An unusually good teacher now presided at the schoolhouse
in our neighborhood, and Will was again persuaded
into educational paths. He put in a hard winter's work;
but with the coming of spring and its unrest, the swelling
of buds and the springing of grass, the return of the birds
and the twittering from myriad nests, the Spirits of the
Plains beckoned to him, and he joined a party of
gold-hunters on the long trail to Pike's Peak.
The gold excitement was at its apogee in 1860. By
our house had passed the historic wagon bearing on its side
the classic motto, "Pike's Peak or Bust!'' Afterward,
stranded by the wayside, a whole history of failure and
disappointment, borne with grim humor, was told by the
addition of the eloquent word, "Busted!''
For all his adventures, Will was only fourteen, and
although tall for his age, he had not the physical strength
that might have been expected from his hardy life. It was
not strange that he should take the gold fever; less so that
mother should dread to see him again leave home to face
unknown perils; and it is not at all remarkable that upon
reaching Auraria, now Denver, he should find that fortunes
were not lying around much more promiscuously in a gold
country than in any other.
Recent events have confirmed a belief that under the
excitement of a gold craze men exercise less judgment than
at any other time. Except in placer mining, which almost
any one can learn, gold mining is a science. Now and
again a nugget worth a fortune is picked up, but the average
mortal can get a better livelihood, with half the work,
in almost any other field of effort. To become rich
a knowledge of ores and mining methods is indispensable.
But Will never reached the gold-fields. Almost the
first person he met on the streets of Julesberg was George
Chrisman, who had been chief wagon-master for Russell,
Majors & Waddell. Will had become well acquainted with
Chrisman on the various expeditions he had made for the
firm.
This man was located at Julesberg as agent for the
Pony Express line, which was in process of formation.
This line was an enterprise of Russell, Majors & Waddell.
Mr. Russell met in Washington the Senator from California.
This gentleman knew that the Western firm of contractors
was running a daily stagecoach from the Missouri River
to Sacramento, and he urged upon Mr. Russell the desirability
of operating a pony express line along the same
route. There was already a line known as the "Butterfield
Route,'' but this was circuitous; the fastest time ever
made on it was twenty-one days.
Mr. Russell laid the matter before his partners. They
were opposed to it, as they were sure it would be a losing
venture; but the senior member urged the matter so
strongly that they consented to try it, for the good of the
country, with no expectation of profit. They utilized the
stagecoach stations already established, and only about
two months were required to put the Pony Express line in
running order.
Riders received from a hundred and twenty to a hundred
and twenty-five dollars a month, but they earned it.
In order to stand the life great physical strength and
endurance were necessary; in addition, riders must be cool,
brave, and resourceful. Their lives were in constant peril,
and they were obliged to do double duty in case the comrade
that was to relieve them had been disabled by outlaws
or Indians.
Two hundred and fifty miles was the daily distance that
must be made; this constituted an average of a little over
ten miles an hour. In the exceedingly rough country this
average could not be kept up; to balance it, there were a
few places in the route where the rider was expected to
cover twenty-five miles an hour.
In making such a run, it is hardly necessary to say that
no extra weight was carried. Letters were written on the
finest tissue paper; the charge was at the rate of five dollars
for half an ounce. A hundred of these letters would
make a bulk not much larger than an ordinary writing-tablet.
The mail-pouches were never to carry more than twenty
pounds. They were leather bags, impervious to moisture;
the letters, as a further protection, were wrapped in oiled
silk. The pouches were locked, sealed, and strapped to
the rider's side. They were not unlocked during the journey
from St. Joseph to Sacramento.
The first trip was made in ten days; this was a saving
of eleven days over the best time ever made by the "Butterfield
Route.'' Sometimes the time was shortened to
eight days; but an average trip was made in nine. The
distance covered in this time was nineteen hundred and
sixty-six miles.
President Buchanan's last presidential message was
carried in December, 1860, in a few hours over eight days.
President Lincoln's inaugural, the following March, was
transmitted in seven days and seventeen hours. This was
the quickest trip ever made.
The Pony Express line made its worth at once felt. It
would have become a financial success but that a telegraph
line was put into operation over the same stretch of territory,
under the direction of Mr. Edward Creighton. The
first message was sent over the wires the 24th of October,
1861. The Pony Express line had outlived its usefulness,
and was at once discontinued. But it had accomplished
its main purpose, which was to determine whether the
route by which it went could be made a permanent track
for travel the year through. The cars of the Union Pacific
road now travel nearly the same old trails as those followed
by the daring riders of frontier days.
Mr. Chrisman gave Will a cordial greeting. He explained
the business of the express line to his young friend, and
stated that the company had nearly perfected its arrangements.
It was now buying ponies and putting them into
good condition, preparatory to beginning operations. He
added, jokingly:
"It's a pity you're not a few years older, Billy. I
would give you a job as Pony Express rider. There's
good pay in it.''
Will was at once greatly taken with the idea, and begged
so hard to be given a trial that Mr. Chrisman consented to
give him work for a month. If the life proved too hard
for him, he was to be laid off at the end of that time. He
had a short run of forty-five miles; there were three relay
stations, and he was expected to make fifteen miles an
hour.
The 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Russell stood ready to
receive the mail from a fast New York train at St. Joseph.
He adjusted the letter-pouch on the pony in the presence
of an excited crowd. Besides the letters, several large New
York papers printed special editions on tissue paper for this
inaugural trip. The crowd plucked hairs from the tail of
the first animal to start on the novel journey, and preserved
these hairs as talismans. The rider mounted, the moment
for starting came, the signal was given, and off he
dashed.
At the same moment Sacramento witnessed a similar
scene; the rider of that region started on the two thousand
mile ride eastward as the other started westward. All the
way along the road the several other riders were ready for
their initial gallop.
Will looked forward eagerly to the day when the express
line should be set in motion, and when the hour came it
found him ready, standing beside his horse, and waiting for
the rider whom he was to relieve. There was a clatter of
hoofs, and a horseman dashed up and flung him the saddlebags.
Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted
into the saddle, and was off like the wind.
The first relay station was reached on time, and Will
changed with hardly a second's loss of time, while the
panting, reeking animal he had ridden was left to the care
of the stock-tender. This was repeated at the end of the
second fifteen miles, and the last station was reached a few
minutes ahead of time. The return trip was made in good
order, and then Will wrote to us of his new position, and
told us that he was in love with the life.
