Saddles and Spurs: The Pony Express Saga

I've read this book a number of times over the years and have always been amazed by the shear amount of information it contains on the Pony Express in its relatively short 200 pages. Not only do the Settles give a thorough history of the background and organization of the Pony Express, they also present detailed accounts of the men who rode the horses and carried the mail, of the hundreds of stations along the route and the people who operated them, and of many of the trials and tribulations the company faced during the 18 months of its existence. Prior to the Pony Express, mail was carried from St. Joseph, MO, to California via a circuitous route through Texas and the Southwest; a more direct central route was proposed with the idea of cutting delivery time in half from 20 to 10 days. The Russell, Majors and Waddell freighting company reluctantly assumed the venture, which sparked excitement in the imagination of the public, but was never very profitable and caused the company to lose a great deal of money. The service lasted from April 1860 to October 1861, when the completion of the transcontinental telegraph put it out of business. The Settles do an excellent job conveying not only the nuts and bolts of the operation, but also the dramatic human side of the riders and the dangers and obstacles they faced. It's a great little book, one that will remain on my shelf for a long time to come.

This is one of the best books I've read on the Pony Express. The detail in the early years of how Russell, Majors and Waddell ultimately formed their partnership was facsinating. Having covered the entire Pony Express Trail myself, this book answered a lot of questions that still lingered in my mind.