. Every video has at least one error. This one had at least three. Untenable, not unattainable, annals, not annuals, and in describing the Pony Express's operational deficit, you said their expenses were $700,000, and "profits" were only $500,000. It should be revenue, not profit, seeing that only positive returns would be considered profit.
1951, eh? 6:05
"1951"?
Editing issues on this one
7:16 they’re Bhutia’s not mongols.
Smoke signal fast.
"RE-lay", not "ruh-LAY"
Would have been funny if the horses were painted pink and had narwhal horns glued to their heads and had their hooves painted with glitter.
There was a glitter shortage in the 1860s.
How many horses died of exhaustion, or heart attacks, the real heroes in this are the horses, not the men.
@Mary Moor, individual horses only went an average of 15 miles. The riders swapped horses very often. No reason for a horse to die.
@@lylecoglianese1645 15 miles at full gallop, will exhaust the horse, after all how hot was it when they are galloping, they didn't do it in the snow, they galloped in the heat of the sun, so even if they did gallop only for 15 miles, it can bring on heat exhaustion, as well dehydration, and it could cause heart murmers. So the horse to me is still more of the hero in this story, then the men.
@@marymoor9293,agreed. That's a very long distance to be running a horse. I doubt many would last after a run like that🤔.
Annuals of history!? 😂
I can see the no drinking and conflicts with coworkers but why No swearing? Riding In brutal heat and getting chased by angry Native Americans. I say they would of had every right in the world to swear. I would swear all day and only turn it off when I got to a rest station or in a town. I would also sneak a swig of alcohol in between rest stops.
You hardly touch on what remains exist. Its a decent history., but you don't deliver on what you promise in the title
Didn’t you watch the video? Many of the images are the actually stations.