Pony Express Statue

The statue of Buffalo Bill Cody as a Pony Express rider. This marvelous statue can be found in Cody Wyoming where buffalo Bill is most famous.... more

by John Malone

Title

Pony Express Statue

Artist

John Malone

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The statue of Buffalo Bill Cody as a Pony Express rider. This marvelous statue can be found in Cody Wyoming where buffalo Bill is most famous.
The Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages and mail from St. Joseph, Missouri across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento, California by horseback, using a series of relay stations. During its 18 months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about ten days.[1] From April 3, 1860 to October 1861, it became the West's most direct means of east–west communication before the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the country.

The Pony Express was a mail delivery system of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1849 which in 1850 became the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. This firm was founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell all of whom were notable in the freighting business.
Probably more than any other rider in the Pony Express, William Cody (better known as Buffalo Bill) epitomizes the legend and the folk lore of the Pony Express[citation needed]. Numerous stories have been told of young Cody's adventures as a Pony Express rider. At the age of 15 Cody was on his way west to California when he met Pony Express agents along the way and signed on with the company. Cody helped in the construction of several way-stations. Thereafter, he was employed as a rider and was given a short 45-mile (72 km) delivery run from the township of Julesburg which lay to the west. After some months he was transferred to Slade's Division in Wyoming where he made the longest non-stop ride from Red Buttes Station to Rocky Ridge Station and back when he found that his relief rider had been killed. The distance of 322 miles (518 km) over one of the most dangerous sections of the entire trail was completed in 21 hours and 40 minutes, and 21 horses were required complete this section.[18] Cody was present for many significant chapters in early western history, including the gold rush, the building of the railroads and cattle herding on the Great Plains. A career as a scout during the Civil War earned him his nickname and established his notoriety as a frontiersman. (information from Wikkipedia from online encyclopedia)

Uploaded

September 17th, 2013