Off Like the Wind!

Off Like the Wind!
Author: Michael P. Spradlin
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-03-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780802796530

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.

West Like Lightning

West Like Lightning
Author: Jim DeFelice
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2018-05-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0062496794

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.

On the Pony Express Trail

On the Pony Express Trail
Author: Scott Alumbaugh
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2023-06-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1493068709

The Pony Express has a hold on the American imagination wildly out of proportion to its actual role in the history of the West. The system of transporting mail to California by a relay of lone riders on swift horses ran less than eighteen months in 1860-1861 and failed by every measure of success. Nevertheless, it has become the most iconic symbol of the West. Scott Alumbaugh was so taken with the Pony Express that at age 62 he bikepacked 1,400 miles of the trail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Salt Lake City, Utah. Alumbaugh’s journey took five weeks on a route that was mostly off-road, sometimes through remote territory. Along the way he came to see the celebrated Pony Express as a collection of fables based on a few historical facts and reshaped into a symbol of the spirit that “won the West.” On The Pony Express Trail: One Man’s Bikepacking Journey to Discover History from a Different Kind of Saddle recounts Scott Alumbaugh’s experience bikepacking the Pony Express Trail during the summer of 2021. The narrative follows his day-to-day experiences and impressions—the challenges, the sites he visited, the country he rode through, and the interactions with the people he met—while taking a fresh look at the real Pony Express in the context of mid-1800s historical events along the trail: The Mexican-American, Utah, and Paiute Wars; the California and Pike’s Peak gold rushes; the overland emigration of hundreds of thousands to Oregon and California; the exodus of tens of thousands of Mormons to Utah; and the increasingly contentious fight over slavery along with the looming threat of civil war.

Riders of the Pony Express

Riders of the Pony Express
Author: Ralph Moody
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 1958-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780803235984

Chronicles the eighteen-month operation of the Pony Express, explaining why and how it was created, describing the challenges faced by riders, and discussing.

They're Off!

They're Off!
Author: Cheryl Harness
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780689851216

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.

Expressly Yours, Samantha

Expressly Yours, Samantha
Author: Becky Lower
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2015-03-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1440578966

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

Historic Resource Study

Historic Resource Study
Author: Anthony Godfrey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 306
Release: 1994
Genre: Historic sites
ISBN:

"The intent of this Historic Resource Study (HRS) of the Pony Express National Historic Trail is threefold: 1) to provide basic information to assist in the preparation of the trail comprehensive management plan (CMP) and to manage and interpret the trail, 2) to furnish National Park Service (NPS) managers and planners, state and local authorities, private landowners, and cooperating groups with an extensive trail database for action plans and implementation activities for the Pony Express National Historic Trail, and 3) to give to the public a general history of the Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express Company (C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co.) otherwise known as the Pony Express"--Preface excerpt, page [i].

The Pony Express

The Pony Express
Author: Richard C. Frajola
Publisher:
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2005
Genre: Cancellations (Philately)
ISBN: 9780911989038

Will Kill for Food

Will Kill for Food
Author: Scott Alumbaugh
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Koreatown (Los Angeles, Calif.)
ISBN: 9780692331651

Fiction. April 30, 1992: the day after a jury returned not guilty verdicts for four police officers in the beating of Rodney King. Protests in Los Angeles have spread into a city-wide riot. People are being killed. Korean-owned businesses, like Dean's uncle Jun's store, are being looted and burned. A gangbanger is using the cover of the riots to take over Koreatown businesses like Jun's by any means necessary. For three days, Dean, Jun, and Ron, a homeless Gulf War veteran, hole up in Jun's store and fight to stay alive in the center of the deadliest civil disturbance in U.S. history.