Speaker 1: Hey, says dad.
Speaker 2: Mom. Come on your.
Speaker 3: Story, hours on presenting your story, hour building for a
Speaker 3: better tomorrow.
Speaker 4: Hi there, boys and girls.
Speaker 5: Moms and dads, grandma's and grandpa.
Speaker 6: Hello, everyone, say.
Speaker 5: Aunt Carol, I'm all ready for a story. What's up
Speaker 5: for today?
Speaker 4: Well, Uncle Dan, today's story is the first of two episodes.
Speaker 5: Oh really? And are these two stories of yours about
Speaker 5: someone famous?
Speaker 4: Not really about someone, more about something?
Speaker 6: Hmmm?
Speaker 5: And do I know about this special something?
Speaker 4: I'm sure you've heard about it. In fact, you've probably
Speaker 4: heard a lot of things about it that aren't even
Speaker 4: true I have. Well, yes, Uncle Dan, you along with
Speaker 4: everybody else. You see, there have been many books written
Speaker 4: about this special something. Even television shows and movies have
Speaker 4: been based on it. But the actual facts are somewhat
Speaker 4: sketchy in places, and even the experts don't always agree.
Speaker 6: About who did what I see.
Speaker 4: So I'll just do the best I can. And when
Speaker 4: it's hard to tell exactly what happened, I'm going to
Speaker 4: give the most accepted version that.
Speaker 5: Sounds good to me, Aunt Carol. And now, of course
Speaker 5: I'm curious. What's this something that we've been talking about.
Speaker 4: It's the Pony Express, Uncle Dan.
Speaker 5: The Pony Express. What I've heard about that since I
Speaker 5: was a little boy.
Speaker 4: It's a wonderful story about the Old West and adventure
Speaker 4: and daring. But just so everyone can understand how important
Speaker 4: it was, I'm going to start my story even before
Speaker 4: the Pony Express was ever dreamed of. Oh yes, the
Speaker 4: Pony Express began in eighteen sixty. But this first story
Speaker 4: in our series begins in the year eighteen forty eight,
Speaker 4: and I call it Gold, Loneliness, and letters. In the
Speaker 4: early eighteen hundreds, the United States looked much different than
Speaker 4: it does today. Beyond Missouri, la vast nearly unpopulated territories,
Speaker 4: and far to the west, California, with its enormous, sprawling ranches,
Speaker 4: was still owned by Mexico. California's Mexican governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado,
Speaker 4: granted a large portion of land to an American named
Speaker 4: John Sutter, who built Sutter's Fort and operated his kingdom
Speaker 4: as lord and protector, employing large numbers of herdsmen and
Speaker 4: other workers. Then one day in January of eighteen forty eight,
Speaker 4: one of those workmen, James Marshall, burst into Captain Sutter's.
Speaker 7: Office, cap'n Sutter.
Speaker 3: Oh, Captain John, what is it?
Speaker 2: What's wrong?
Speaker 7: Oh, sir, We're going to be rich, so very very
Speaker 7: rich John.
Speaker 8: I'm already rich.
Speaker 3: So what's all this excitement about.
Speaker 7: No, No, I mean really rich, both of us, richer
Speaker 7: than you.
Speaker 2: Can ever imagine.
Speaker 3: You've been working too hard, John, you're not making any sense.
Speaker 7: Well maybe this will convince you.
Speaker 9: There.
Speaker 3: What's this you scooped up onto my table little chunks of.
Speaker 2: Piece?
Speaker 6: Is of gold?
Speaker 3: Jones?
Speaker 6: This is golds.
Speaker 7: No gold, beautiful, wonderful, marvelous gold.
Speaker 3: But that did you get this?
Speaker 2: Tell me? John?
Speaker 7: Well, cap'n you remember when you wanted the mill race
Speaker 7: in large so we'd have more water power for the mill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, of course.
Speaker 7: Well I followed your instructions to the letter. When I
Speaker 7: threw the millwheel out of gear, the water rushed from
Speaker 7: the dam through the narrow channel, and it tore the
Speaker 7: dirt off the bank and go on, well, sir, Early
Speaker 7: this morning, while I was walking along the bank, I
Speaker 7: noticed something glittering in the sand and gravel.
Speaker 3: No, quite understandable. There are a lot of semi precious stones
Speaker 3: here about exactly.
Speaker 7: But then I noticed some other shiny fragments, and I
Speaker 7: debated with myself two or three times whether or not
Speaker 7: I should even bother picking him up and.
Speaker 10: Looking at him.
Speaker 3: And this is what you found.
Speaker 11: I think it's pure gold. Capt'n pure gold.
Speaker 3: Can you imagine?
Speaker 7: And says, oh yeah, I only gathered these few pieces.
Speaker 7: And as soon as I saw what I was holding
Speaker 7: in my head, and I jumped on my horse and
Speaker 7: I rode here to Sutter's fort as fast as I could.
Speaker 3: I see nobody else knows of your discovery, No, sir,
Speaker 3: no one. Well, let's keep this quiet for the time being,
Speaker 3: until we've had a chance to look things over.
Speaker 4: Captain Sutter and John Marshall spent several days examining stream
Speaker 4: beds and banks, gullies, ravines, even dried up creeks. Unbelievably,
Speaker 4: they found gold almost everywhere they looked, But by the
Speaker 4: time they returned, others had also made the happy discovery.
Speaker 11: Look here, ear's gold.
Speaker 12: Oh oh, let me see that it is gold.
Speaker 13: Everybody, look, hodle, holdle.
Speaker 8: What are you talking about.
Speaker 11: It's always something with you Indians.
Speaker 6: Hoddle gold.
Speaker 3: I work mines a la passe, I know gold.
Speaker 2: This this allal much gold.
Speaker 4: The words spread like wildfire. There was gold in the
Speaker 4: hills of California, lots of gold, and that news sparked
Speaker 4: a westward movement of unparalleled proportions. As soon as Easterners
Speaker 4: heard of the discovery, thousands of hopeful adventurers contrived to
Speaker 4: reach California as soon as possible, and the California gold
Speaker 4: rush was on.
Speaker 6: I tell you, Maggie, it's amazing. They see the hills
Speaker 6: are full of gold. One woman went outside of her
Speaker 6: house with a kitchen knife and dog of fortune out
Speaker 6: of the ground in a single afternoon. But Isaac, how
Speaker 6: could you get to California? We have no money, nothing
Speaker 6: of value. Oh but we do. We have our land.
Speaker 4: You sell it, our house, our landa our livelihood.
Speaker 6: Maggie, listen to me. This is a chance of a
Speaker 6: lifetime to have enough money to see us through without
Speaker 6: grinding ourselves down with work for years to come. Don't
Speaker 6: you see?
Speaker 12: But Joshua paid hundreds of dollars for passage on a ship,
Speaker 12: and when the ship arrived it was a rotting hunk.
Speaker 4: Of a thing through But thank you well, are taking advantage, Isaac,
Speaker 4: selling passage on ships that will never make the journey
Speaker 4: around the cave.
Speaker 6: Well, right now, that's the only way to get the California.
Speaker 6: It's winter time and it will take months and months
Speaker 6: before the overland routes open up. If I go by ship,
Speaker 6: I can already be on my way. And at the
Speaker 6: end of the.
Speaker 4: Journey, you'll be in California, we hope, and not at
Speaker 4: the bottom of the ocean.
Speaker 6: I'll be in the goldfields, Maggie picking up nugget. After
Speaker 6: the nugget, We're going to be rich, Maggie rich.
Speaker 13: Oh well, well, great thesykes eh. And what can I
Speaker 13: do for you today? As if I didn't know the
Speaker 13: gold bug has bitten you tune not out gold bug.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess that's one way to put it.
Speaker 14: But it's an opportunity I can't pass up you and.
Speaker 13: The rest of these that jeemes. I've never done such
Speaker 13: good business as I have in the past few weeks, Sae,
Speaker 13: thanks to the California gold.
Speaker 6: Let's see what you've got upon here.
Speaker 2: This has been in the family for years.
Speaker 13: Oh nice much.
Speaker 10: Oh yes, the very best.
Speaker 2: And this jewelry.
Speaker 13: Oh are you sure you want upon all this yetom?
Speaker 3: Yes, indeed.
Speaker 9: All I need is money to get to California, and
Speaker 9: I'll be set for life, Robert.
Speaker 10: It's factory manager. You're responsible for hiring enough workers to
Speaker 10: keep production running. Where is everyone?
Speaker 7: There is only one machine in production this morning.
Speaker 15: Well, sir, I've tried to keep things running.
Speaker 10: But but what truly there's.
Speaker 7: More than two men in town willing to work and
Speaker 7: for good wages, I might add.
Speaker 15: Oh, mister Jones, it's not that easy these days. Everyone
Speaker 15: is heading west. The whole town pulled their money to
Speaker 15: send them in folk to the goldfields.
Speaker 9: Gold.
Speaker 7: I swear everyone's gone crazy.
Speaker 10: How's an honest businessman expected to turn a profit if
Speaker 10: you can't get anybody to work.
Speaker 4: Those heading west to look for gold in eighteen forty
Speaker 4: nine were called forty nine ers, and they left the
Speaker 4: Eastern United States in droves. The first to leave went
Speaker 4: by sea and often spent months of rough, miserable passage. Later,
Speaker 4: when spring arrived, thousands more traveled for weeks months overland.
Speaker 4: They paid exorbitant prices for the supplies they would need picks, shovels, wagons, food,
Speaker 4: and more, but the promise of gold fired their hopes
Speaker 4: for good fortune when they finally reached the California Hills. However,
Speaker 4: life was not always easy and after months of disappointing,
Speaker 4: back breaking labor, discouragement often set in.
Speaker 12: Ah ah, who.
Speaker 2: What a job?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Harvey, I know, I think this is my third
Speaker 1: pick axe broke the handles off the other two.
Speaker 15: But hey, last week, just.
Speaker 1: On the other side of the hill, somebody found gold
Speaker 1: filled the bag with the.
Speaker 16: Size of a cooking bottle.
Speaker 2: I know, Jake, I know.
Speaker 11: News like that keeps me going. But it's sure tougher
Speaker 11: than we thought it would be.
Speaker 1: Yeah, quite a few men have just packed up and quit.
Speaker 1: It's sure not what we expected. Why back east we
Speaker 1: heard you could just pick gold off the ground. The
Speaker 1: worst of it's not knowing what's happening at home. I've
Speaker 1: had no word in weeks and weeks. I swear I
Speaker 1: trade a whole bag of gold just for one letter.
Speaker 11: I got one letter two months ago. I had to
Speaker 11: walk clear down to San Francisco and wait in line
Speaker 11: for three days to get it to it And get
Speaker 11: to this my wife mailed it five months before that.
Speaker 1: Well, the male has to get here the same way
Speaker 1: we did my ship around Cape Horn.
Speaker 11: Or it has to be carried across Panama by mule.
Speaker 11: Some male makes it over land, but the surest way
Speaker 11: is by sea.
Speaker 1: Well, whatever the route, it takes a mighty long time,
Speaker 1: and this is a mighty lonely place without my family.
Speaker 11: You can say that again.
Speaker 1: Yep, looking for gold is the loneliest thing I ever did.
Speaker 1: Loneliest for sure.
Speaker 4: Most of the mail from the east came to San Francisco,
Speaker 4: and recovering it after its long journey was always a
Speaker 4: problem for prospectors and miners. Thousands of letters would arrive
Speaker 4: at once, and sorting it was a huge task, especially
Speaker 4: since the miners had no permanent address. Sometimes, men eager
Speaker 4: for news from home were willing to pay dearly to
Speaker 4: speed up the process.
Speaker 2: Hi there, partner, how long you've been standing in the
Speaker 2: mail line? Oh?
Speaker 14: Since last Tuesday night. I brought my bedroll with me
Speaker 14: and I've been sleeping right here, just waiting for a
Speaker 14: letter from home.
Speaker 2: I see, say, you got a good spot here, So
Speaker 2: I don't suppose you'd be interested in a little gold
Speaker 2: to line your pocket.
Speaker 14: Oh no, I'm not interested, even though I know some
Speaker 14: men need money so bad they're willing to sell their
Speaker 14: spot in line, But not me, No, serie.
Speaker 2: Well, okay, then, just thought i'd ask Jay.
Speaker 14: While you're asking trying. That guy up there in the
Speaker 14: red shirt.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I see him last night.
Speaker 14: I heard him talking and he isn't even waiting for me.
Speaker 14: He's just in line to see if somebody might want
Speaker 14: to buy a spot.
Speaker 2: Really well, then much obliged, I'll see how much you want.
Speaker 4: New towns were springing up all throughout the hills, and
Speaker 4: the post office in San Francisco had no way of
Speaker 4: keeping up with the expansion, especially since no roads existed
Speaker 4: in mining camp territory. In addition, there were no postmen
Speaker 4: at that time. People had to get their mail directly
Speaker 4: from the post office. This situation proved to be an
Speaker 4: opportunity for one enterprising and discouraged miner. Rather than packing
Speaker 4: up and heading back east, he devised a way to
Speaker 4: become rich in spite of his failure to find gold.
Speaker 4: His name was Alexander H.
Speaker 6: Todd.
Speaker 8: Hello, Oh, and how's the postmaster of San Francisco today?
Speaker 15: Well, well, mister Todd, I see you're back. What it's
Speaker 15: been a month.
Speaker 8: Just about, and my mule is loaded with letters from
Speaker 8: the miners to be sent back east.
Speaker 15: Were you're able to deliver all the letters you took
Speaker 15: from here to the miner most.
Speaker 3: Of them, I'm proud to say.
Speaker 8: Oh no, I must add that it was a fire
Speaker 8: tougher job than I ever dreamed.
Speaker 10: It would be.
Speaker 15: I can imagine tracking miners down across the gold fields
Speaker 15: would be a chorta.
Speaker 3: Indeed, But give no mind to that.
Speaker 8: Oh, they're very happy with my mail service. They jokingly
Speaker 8: call it the Jackass Express.
Speaker 15: I guess mail by mule deserves the name.
Speaker 8: But the best part is they're so glad to get
Speaker 8: news from home. Oh yes, sir, they pay me pretty
Speaker 8: well to bring them their mail.
Speaker 15: Oh really, and just how well might that be?
Speaker 8: I get a dollar from each man who wants to
Speaker 8: be registered with me, and then when I bring him
Speaker 8: a letter or a parcels well, let's just say he
Speaker 8: makes it worth my while, well worth my while.
Speaker 2: He pays you in cash, No, no, in gold dust?
Speaker 6: Gold dust?
Speaker 15: How much gold dust?
Speaker 9: Well?
Speaker 8: No, how much would it be worth to you to
Speaker 8: hear from home? And maybe it's been months and months
Speaker 8: since you had any word all, some men might be
Speaker 8: willing to part with Oh, say an ounce or so,
Speaker 8: and call it a bargain at that?
Speaker 2: You know, so gold?
Speaker 8: Oh, why that's that's yes, I know, it's a lot
Speaker 8: of money.
Speaker 2: I see.
Speaker 15: Well, then, I imagine you're interested in getting your hands
Speaker 15: on some more mail for delivery. That's why I'm here,
Speaker 15: and it's so important to you. I would think that
Speaker 15: you might be willing to pay a little bit upfront
Speaker 15: to get those letters.
Speaker 2: Am I right?
Speaker 8: Okay?
Speaker 15: No, nothing too exorportant, do you understand, mister taunt? Maybe oh,
Speaker 15: twenty five cents per letter?
Speaker 3: But oh well, why not?
Speaker 8: Sure, twenty five cents a letter.
Speaker 14: I'll pay you that.
Speaker 8: No reason we can't both turn little profit.
Speaker 17: Eh?
Speaker 15: Excellent? Excellent, and may the Jackass Express be a ground success.
Speaker 4: Moms and dads like you, we want your boys and
Speaker 4: girls to have fulfilling lives, successful not only in their
Speaker 4: chosen professions and with their finances, but happy in their relationships,
Speaker 4: strong in their principles, and good in character.
Speaker 5: To that end, it's important for your kids to learn
Speaker 5: from the struggles and triumphs of those historical figures who
Speaker 5: made a positive difference in our world to have great
Speaker 5: role models.
Speaker 4: We your story. Our believe in the power of our
Speaker 4: dramatized historical stories to teach and inspire your children.
Speaker 5: Instead of sitting down with a textbook trying to memorize
Speaker 5: a list of names, dates, places, and events. Your kids
Speaker 5: can be enjoying our stories while writing in the car,
Speaker 5: doing chores, working on crafts, are settling down for the night.
Speaker 4: And since experience has shown us that children like to
Speaker 4: listen to our stories again and again, they just naturally
Speaker 4: absorb all the important information. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 4: we've been told that our stories have been instrumental and
Speaker 4: awakening a love of history and hundreds of children.
Speaker 5: You see, we make our historical heroes real to the
Speaker 5: kids while staying faithful to the facts. We do pain
Speaker 5: taking research then dramatize the childhood, growing up years as
Speaker 5: well as the adult years of our subjects.
Speaker 4: That way, children can understand and relate to the dreams, feelings,
Speaker 4: struggles and successes of each historical figure.
Speaker 5: We tell the stories of those who help to make
Speaker 5: our country great, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Paul Revere,
Speaker 5: and Benjamin Franklin.
Speaker 4: Those who've overcome great physical handicaps like Fanny Crosby and
Speaker 4: Glenn Cunningham.
Speaker 5: People whose inventions have changed our lives like Raville and
Speaker 5: Wilbur Wright, Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney, and Henry Ford.
Speaker 4: Women who've blazed a trail where no woman yet had gone,
Speaker 4: like Elizabeth Blackwell, Eleanor Roosevelt, Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, so
Speaker 4: Journer Truth, and Mariah Mitchell.
Speaker 5: Those who gave up a life of ease to help
Speaker 5: their fellow man, like Albert Schweitzer and Hudson Taylor.
Speaker 4: Well, that's just a small sample. We could go on
Speaker 4: and on, time permitting, but we think it would be
Speaker 4: better if you just visited our website at your storyhour
Speaker 4: dot org and look through our catalog for yourself. That's
Speaker 4: at your Story hour dot org.
Speaker 5: Kids love them all, but don't just take our word
Speaker 5: for it. Listen to this letter we recently received from
Speaker 5: a listener in Suva, Fiji.
Speaker 4: Rose writes, I'm a keen listener of your Story Hour
Speaker 4: whenever it is broadcast over the radio, which is every afternoon.
Speaker 4: I especially enjoy stories of the history of America and
Speaker 4: about the famous men and women who contribute somehow to
Speaker 4: its growth. These stories are very real as heard over
Speaker 4: the radio, and I immensely enjoy the way in which
Speaker 4: they are dramatized. They somehow draw you right into the
Speaker 4: action and adventure. So keep up the good work.
Speaker 5: Thanks for the encouraging letter, Rose.
Speaker 4: So please do visit our website soon and see for
Speaker 4: yourself all the great stories we have waiting for your children.
Speaker 4: That's at your story hour dot org. But right now.
Speaker 5: Waiting Anne Carrol. Yes, I have just a quick question
Speaker 5: before we get back to your story.
Speaker 16: What is it?
Speaker 4: Uncle Dan?
Speaker 5: I just want to know why it's said that a
Speaker 5: drama instructors like the Pony Express.
Speaker 4: I never heard that said, Uncle Dan. I'm sure I
Speaker 4: have no idea. Why would anyone say that a drama
Speaker 4: instructors like the Pony Express.
Speaker 5: Well, because a drama instructure is this stage coach? What
Speaker 5: a stage coach? Get it?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: I get it all right? You snock you in a riddle?
Speaker 6: I kish you sure.
Speaker 5: Did, and that I'm sure. It's time to get back
Speaker 5: to the conclusion of Aunt Carrol's story, Gold, Loneliness, and Letters.
Speaker 4: Alexander Todd was sworn in as an official postal clerk,
Speaker 4: and soon other enterprising folks began mail services to the
Speaker 4: miners as well. When the mail arrived in the camps,
Speaker 4: every shovel was thrown down, and every miner ran to
Speaker 4: see if he was fortunate enough to have a letter
Speaker 4: from home. Eventually, seventy five thousand Californians signed a petition
Speaker 4: to the government demanding better cross country mail service, and
Speaker 4: several schemes were hatched to solve the problem. One of
Speaker 4: those schemes was novel to say the.
Speaker 11: Least camels, You are sending us camels?
Speaker 18: Yes, on orders from Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.
Speaker 11: Nobody here knows anything about camels, sir. I'm not so
Speaker 11: sure this is a good idea.
Speaker 2: Nonsense, it's a stroke of genius. Think about it.
Speaker 18: Camels are used to walking long distances without water. Why
Speaker 18: it's a perfect solution for crossing the southwestern desert.
Speaker 10: Well, yes, I guess that's true.
Speaker 18: Besides that camels are reliable animals, strong and patient.
Speaker 15: Well, maybe it's worth a try.
Speaker 2: Of course it is.
Speaker 18: Camels will be perfect for taking the mail overland, you'll see.
Speaker 4: Unfortunately, the method of using camels to deliver mail ended
Speaker 4: in disaster. Their feet were used to soft desert sand,
Speaker 4: not the hard packed earth of the American West. Even
Speaker 4: leather boots made to protect their feet didn't help, and
Speaker 4: the camel experiment was discontinued. Several other attempts were made
Speaker 4: to provide fast, reliable mail service from east to west,
Speaker 4: but none were successful. Then, in eighteen fifty seven, Congress
Speaker 4: past the overland Mail Bill. At that time, James Buchanan
Speaker 4: was President and Aaron V. Brown was appointed as the
Speaker 4: new Postmaster General.
Speaker 16: Now that you are Postmaster, Aaron, I hope that you
Speaker 16: will turn your attention to the communication problems with California.
Speaker 12: I'll do my best, mister President, and I understand how
Speaker 12: important it is to choose the right route. I thought
Speaker 12: you might as I'm a Southerner, you know, and.
Speaker 16: I am completely Southern in my affections. It's no secret
Speaker 16: that the war between the North and South is looming
Speaker 16: on the horizon. Establishing a route through the states and
Speaker 16: territories that share our views would be a wise.
Speaker 12: Move, and it might help secure the wealth of California
Speaker 12: to support our cause.
Speaker 16: Well said Aaron, Well said, I have a friend, John
Speaker 16: Butterfield by name.
Speaker 5: Oh, yes, I know of him.
Speaker 12: His coach service travels a route through the Southwest to California.
Speaker 16: Yes, see what you can do to a establish a
Speaker 16: contract with him to carry the mail?
Speaker 12: Consider it dumb, sir.
Speaker 4: Soon the red and green painted coaches of the Butterfield
Speaker 4: line were carrying mail from the east to California. While
Speaker 4: their route avoided the heavy winter snows of more northern passages,
Speaker 4: there were other complications, such as Indians and the searing
Speaker 4: heat of summers on the southwestern desert. However, the six
Speaker 4: hundred thousand dollars grant that the Butterfield Company received from
Speaker 4: the government meant they were well equipped and thus fairly reliable,
Speaker 4: delivering passengers and mail in approximately twenty two days from
Speaker 4: Missouri to California. It was a huge improvement over the
Speaker 4: months that mail delivery required by ship, but even so,
Speaker 4: the system was not without its critics.
Speaker 1: I don't quite understand the logic of it all. The
Speaker 1: southern route is almost one thousand miles longer than the
Speaker 1: one of the north. Why it dips so far south?
Speaker 1: Some people are calling it the Oxbow route.
Speaker 14: That's a good one.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 3: Anyways, it completely bypasses some mighty big places like Utah
Speaker 3: where all the Mormons are.
Speaker 1: Not to mention Colorado. Why now there's a big gold
Speaker 1: rusher going there too, don't you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the whole wagon train went through here yesterday and
Speaker 3: every single one of the wagons had a Pike's peak,
Speaker 3: a bust painted on the side.
Speaker 1: Yep, there must be some sense to that Oxbow route somewhere, somehow,
Speaker 1: but it sure does escape me.
Speaker 4: There were many individuals and businesses that were keeping their
Speaker 4: eye on developments concerning mail delivery to the far West,
Speaker 4: and among them was a huge freight hauling operation, the
Speaker 4: title of which bore the name of the three men
Speaker 4: who owned it, Russell, Majors and Waddell. The company was
Speaker 4: located in Leavenworth, Kansas, and was the major carrier freight
Speaker 4: west of the Mississippi River in the mid eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 4: The outlay of equipment that Russell, Majors and Waddell owned
Speaker 4: was so impressive that, upon observing it during his travel,
Speaker 4: Horace Greeley, the famous editor of the New York Tribune,
Speaker 4: described it for his readers.
Speaker 17: Such acres of wagons, such pyramids of extra axle trees,
Speaker 17: such herds of oxen, such regiments of drivers and employees.
Speaker 6: No one who does not see can realize how vast
Speaker 6: a business this is.
Speaker 4: At that time. In fact, Russell, Majors and Waddell employed
Speaker 4: six thousand men to haul supplies and forty five thousand oxen.
Speaker 4: The senior partner of the firm. William Russell was a
Speaker 4: fast talking, energetic Easterner at heart, Alexander Majors was an accomplished,
Speaker 4: experienced frontiersman, and William Waddell was a quiet, steady man
Speaker 4: who managed the company books. One day in eighteen fifty nine,
Speaker 4: when he was in Washington, d C. William Russell happened
Speaker 4: to bump into William McKendree Gwynn, the first senator from California,
Speaker 4: which had gained statehood in eighteen.
Speaker 10: Fifty Why, William Russell, I heard you were in town.
Speaker 10: What brings you to our fair capital business?
Speaker 14: Of course, Senator, Yes.
Speaker 10: Yes, I'm sure, speaking of which, Yes, Well, I've been
Speaker 10: thinking about how isolated my state is from the rest
Speaker 10: of America.
Speaker 14: Well, I've heard that letters and newspapers from the East
Speaker 14: are often weeks or months old before they reached California.
Speaker 10: Absolutely true. The telegraph from railroad reached as far as Missouri.
Speaker 10: But getting the news across the western two thirds of
Speaker 10: the continent.
Speaker 9: That's the challenge.
Speaker 14: Oh, I understand.
Speaker 10: I suppose you've kept a keen eye on the Butterfield
Speaker 10: Overland Mail Company.
Speaker 14: Indeed I have, Senator.
Speaker 10: Well, I was just thinking that perhaps an even better,
Speaker 10: faster mail service could be arranged faster.
Speaker 14: You say, how fast were you thinking? Twenty one twenty
Speaker 14: two days by Butterfield stage. That's fast. Although my services
Speaker 14: to the government enjoy a reputation of enviable dispatch, as
Speaker 14: you know.
Speaker 10: Oh, I do know, and that's why your firm came
Speaker 10: to mind. Huh, I know your company already operates a
Speaker 10: stage line from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City.
Speaker 10: Well you hear me out on this. What if Russell,
Speaker 10: Majors and Waddell were to start an additional service, an experiment, really,
Speaker 10: a lightning fast mail service over the same route, then
Speaker 10: onto Sacramento, California by horseback, by horseback, using the fastest
Speaker 10: riders in the West, across the Central route.
Speaker 2: Hmmm, I don't know.
Speaker 14: Of course, that route does save hundreds of miles over
Speaker 14: the meandering Oxbow route exactly, and my company already has
Speaker 14: a number of stations along that route where we maintain
Speaker 14: supplies and fresh horses.
Speaker 10: See there.
Speaker 14: But in the wintertime, the central route is sometimes completely impassable,
Speaker 14: and it would take many more stations to do what
Speaker 14: you propose, Senator, many more. Still, let's see now, to
Speaker 14: supply the fastest service. Fresh horses would need to be
Speaker 14: positioned every ten to fifteen miles along the route. There
Speaker 14: would have to be some way to carry the mail
Speaker 14: safely and transfer rapidly, some sort of special saddle.
Speaker 10: Perhaps I knew you were the right man for the job.
Speaker 10: And William, what I think you know that I am
Speaker 10: a man of some influence here in Washington. If you
Speaker 10: can supply a service to California that takes well just
Speaker 10: half the time that butterfield service requires eleven days, eleven days,
Speaker 10: ten days, sounds.
Speaker 16: Good, doesn't it?
Speaker 14: It sounds nearly impossible.
Speaker 10: Well, if you can find a way to do it,
Speaker 10: then maybe I can persuade the government to extend a
Speaker 10: contract to you to pay you for your efforts.
Speaker 14: What do you say, I I hardly know what to say. Well,
Speaker 14: then say yes, well, all right, Yes, it's a wild
Speaker 14: and crazy idea, but I like it. Yes, I give
Speaker 14: my word that Russell, Majors and Waddell will organize and
Speaker 14: operate the fastest male to California that anyone could ever imagine.
Speaker 5: You know, Aunt Carrol, I've heard it said that the
Speaker 5: way to be successful in business is to find a
Speaker 5: need and fill it.
Speaker 4: I've heard that too, Uncle Dan.
Speaker 5: Well Rustling Gwynn certainly identified the need faster mail service,
Speaker 5: and there was a potential for good profit in it,
Speaker 5: but I can see it was also risky in more
Speaker 5: ways than one.
Speaker 4: You're right, William Russell had several challenges in front of
Speaker 4: him to make the idea reality.
Speaker 5: I imagine he'd have a difficult time getting investors not
Speaker 5: to mention, finding riders willing to ride lickety split for
Speaker 5: long hours on end over rough trails, uphill downhill, through
Speaker 5: hail's sleet and snow across burning deserts and swollen rivers,
Speaker 5: crossing Indian territory, fighting fatigue.
Speaker 4: Oh, Uncle Dan, if you had lived back then, I
Speaker 4: think William Russell would have had his first rider.
Speaker 5: I must admit, Aunt Carroll, the combination of fast horses
Speaker 5: and a worthy challenge is intrigued.
Speaker 16: Well.
Speaker 4: Let's hope our listeners are intrigued enough to join us
Speaker 4: next time for part two in our Pony Express series.
Speaker 5: By the way, what do you call it?
Speaker 4: I call it thundering hoof beats.
Speaker 5: But before we say goodbye, for those of you who
Speaker 5: would like to see our catalog but don't have access
Speaker 5: to the web, just give us a phone call it
Speaker 5: one eight hundred nine eighty seven seven eight seventy nine,
Speaker 5: and we'll send you a free copy right away. Once again,
Speaker 5: our number is one eight hundred nine eighty seven seventy
Speaker 5: eight seventy nine.
Speaker 4: If you happen to call after regular office hours and
Speaker 4: reach our answering machine, please spell out your last name
Speaker 4: and your street address for us. It helps us avoid mistakes.
Speaker 5: Thanks again for joining us today.
Speaker 4: Until next time, keep smiling and remember.
Speaker 2: We love you. This has been your story hour building
Speaker 2: for a better tomorrow.
Speaker 4: This is Ann Carroll and Uncle Anne saying goodbye everyone,
Speaker 4: See you again next time