Epic. People were tough, hardworking, and badass back then. They had to pack a pistol to guard against Indians on the warpath destroying lines of communication. Now people gotta pack a pistol bc some greedy ass criminal who gets free section 8 housing, free Obama phones, free food stamps, and free education wants to steal someone’s iPhone.
Born 1845, worked pony express during the 1860's, (60 and 61) died in 1930. The method of firing his piece was called 'gun fanning). Truly a magnificent piece of living history.
you aren’t going to hit anything at full gallop on horseback anyway. today we’d call it suppressing fire to keep the enemy’s head down. The best he could hope for is to be seen as a hard target and left alone.
I am a Korean viewer. I feel like I'm in American history! And I thought English was the same... It's different. In the 1800s, the voices of the American "Wild Western" era felt like they represented the entire American voice. Thank you for posting a truly fascinating and valuable video!
retire so others can work!, I hate people like you who sit in jobs and won't move for the next generation to have opportunities in the same field. Get out of the way.
Maybe an improvement in your attitude would help you find a job. There are many jobs going unfilled right now because people would rather stay home. If you haven't found one, it's probably because of your negativity.
Pony Express riders were widely admired when the service was still active. Mark Twain in his book “Roughing It” describes his excitement at seeing a Pony Express rider when he was a young man on a stagecoach journey out west. “Presently the driver exclaims: "HERE HE COMES!" Every neck is stretched further, and every eye strained wider. Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. Well, I should think so! In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling--sweeping toward us nearer and nearer--growing more and more distinct, more and more sharply defined--nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to the ear--another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm! So sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for the flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on a mail-sack after the vision had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted whether we had seen any actual horse and man at all, maybe.” Mark Twain Roughing It
@@normanham6142 It did. The one route the Pony Express used followed other established trails during various parts of their route including the California, Oregon and Mormon Trails. Mark Twain and his party hoped to see a Pony Express rider during their journey. Some riders had passed them during the night so they missed seeing them. They were actually looking for one that day and the stagecoach driver, who was used to seeing them, was helping them to spot the one they eventually saw.
Most guys I grew up as kids loved the idea having been able to ride the pony express ( me included) through storm and Indians. It was high drama to us kids. This guy knew the unglamorous reality of job.
from all the thing i could say about the videos on this channel, the most interesting thing to me is the way people used to speak. loud, clear, no filler words, with breaks in between which clearly represent the end of a sencente or a comma. you could say it sounds more thoughtful.
Yes I agree.. No ego laced language there, just a whole lot of humility.. And this man may have never even attended school. If they were fortunate to go there were not many distractions like in today's world..
At that time you thought about what you said before you said it and you only spoke in facts so there was nothing to invent therefore requiring less fillers
@@circusbrains Not so much of that as it is that not everyone dresses a stereotypical way from the past. Look up "1860s men's fashion" or research it, and you'll see specific patterns in what people wear. Doesn't stop the fact there's many pictures of people wearing modern-looking suits and ties from the time.
Love that bewildered look this former rough riding pony rider gives that automobile of modern convenience and luxury zooming behind him. The ways of yesterday and the way of tomorrow collide.
Wow, what a cool relic from the past! That guy's life span encompassed so much change... Lucky he lived long enough to tell some of his stories on film
Absolutely. He saw the first trains, the first electricity, the first radio broadcast, cinema, cars and motorcycles, and the first man to fly, and he also witnessed the horrors of the American Civil War, and the First World War. This guy lived a life like no other.
"The Mail goes through just the same" he said...learned that when I was 16 in 1970 and got a part time job working at the Post Office before School- (4-7a.m.)--they paid me like an adult and we still wore the patch of the Pony Express at the time. We picked up, sorted, delivered that mail no matter the elements, the mail load or anything.. His legacy of that spirit stayed on. What a legend.
My great-grandpa rode on the pony express at that time. He had 13 kids. The youngest was my grandpa. They had 14 kids. The 9th was my mom. Then she had me late in life. So my great-grandpa was born about 140 years before I was born.
@@CattooButt Did you know him well? My grandparents were between 1885 and 1895. My mom's mom was the youngest. I remember her before she died in 1978 and was 83. But I didn't get to speak to her at great length. None of the rest lived long lives. They all died long before I was born.
@@barnabascee1889 I can’t say that I knew him well although I did meet him a few times. mostly when I was an infant and young child. Again when I was about 12 or 14 I think around there. I met him again when I was 19 after graduating Boot Camp Dec 19 ‘86 I went down to FL and visited them for a couple of weeks. During the teen years he gave me some old books on radios and building homemade antenna as he was amongst other interests, a ham radio operator. Because of this I got my amateur radio license at age 13 and we kind of bonded through that a bit. He seemed a stern guy he didn’t really talk to you so much as he talked at you. He kept busy. Phd in medical field(don’t recall), was a professor at university of Illinois, was a fledging chemist who made ladies perfumes, built an ocean going steel hulled sailing vessel amongst other things. For all that I don’t think he had money put away if he did he didn’t leave any to family.
@@electrichellion5946 He sounds really interesting. My grandma was very much a mother and grandmother. She wrote poetry (well) and apparently was a good piano player. She also made all of my mom's clothes when she was a kid by hand, making her own patterns based on the latest styles. She was so good at this everyone accused my mom of having a secret link to a rich person who could buy her very expensive dresses. She had 8 daughters and did this for all of them.
@@barnabascee1889 My grandpas dad was a son of A. T. Still who is the founder of Osteopathy. I like to think Naturopath also. Having given room and board to a passerby at one point for sometime the fella up and went back to D. C. Where it seems that he announced a new medical practice he had “discovered” and it worked so well this older man out west Missouri way had copied his methodology and was some sort of quack and not to be given time to have his say. Any way that’s the way I understand in the briefest of banter here on how the chiropractic way of doing things was started but only the cracking part. Perhaps I’m way off on my thinking processes or the remembering part but my thumbnail/profile pic is of my great great grandfather the founder of Osteopathy.
Tough old bird and proud, genuine article, what intrigues me in these old videos is also the accent not at all like American accent now, its kind of high and singsong, ive heard it many times
Interesting observation. Civil war vets talked that way too, in recordings. Don't know if it has a name or has been studied but prob has. This guy and other Americans like him prob weren't educated which would show in the grammar, diction, and elocution. Politicians, lawyers, and business types would prob speak formally in a more oratorical style. There are no recordings of early 19th century voices but they were prob similar and that may have been the way George Washington and his Revolutionary War era contemporaries sounded, with strong British influence as many were foreign born ex-pats or grew up in first gen households.
@Martin George Actually, watch old American movies and you can hear they were different. The British influence in speech was still a bit pronounced. You can hear it in videos like this of old timers from the 1800s and early 1900's. There are a surprising amount of recorded history around where you can hear the difference. There are a number of regional accents in the USA where the residents never lost their English accent, like some of the outer banks in North Carolina. You would almost swear you were home. There are some differences that you can hear that would make it unique even with all the different accents all over the UK, but in the whole, there is no mistaken their origin.
Wow, this guy was amazing. My great, great grandfather was Mayor of New Orleans during the 1860’s living the politician lifestyle in comparison to the arduous work men like Richard Clarke did daily. Awesome job with these videos!
Wow you see that reaction to the car passing by at 1:30...he was on guard ready to fire. Pure instinct and possibly some trauma from what was a dangerous job...wow
I am now living 1/2 mile NW of the Pony Express Trail, in EL DORADO County, Northern CA. Actually ate breakfast at the national landmark restaurant this morning Sportsmans Bar, on Pony Exoress Trail. Great food, wonderfully nice staff & many details about the Pony Ex Press memorabilia on the walls inside & plaques outside. Fascinating site!!!
People don't appreciate how difficult and life threatening these jobs were for all involved. You had to be able to protect yourself because no one was around to help out. That's why pony express riders were orphans. If you got killed, no one would miss you. Today people take everything for granted.
Just amazing listening to these old timers that lived that life. Makes me feel good that films with sound came in time to listen to these folks tell their stories in their own words.
Fanning the revolver was the most inaccurate shooting technique, but he used it to show how dangerous the situation could get. Spraying bullets as fast as possible until they run out was all he could to at times to protect himself against enemies. One tough man.
Spray and pray is a joke of a way to shoot. Putting shots on target is all that matters. Studies show the winner is the one who first lands a shot, this will rattle the injured to the point where he is useless and will usually end up the loser.
@@w.harrison7277 think of it more like suppressing fire. If you're flying by on your horse the best thing is to force the Indian to stop chasing to take cover which gives you time to get ahead and away. If you stop to duel it out you're probably dead when his buddies show up.
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN I didn't say he was just 8 years shy of being one hundred years old. I said he was just 8 years shy of being a hundred years ago when this was filmed (in 1929).
@@SStupendous Yeah. When I was a kid in 1965, the things that were a hundred years ago were Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Now THAT was "a hundred years ago." But now a hundred years ago is a time of planes, cars, radios, movies, jazz, and cities lit up with electric lights. It just ain't the same.
This is so awesome. I wish we had been able to capture people who lived during the 1700's/American Revolution with photography and video. I know that there are a handful of pictures of men taken during the 1800's that fought in the American Revolution, they were very old.
I'm so thankful for the generations of very clever and hardworking people that came before me that make this way of life possible. Yes, people were tougher back then but that doesn't mean they were "better"; to wish to return to that time of hardship would be an insult to the hard work they did for us. We stand on the backs of giants.
Love his hat with the rattlesnake hatband. Love to hear the story on it. I'm so glad I stumbled across this channel I could listen to the ol timers all day. Y'all stay safe and God bless
What an amazing piece of living history. And he’s fast on the six-guns too. Can’t even begin to imagine how much he’s been through during those times. 🤠👍🏼
The Pony Express route is just two blocks from my house -- between Old Sacramento and the first station at Mills. A month after it all began, the railroad that ran parallel to the first miles of the route was completed and that portion was covered by the train.
I never thought I'd see an aunthentic 1860s cowbow shoot a revolver the way that so many tales about them used to protray it! Thanks for this video, and for keeping history alive.
It's great to see those old-timers, but I'm totally digging the background. Is that a dobro or a slide? To the youngsters watching these, it must seem ordinary and rather commonplace to see someone speaking on camera, and the black and white is rather quaint. But I marvel at the fact that someone got a big, bulky camera, and the massive sound equipment, sync'd, no less, and travelled the country to get these fellers in their dotage, before their stories were lost forever. Mahalo Plenty for posting this one and all of the others. Bless 'em all, much Aloha.
What a incredible history video.. first thing I noticed was his character of the face..he had the look not seen since that Era or of the future generations since him.. it's like ole plantation houses, they don't have the look of nowaday homes no matter how hard they may try to duplicate..he lived a interesting incredible life with frontiersmen, back when Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, mountain men and Indians roamed the West states.. I'm very impressed hearing him talk.. thank u sharing.. from South Carolina
Recent subscriber here- Love your channel!! Thanks for bringing us good wholesome unedited videos. Clean talk. Straight and true. How it used to be. God bless you!!
A fine addition to the collection. I could only wish that he had stood up in full view, so we could estimate size and weight. I have read that the riders were typically about 135 lbs. and 5'7" at most in deference to what the horses could carry for 20 or 25 miles.
they were also basically kids. based on given dates, this man was 16 or 17 when he rode Pony Express. He was probably 120 pounds with rocks in his pockets.
Up near Troy KS there is a cut-out, life sized statue of a rider going full speed in the middle of a field next to the highway. No sign or anything. Just a shadow passing by
Pony Express riders were all under the age of 18, skinny, short and wiry. Orphans were preferred. They made $25 a week which in today's dollars is $3550 a month. Good money for a young teenager. There were like 150 posts along the way from Missouri to California. The riders would ride from their home station (usually a hotel) stopping every 15 miles to change horses and finish around 100 miles away. They would wait there until the mail came the other way and then back to their home station. The Pony Express only lasted a short while like a year because of the new invention called the Telegraph came along. If this guy was with Custer, he was probably with the Benteen or Crooks outfits or he would be dead. Most don't realize that battle spanned several days and dozens of miles.
My Great Great Grandfather was a pony express rider in Wyoming. He had 2 run ins with native Americans. He got away both times, but had his favorite horse stolen the 2nd time. It brought him to tears. He had to do the rest on foot. It was near rock springs Wyoming I believe. Before joining the pony express, he was captured by the Mormon army, and kept for a month or so, then eventually let him go. He met Brigham young, and one of his daughters, Vilate.
I had an ancestor who was a Pony Express Rider. Eventually, he married a Native American woman and returned to the Eastern U.S. where his family was from and they raised their family.
He still has a tactical mindset, his 6th sense kicked in when, right behind him, he turned his head as that car whizzed by, no doubt from subconscious encounters years ago as a pony express rider
Film guys probably arranged to have blanks in that 1873; probably 44-40. That was a blank much used in Hollywood cowboy shoot-em-ups. Didn't see much recoil, that's a give away.
I had thought that the US Postal service had gone back to the pony express but apparently I was wrong. Those old guys were MUCH MUCH more determined and dedicated to getting the mail through and delivered on time!!
Now that's what I am talking about! They didn't whine about lunch breaks, extra extra days off for every holiday in the world. It was an adventure. It was protocol. It was what the rest of us do. Work for a damn living & appreciate we have a job at all! How many of us would love to take a mail job today & be set. Gov't funds & deals & benefits & all included. To put paper in a box.
When the pony express ended many of them went to the newly formed Border because they were accustomed to life and death challenges and they were a force to be reckoned with.
Born in 1845 and rode with the Pony Express... The Pony Express only operated from 1860 to 1861, which means this man was around 16-years-old when he did that. Can you imagine any teenager today taking on that kind of danger and responsibility? It's almost unimaginable. And that's only ONE of the things he did! By the way, the Pony Express could get mail from the East Coast to the West Coast in 10 days! The USPS can barely do that now!
Would have been nice to hear him talk about his experience on the battle Of Little Big Horn. He obviosly fought longside Custer as mentioned above. But every one of Custes men was wiped out on the hill. I guess Richard Clarke was either with Reno or Benteen. Wonder if there is a longer interview with this badass Oldtimer
This is the closest to any character I've seen theat actually looks like a dude from a western or the wild west. Incredible thing to see to someone from my day and age.
![Wyatt Earp's Nephew, Virgil Earp, Talks About the Wild West - Enhanced Video and Audio [60 fps]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cR7EBBXcQUg/mqdefault.jpg)
A year later he passed away…this is the first and last film of him. Hundred years later, he was watched by people of the future.
@@cloo2937 his story is form over 150 yrs
A scrape from history shown to us on social media but filmed at at a time when celluloid was all the rage.
Epic. People were tough, hardworking, and badass back then. They had to pack a pistol to guard against Indians on the warpath destroying lines of communication. Now people gotta pack a pistol bc some greedy ass criminal who gets free section 8 housing, free Obama phones, free food stamps, and free education wants to steal someone’s iPhone.
And respected and admired… Rest in peace
@@asbestosfibers1325
I believe there is a balance live for today prepare for tomorrow and remember the past… More importantly be content in your life
Born 1845, worked pony express during the 1860's, (60 and 61) died in 1930. The method of firing his piece was called 'gun fanning). Truly a magnificent piece of living history.
More like," spraying and praying," but too soon you out of shells.
you aren’t going to hit anything at full gallop on horseback anyway. today we’d call it suppressing fire to keep the enemy’s head down. The best he could hope for is to be seen as a hard target and left alone.
I think most people that watch stuff like this know what fanning is lol ☺️
@@jwilsonhandmadeknives2760 exactly
@@ElHombreGato so? most isn't all, there is nothing wrong with saying something for the people that don't.
I'm so thankful people in the 1920's and 30's had the wherewithal to record this for posterity
I'll bet that old timer was one TOUGH DUDE all day long. I'm glad someone had the foresight to interview him before he passed.
Could you imagine if he seen the kids from this generation? man buns skinny jeans and hurt feelings lol 😂
@@johnpogany2444 GO ahead...tell him you're offended
I wonder of many women he had ?
Probably a alot haha @@bardo0007
I am a Korean viewer.
I feel like I'm in American history! And I thought English was the same... It's different.
In the 1800s, the voices of the American "Wild Western" era felt like they represented the entire American voice.
Thank you for posting a truly fascinating and valuable video!
As a still active rural mail carrier ( 30+ years ) and a farmer, I really enjoy these historic videos. Thanks for posting.
retire so others can work!, I hate people like you who sit in jobs and won't move for the next generation to have opportunities in the same field. Get out of the way.
Wow, how mean somebody needs Jesus besides a job.
Maybe an improvement in your attitude would help you find a job. There are many jobs going unfilled right now because people would rather stay home. If you haven't found one, it's probably because of your negativity.
@@Mrwatchdog1000 You are a disgraceful human..... YOU GET OUT OF THE WAY!
@@Mrwatchdog1000 I guess your parents never taught you how to be respectful? Could be why you don’t have a job because of your nasty attitude!
Pony Express riders were widely admired when the service was still active. Mark Twain in his book “Roughing It” describes his excitement at seeing a Pony Express rider when he was a young man on a stagecoach journey out west.
“Presently the driver exclaims: "HERE HE COMES!" Every neck is stretched further, and every eye strained wider. Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. Well, I should think so! In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling--sweeping toward us nearer and nearer--growing more and more distinct, more and more sharply defined--nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to the ear--another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm! So sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for the flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on a mail-sack after the vision had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted whether we had seen any actual horse and man at all, maybe.”
Mark Twain
Roughing It
Maybe that Stagecoach used the same trail.
@@normanham6142 It did. The one route the Pony Express used followed other established trails during various parts of their route including the California, Oregon and Mormon Trails. Mark Twain and his party hoped to see a Pony Express rider during their journey. Some riders had passed them during the night so they missed seeing them. They were actually looking for one that day and the stagecoach driver, who was used to seeing them, was helping them to spot the one they eventually saw.
Most guys I grew up as kids loved the idea having been able to ride the pony express ( me included) through storm and Indians. It was high drama to us kids. This guy knew the unglamorous reality of job.
Well, that was pretty well written, I hope that fella;' made a try at writing for a living!
Thanks!
from all the thing i could say about the videos on this channel, the most interesting thing to me is the way people used to speak.
loud, clear, no filler words, with breaks in between which clearly represent the end of a sencente or a comma.
you could say it sounds more thoughtful.
Yes I agree.. No ego laced language there, just a whole lot of humility.. And this man may have never even attended school. If they were fortunate to go there were not many distractions like in today's world..
At that time you thought about what you said before you said it and you only spoke in facts so there was nothing to invent therefore requiring less fillers
@@FurbyGender yes, people of that time spoke in sound bites. But they were sound bites of truth. We are all liars now.
Excellent comment.
I wonder if anyone ever told him thank you. Told him how important he was. For his job and for history.
A Doctor acquaintance from China told us:
_"Do not thank! Worker has a job, plus gets paid for it, so that is thanks already."_
He knew
He was famous probably. I don’t know
This was one of the most fascinating things I've seen. 84 years old and look at that long hair! In 1929 when all men were supposed to be "clean cut".
@@circusbrains Not so much of that as it is that not everyone dresses a stereotypical way from the past. Look up "1860s men's fashion" or research it, and you'll see specific patterns in what people wear. Doesn't stop the fact there's many pictures of people wearing modern-looking suits and ties from the time.
Love that bewildered look this former rough riding pony rider gives that automobile of modern convenience and luxury zooming behind him. The ways of yesterday and the way of tomorrow collide.
Wow, what a cool relic from the past! That guy's life span encompassed so much change... Lucky he lived long enough to tell some of his stories on film
I'm like "how'd I end up here, cool video tho" then saw wonder hussy and realized YT algorithms are at work ..lol 🖖🏽
@@joehernandez3269 sometimes they lead to good discoveries!
@@Wonderhussy agreed
Absolutely. He saw the first trains, the first electricity, the first radio broadcast, cinema, cars and motorcycles, and the first man to fly, and he also witnessed the horrors of the American Civil War, and the First World War. This guy lived a life like no other.
@@Wonderhussy your channel is cool!
When the car passed by, it was interesting to see his instincts take hold....very fascinating piece of psychology
"The Mail goes through just the same" he said...learned that when I was 16 in 1970 and got a part time job working at the Post Office before School- (4-7a.m.)--they paid me like an adult and we still wore the patch of the Pony Express at the time. We picked up, sorted, delivered that mail no matter the elements, the mail load or anything.. His legacy of that spirit stayed on. What a legend.
Not quite the same was it ? 🙄
My great-grandpa rode on the pony express at that time. He had 13 kids. The youngest was my grandpa. They had 14 kids. The 9th was my mom. Then she had me late in life. So my great-grandpa was born about 140 years before I was born.
One of my grandfathers was born back in 1898
@@CattooButt Did you know him well? My grandparents were between 1885 and 1895. My mom's mom was the youngest. I remember her before she died in 1978 and was 83. But I didn't get to speak to her at great length. None of the rest lived long lives. They all died long before I was born.
@@barnabascee1889 I can’t say that I knew him well although I did meet him a few times. mostly when I was an infant and young child. Again when I was about 12 or 14 I think around there. I met him again when I was 19 after graduating Boot Camp Dec 19 ‘86 I went down to FL and visited them for a couple of weeks. During the teen years he gave me some old books on radios and building homemade antenna as he was amongst other interests, a ham radio operator. Because of this I got my amateur radio license at age 13 and we kind of bonded through that a bit. He seemed a stern guy he didn’t really talk to you so much as he talked at you. He kept busy. Phd in medical field(don’t recall), was a professor at university of Illinois, was a fledging chemist who made ladies perfumes, built an ocean going steel hulled sailing vessel amongst other things. For all that I don’t think he had money put away if he did he didn’t leave any to family.
@@electrichellion5946 He sounds really interesting. My grandma was very much a mother and grandmother. She wrote poetry (well) and apparently was a good piano player. She also made all of my mom's clothes when she was a kid by hand, making her own patterns based on the latest styles. She was so good at this everyone accused my mom of having a secret link to a rich person who could buy her very expensive dresses. She had 8 daughters and did this for all of them.
@@barnabascee1889 My grandpas dad was a son of A. T. Still who is the founder of Osteopathy. I like to think Naturopath also. Having given room and board to a passerby at one point for sometime the fella up and went back to D. C. Where it seems that he announced a new medical practice he had “discovered” and it worked so well this older man out west Missouri way had copied his methodology and was some sort of quack and not to be given time to have his say. Any way that’s the way I understand in the briefest of banter here on how the chiropractic way of doing things was started but only the cracking part. Perhaps I’m way off on my thinking processes or the remembering part but my thumbnail/profile pic is of my great great grandfather the founder of Osteopathy.
Tough old bird and proud, genuine article, what intrigues me in these old videos is also the accent not at all like American accent now, its kind of high and singsong, ive heard it many times
Interesting observation. Civil war vets talked that way too, in recordings. Don't know if it has a name or has been studied but prob has. This guy and other Americans like him prob weren't educated which would show in the grammar, diction, and elocution. Politicians, lawyers, and business types would prob speak formally in a more oratorical style. There are no recordings of early 19th century voices but they were prob similar and that may have been the way George Washington and his Revolutionary War era contemporaries sounded, with strong British influence as many were foreign born ex-pats or grew up in first gen households.
You also have to remember that the people of the nation still spoke many different languages too. English, German, Dutch, French, and so on.
@Martin George Actually, watch old American movies and you can hear they were different. The British influence in speech was still a bit pronounced. You can hear it in videos like this of old timers from the 1800s and early 1900's. There are a surprising amount of recorded history around where you can hear the difference. There are a number of regional accents in the USA where the residents never lost their English accent, like some of the outer banks in North Carolina. You would almost swear you were home. There are some differences that you can hear that would make it unique even with all the different accents all over the UK, but in the whole, there is no mistaken their origin.
Wow, this guy was amazing. My great, great grandfather was Mayor of New Orleans during the 1860’s living the politician lifestyle in comparison to the arduous work men like Richard Clarke did daily. Awesome job with these videos!
Wow you see that reaction to the car passing by at 1:30...he was on guard ready to fire. Pure instinct and possibly some trauma from what was a dangerous job...wow
I am now living 1/2 mile NW of the Pony Express Trail, in EL DORADO County, Northern CA.
Actually ate breakfast at the national landmark restaurant this morning Sportsmans Bar, on Pony Exoress Trail. Great food, wonderfully nice staff & many details about the Pony Ex Press memorabilia on the walls inside & plaques outside. Fascinating site!!!
People don't appreciate how difficult and life threatening these jobs were for all involved. You had to be able to protect yourself because no one was around to help out. That's why pony express riders were orphans. If you got killed, no one would miss you. Today people take everything for granted.
like driving on the LA freeways today you take your live in your hands
the advertisement for express riders included "Orphans Preferred "
@@joejacko1587 yes ! and I do it on a motorcycle 🏍💀☠🇺🇲🪂🪖🏍
How do you know they don't appreciate it?
@@jessickalush3305 it's true, I don't appreciate it
Thanks For Posting Such A Bit Of Great Classic History, Especially That Rider In The Pony Express.
Just amazing listening to these old timers that lived that life. Makes me feel good that films with sound came in time to listen to these folks tell their stories in their own words.
Fanning the revolver was the most inaccurate shooting technique, but he used it to show how dangerous the situation could get. Spraying bullets as fast as possible until they run out was all he could to at times to protect himself against enemies. One tough man.
I think he is just flexing in front of the camera. Of course they had a dangerous job but it is unlikely that he did not know how to shoot properly.
Spray and pray is a joke of a way to shoot. Putting shots on target is all that matters. Studies show the winner is the one who first lands a shot, this will rattle the injured to the point where he is useless and will usually end up the loser.
@@w.harrison7277 think of it more like suppressing fire. If you're flying by on your horse the best thing is to force the Indian to stop chasing to take cover which gives you time to get ahead and away. If you stop to duel it out you're probably dead when his buddies show up.
@@bobkelso5681 Yeah, I think he was gilding it a little. And if that was live ammunition, it is a pretty dangerous thing to do with people around.
Yeah, everyone thinks fanning was popular because they grew up watching it on t.v. and in the movies.
There that guy is just 8 years shy of a hundred years ago, and he's looking perfectly hip and in fashion.
Nope he was 86 years old
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN I didn't say he was just 8 years shy of being one hundred years old. I said he was just 8 years shy of being a hundred years ago when this was filmed (in 1929).
@@yowzephyr Insane to think the 1920s are coming to a century plus ago
@@SStupendous Yeah. When I was a kid in 1965, the things that were a hundred years ago were Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Now THAT was "a hundred years ago." But now a hundred years ago is a time of planes, cars, radios, movies, jazz, and cities lit up with electric lights. It just ain't the same.
@@yowzephyr Weird to think about. My dad, when he was born, the oldest person in the world was born in 1845. Time flies.
This is so awesome. I wish we had been able to capture people who lived during the 1700's/American Revolution with photography and video. I know that there are a handful of pictures of men taken during the 1800's that fought in the American Revolution, they were very old.
Conrad Heyer and Lemuel Cook stand out in my memory.
Don't forget Joe Biden
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN Nah bro, these veterans would've still been sharper at 105
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN
That's right ! and there are even some colour photos of that one.
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN In Joe Biden's good ol' days, in the 1700's, he didn't have to go so close to sniff kids...He could smell people from 6 feet away!
I'm so thankful for the generations of very clever and hardworking people that came before me that make this way of life possible. Yes, people were tougher back then but that doesn't mean they were "better"; to wish to return to that time of hardship would be an insult to the hard work they did for us.
We stand on the backs of giants.
Love his hat with the rattlesnake hatband. Love to hear the story on it. I'm so glad I stumbled across this channel I could listen to the ol timers all day. Y'all stay safe and God bless
Priceless video. Thanks so much!
What an amazing piece of living history. And he’s fast on the six-guns too. Can’t even begin to imagine how much he’s been through during those times. 🤠👍🏼
So glad somebody thought to talk with him. Thanks for sharing.
This was so AWESOME!!
I wish the interview had lasted longer! The things that man could have told us about. ❤
The Pony Express route is just two blocks from my house -- between Old Sacramento and the first station at Mills. A month after it all began, the railroad that ran parallel to the first miles of the route was completed and that portion was covered by the train.
I never thought I'd see an aunthentic 1860s cowbow shoot a revolver the way that so many tales about them used to protray it! Thanks for this video, and for keeping history alive.
So he rode those trails at the age of 15-16! Wow! I had to get permission to travel within my city when I was 16
Different times… Much
@@sotiriospapafragkou4422 lol I got on the subway and went downtown all by myself when I was 8. No big deal.
I wish I could have sat and talked to him..heard more stories...cool guy
That's a tough dude
Imagine the adventures that man had! Awesome!
It's great to see those old-timers, but I'm totally digging the background. Is that a dobro or a slide? To the youngsters watching these, it must seem ordinary and rather commonplace to see someone speaking on camera, and the black and white is rather quaint. But I marvel at the fact that someone got a big, bulky camera, and the massive sound equipment, sync'd, no less, and travelled the country to get these fellers in their dotage, before their stories were lost forever. Mahalo Plenty for posting this one and all of the others. Bless 'em all, much Aloha.
Sounds a great deal like Bron-Yr-Stomp
A slide used on a steel string acoustic guitar. Perhaps a 12-string.
What a incredible history video.. first thing I noticed was his character of the face..he had the look not seen since that Era or of the future generations since him.. it's like ole plantation houses, they don't have the look of nowaday homes no matter how hard they may try to duplicate..he lived a interesting incredible life with frontiersmen, back when Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, mountain men and Indians roamed the West states.. I'm very impressed hearing him talk.. thank u sharing.. from South Carolina
Freaking car just driving in the back of this old video. Really just crazy how everything overlapped like that.
@mark rapacki No where near a Jeep Cherokee. Look again, before your mind makes up some nonsense...
His generation certainly saw a ton of change. This video is a perfect illustration of that.
Amazing video! Thank you
Amazing content. The past isn't as far away as it seems.
Amazing! Thanks for posting. 👍🏻
Firing a gun mid interview. Legend
Recent subscriber here- Love your channel!!
Thanks for bringing us good wholesome unedited videos. Clean talk. Straight and true. How it used to be.
God bless you!!
He lived the Wild West. I wonder what he'd think about the world if he could see it now.
He'd probably get violently ill.😡🤬🤢🤮
@@texasgirl6000 Yep. Yep.
He’d surely be freaked out at the over population of the planet. Women just gotta have kids, lots of kids.
@jherl8307 it's not even close to " overpopulated "
@@csfsangleThere is still way too many people on this planet. Would be better if there were less than 2 billion total
A fine addition to the collection. I could only wish that he had stood up in full view, so we could estimate size and weight. I have read that the riders were typically about 135 lbs. and 5'7" at most in deference to what the horses could carry for 20 or 25 miles.
they were also basically kids. based on given dates, this man was 16 or 17 when he rode Pony Express. He was probably 120 pounds with rocks in his pockets.
I love to hear & see how things were in the past. These are great videos!
Up near Troy KS there is a cut-out, life sized statue of a rider going full speed in the middle of a field next to the highway.
No sign or anything. Just a shadow passing by
This is really history. Love it. This fills my spirit with joy. Hope his family is living strong
Pony Express riders were all under the age of 18, skinny, short and wiry. Orphans were preferred. They made $25 a week which in today's dollars is $3550 a month. Good money for a young teenager. There were like 150 posts along the way from Missouri to California. The riders would ride from their home station (usually a hotel) stopping every 15 miles to change horses and finish around 100 miles away. They would wait there until the mail came the other way and then back to their home station. The Pony Express only lasted a short while like a year because of the new invention called the Telegraph came along. If this guy was with Custer, he was probably with the Benteen or Crooks outfits or he would be dead. Most don't realize that battle spanned several days and dozens of miles.
A real life man from the wild west, crazy to think how much things changed during his life
I loved that little outtake with the car lol!
My Great Great Grandfather was a pony express rider in Wyoming. He had 2 run ins with native Americans. He got away both times, but had his favorite horse stolen the 2nd time. It brought him to tears. He had to do the rest on foot. It was near rock springs Wyoming I believe.
Before joining the pony express, he was captured by the Mormon army, and kept for a month or so, then eventually let him go. He met Brigham young, and one of his daughters, Vilate.
This is ridiculously amazing!
Wonderful living history of an age and about people who did it tough. Respect from Australia.
This channel is amazing. It’s fascinating to see the people of the past.
Beyond cool! Fascinating.
Now that's a tough bugger that's why he lived to 84 years old bet he had seen some major hardships bless him 🙏
Boy he knew how to turn that single action revolver,into a semi auto 👍
I had an ancestor who was a Pony Express Rider. Eventually, he married a Native American woman and returned to the Eastern U.S. where his family was from and they raised their family.
Does anyone speak the Native American language?
This is TH-cam gold.
Instantly subscribed.
I live on the Pony Express this is awesome thank you
It also shows how authentic most of our old cowboy films were
Mark Twain gives a brilliant description of Express life in Roughing It
I wonder how many people viewing this knows that the pony express only lasted for 18 months.
Very good video, cheers from Morocco!
During the outtake when he drew his pistol I thought he was going to shoot the driver of the Car 😆
God bless you and your channel, Michael ❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏👏🏻👍👍🇺🇸
Thank you for your kind words!
@@Lifeinthe1800s : You are very, very welcome ❤️❤️❤️👍
I could list to these types of videos all day
I had no doubt he was about to crack off a round at that car. 😂
I am... Actually kind of happy he, in a way, gets to live on forever as this cowboy. No matter what came of his soul. And he doesn't even know it.
This man lived through the Civil war and Lincoln's assassination
His voice was much different than ours today
Sounds more British. Southern Californian accent influenced other Americans' style of speaking through Hollywood
These guys rode thousands of miles from Missouri to Sacramento CA. Just incredible.
He still has a tactical mindset, his 6th sense kicked in when, right behind him, he turned his head as that car whizzed by, no doubt from subconscious encounters years ago as a pony express rider
I love this channel ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
old boy was a little squirrely with that revolver! lol
No kidding man my uncle went to jail acting the same way lol. Thought dude was gonna blow his foot off lol
Film guys probably arranged to have blanks in that 1873; probably 44-40. That was a blank much used in Hollywood cowboy shoot-em-ups. Didn't see much recoil, that's a give away.
Only one cameraman was shot while filming that video.
He fanned that hammer like a pro, at his age.
I had thought that the US Postal service had gone back to the pony express but apparently I was wrong. Those old guys were MUCH MUCH more determined and dedicated to getting the mail through and delivered on time!!
👏👏👏👏👏👍
Now that's what I am talking about! They didn't whine about lunch breaks, extra extra days off for every holiday in the world.
It was an adventure. It was protocol. It was what the rest of us do. Work for a damn living & appreciate we have a job at all!
How many of us would love to take a mail job today & be set. Gov't funds & deals & benefits & all included. To put paper in a box.
Young people need to see this to see how fare we have come and remind them we can go back that way.
Maybe we should go back that way...back when you found a piece of land claimed it and built a home for yourself using a screwdriver and a toothpic
When the pony express ended many of them went to the newly formed Border because they were accustomed to life and death challenges and they were a force to be reckoned with.
What a legend from the past,I liked his sense of humour
Love these videos
Now that’s what I call a mailman!
Loved it! 😍
That guy still had his Wild West mullet to the end. Total badass!
He probably couldn't afford a haircut plane and simple
A true gunslinger once he noticed the car he did a stealthy Quickdraw then turned his head slowly the things he must've seen
Pony Express riders were young men (13-17).... some just barely out of boyhood. This old guy was talking about a time way past gone, even for him..
Born in 1845 and rode with the Pony Express... The Pony Express only operated from 1860 to 1861, which means this man was around 16-years-old when he did that. Can you imagine any teenager today taking on that kind of danger and responsibility? It's almost unimaginable. And that's only ONE of the things he did! By the way, the Pony Express could get mail from the East Coast to the West Coast in 10 days! The USPS can barely do that now!
Dude fanning that revolver is wild. He's still got it.
Would have been nice to hear him talk about his experience on the battle Of Little Big Horn. He obviosly fought longside Custer as mentioned above. But every one of Custes men was wiped out on the hill. I guess Richard Clarke was either with Reno or Benteen. Wonder if there is a longer interview with this badass Oldtimer
We take so many things for granted. We forget about the sacrifices and the bravery of our forefathers.
Love it.
he lived to be 95, thats incredible,times are not like this anymore, unbelievable to make it that long on the farm
Very cool video!
Wow! Had no idea how dangerous it was,hence I was here.
He seemed like a great man!!!
Great stuff. Treasure
This is the closest to any character I've seen theat actually looks like a dude from a western or the wild west. Incredible thing to see to someone from my day and age.
My father in law owns a pony express station in colorado, it's been turned into a house now with parts added on.
Thanks for the time machine.