The Pony Express
The first ride was April 3, 1860. The first rider is thought to be Johnson William Richardson. Others on the first ride were Don Rising, Jack Keetley, Henry Wallace, and Barney Wintle. The first ride was not impressive as the last rider arrived at Salt Lake City over 18 hours late. At the same time, riders were leaving Sacramento and going east. Somewhere east of Salt Lake City, the two riders met on April 8. The eastbound package arrived at St. Joseph about 4:30 p.m. on April 13. The westbound package arrived at Sacramento in the late evening of April 13.
Everyone said lone riders would never make it because they would be going through hostile Gosh Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone territory, especially in Utah. But for its short life, the Pony Express was a great success. It is not known exactly how many riders and who they were, since many records have been lost. Also, there were not many newspapers in the west to report on the event. One early rider was William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Another was William Campbell, the man that carried a copy of Lincoln's first message to Congress in 1861 to California, delivered in just seven days.
For all its functional success, the Pony Express had its problems. Almost from the start the top executives were squabbling. They each had different visions of the future and each had different notions of when to take risks. This constant challenge to authority hurt operations.
The company was deeply in debt right from the start. It might have remained solvent if it had not been for the Mormon War of 1857. This started when the army dispatched 2,500 men to Utah to bring Brigham Young and the Mormons "in line." At the time, the Russell, Majors, & Waddell firm had the exclusive military contract. They had to transport three million pounds of supplies. This was bad for the firm because it was too late in the year for such a journey, plus all current stocks were already sold. They had to buy 1,000 wagons and equipment, 8,000-10,000 oxen, and pay 1,200 - 1,500 men. It cost over $500,000 of their own money. In the spring of 1858, Russell, Majors, and Waddell presented a bill for $493,553.01 in losses to the government. None of this was ever paid.
On January 11, 1858, the army announced it was sending 3,018 more men to Utah. The firm had to supply this contingent
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