Pony Express Rider
Patee House(luxury hotel opened in 1858)
Jesse James Home
St. Joseph, MO:
Headed over to the Pony Express Museum this morning. A great museum—and what a great part of our history. These riders were very young—some of them only 11 years old. The ads recruiting them said they needed someone wiry, skinny, and preferably an orphan. They took the mail from St. Joe, MO, to Sacramento, CA, in 10 days. One of the riders’ great-grandson became an astronaut. Another lived to be 105, and when he was 81 he rode a horse across the country from NYC to California. Buffalo Bill Cody was also a Pony Express rider. These guys would ride for 80 miles at a time—stopping only to change horses. After lunch we went to the Patee House Museum—an outstanding museum of the old west. The Patee house itself, which houses the museum, was a luxurious hotel opened in 1858. It housed the offices of the Pony Express, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the Civil War offices of the Provost Marshall. It’s located just up the street from the PonyExpress stables (now the museum). We also went through the Jesse James house where he was killed. I bought a book on the history of the Pony Express—my next read.
Headed over to the Pony Express Museum this morning. A great museum—and what a great part of our history. These riders were very young—some of them only 11 years old. The ads recruiting them said they needed someone wiry, skinny, and preferably an orphan. They took the mail from St. Joe, MO, to Sacramento, CA, in 10 days. One of the riders’ great-grandson became an astronaut. Another lived to be 105, and when he was 81 he rode a horse across the country from NYC to California. Buffalo Bill Cody was also a Pony Express rider. These guys would ride for 80 miles at a time—stopping only to change horses. After lunch we went to the Patee House Museum—an outstanding museum of the old west. The Patee house itself, which houses the museum, was a luxurious hotel opened in 1858. It housed the offices of the Pony Express, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the Civil War offices of the Provost Marshall. It’s located just up the street from the PonyExpress stables (now the museum). We also went through the Jesse James house where he was killed. I bought a book on the history of the Pony Express—my next read.
