The Delivery
A Little Know Event in the History of the Pony Express
By Clark Richards, published Mar 14, 2007
Published Content: 137 Total Views: 60,294 Favorited By: 12 CPs
Embed:
The poster outside the Amity General Store was faded and tattered but readable. "Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over 18. Must be expert riders. Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred."
Johnny Chapman read the poster and knew he fit the description well. He was 17, wiry, could ride well and although he was not an orphan, he reckoned he could be if that's what they wanted. He read on as the poster described a need for riders to deliver mail. Strange he thought - why would anyone risk death for mail? The final sentence of the notice contained the part that made his heart skip a beat. The pay was $100 per month! Now that was something worth a risk. He knew right then that he wanted that job.
In just a few months he could save enough to return and get Emma. Johnny and Emma had sworn their love for each other when they were fifteen. She had wanted to go with him, but he knew he had to do this on his own. That miserable, backbreaking task of busting the sod, planting and then hoping that the seedlings would survive the drought and insects was more than he could endure. He was just not cut out for farming. He had a higher purpose. He had to leave. Ma and Pa would be broken hearted, him being the oldest, but they had his four brothers to help carry the load.
Johnny, slipped out of bed late one evening, saddled up his horse and made the 20 mile ride to St. Joseph. He arrived at the Patee House, a new hotel where the Pony Express office was located, at about mid-morning the next day. He was not tired, but he was anxious and nervous about what the future might hold. Johnny dismounted, carefully tied up his horse, adjusted his wide brimmed hat, tucked in his calico and marched into the office with as much swagger as he could muster.
The Delivery
You may also like...
- Understanding a Forceps Delivery in Childbirth
- What to Bring to the Hospital During the Delivery of a Baby
- The Pardoner's Performance, or How Do We Know What We Know About the Pardoner?
- The Price of College Textbooks
- Tim O'Brien's Novel The Things They Carried: War Past and Present
- Critical Review of The Purpose Driven Life: The Christian Oriented Text That Swept the Nation
- New On-demand Video Game Service Gametap.com Pursues the Nostagia Market
- Lego Star Wars the Video Game
- Single and Lonely: The Playaz Androgynist
- Musicians Aren't the Only Thing that Flourishes in Nashville
Comments
Type in Your Comments Below - (1000 characters left)
Most Commented On
