Existing comment:
The Pony Express:
The legendary name of the Pony Express calls up thrilling images of horse and rider racing across treacherous terrain. Yet the actual Pony Express lasted for less than two years (April 1860 to October 1861) and was only one of a number of private express services that used riders to carry the mail.
It owes it fame to the romanticizing of the Pony Express and the American West that began late in the 19th century, in Wild West shows and dime novels, and continues to the present. Pony Express riders live on today, still dodging varmints and villains in books and movies, evoking speed and the thrills on countless commercial products. |