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THE PONY EXPRESS: A Landmark Book by Samuel Hopkins Adams Kirkus Star

THE PONY EXPRESS: A Landmark Book

By

Publisher: Random House

A dashing, dramatic account of the thrilling nineteen months of the operation of the Pony Express, by the popular and prolific author and historian. Again as in The California Gold Rush the excitement of the old west is caught in brief anecdotal episodes and a simply realized historical setting. The author follows the Pony Express from its formation by Russell, Majors and Waddell, through the elaborate preparations -- buying the best horses, hiring the finest riders, acquiring the necessary equipment; the start on April 3rd, 1860, from St. Joseph and San Francisco with bands playing and people cheering the enterprise that would strengthen the link between East and West in the least possible time; the months of storms, Indians, and unbelievable heroism in men and horses -- to the ignominious end, with government support of another enterprise, lack of funds and the jailing of one of the partners. A vivid tribute to one of the most romantic episodes in our history.