Transcript
Lindsey Graham (0:00)
There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohristory.com It's May 1860 in the Ruby Valley of Nevada. 14 year old Billy Tate races across the sun baked plains on the back of his horse. The wind whips dust through his hair as he desperately wills the beast on faster and faster. Billy is a mail carrier, but while most letters take weeks or even months across the country, Billy rides for the Pony Express, which promises to deliver mail from Missouri to California in just 10 days flat. So Billy is used to riding fast. Still, right now, speed may be the difference between life and death. Over the past few weeks, fighting has broken out between the indigenous northern Paiute people and white settlers who have encroached on their territory. The Pony Express route now takes its riders through these contested lands, and Billy has just been spotted by a band of Paiute warriors who are giving chase on horseback. Billy continues to urge his horse forward, but he can tell it's tiring. He glances behind him. The Paiute are excellent riders, and on ground this flat, Billy realizes there's no hope of outrunning them, so he has to try something else. Yanking on the reins, he veers his horse toward an outcrop of rocks. Billy jumps down from his saddle, grabs his six shooter from the mailbag. Then he pushes his horse away from him, slapping him on the rear. The riderless steed tears off across the plain as Billy retreats into the rocks, taking cover, Billy carefully loads his gun. We can hear the Paiute warriors closing in. He peers carefully from behind a rock, takes careful aim and fires. There's a splash of blood and one of his pursuers crashes from his horse. Billy ducks back down behind the rock as a hail of arrows peppers the ground around him. Billy grips his revolver tight. He's got 11 bullets left, and if he's going to make it out of this alive, he'll have to make every shot count. Billy Tate's body will be found three days later, riddled with arrows. He took seven Paiute warriors with him, but in the end there were just too many of them. As for his horse, it arrived at its destination with its mail intact, preserving the reputation of Billy's employer, the legendary Pony Express, which rode out for the first time on April 3, 1860. History Daily is sponsored by Express pros Managing your workforce can be exhausting. And if you're tired of a costly and lengthy hiring process, simplify and speed up your recruitment. With one connection the experts at Express Employment Professionals reduce time to hire, cut down on interviews and lower your recruitment costs. Visit ExpressPros.com today Express is more efficient than hiring on your own. Check out ExpressPros.com to see how Express Employment professionals can take care of your hiring. What's the greatest innovation in history? Is it the steam engine? The semiconductor? The Internet? The wheel? Let me suggest another Hands Free Skechers slip ins because, and I know this is true, you secretly hate your shoes. Lacing them up, tying that knot, bending over to wrench your foot in. Forget all of that. Hands Free Skechers slip Ins revolutionize how you put on and take off your shoes. Just step in and they're on. You never even have to touch them. It's like they have an invisible built in shoe horn so your foot slides in. Comfy and secure. Experience Skechers Slip ins at Skechers store skechers.com history or wherever stylish footwear is sold. And use code history for 20% off site wide. That's Skechers.com history code history for 20% off standard exclusions apply from noiser and airship I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History. Daily history is made every day on this podcast. Every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is April 3rd, 1860 the Pony Express. It's the summer of 1854 in Leavenworth, Kansas, six years before Billy Tate's final journey. 40 year old businessman Alexander Majors inspects a lineup of new employees. The men in ragged clothes in front of him have all signed up to be wagon riders for Alexander's freight company. It's potentially dangerous work, but the men are mostly poor enough that they're willing to accept any risk in exchange for a job. Each worker stands to attention as Alexander places a Bible in their hands and instructs them to repeat his company's oath. The oath was written by Alexander himself. He wants his employees to conduct themselves in a gentlemanly manner, not swearing, drinking or gambling. And after all men have sworn their oath, Alexander tells them to board their wagons and get to work. They have mail to deliver. Born in Kentucky in 1814, Alexander Majors knows the heartlands of America like few others. As a young boy, Alexander's family was constantly on the move, and he saw firsthand the importance of supply points for migrants and pioneers heading west. In Search of fame and fortune. So when he was old enough, Alexander started his own wagon freight business. He moved goods along the Santa Fe Trail, a network of trade routes linking Missouri with New Mexico. And in so doing, Alexander soon made a name for himself. His wagons were reliable, secure, and most importantly, they were fast. But now, in the summer of 1854, Alexander has more work than he can handle. For the past year, he's had an agreement with the US Government to supply various army posts along the Santa Fe Trail. But as the army expands, Alexander is falling behind on his deliveries for the very first time. If he's going to hold on to his government contract, he knows he needs help. He finds it in William Russell and William Waddell. Like Alexander, these two businessmen are also in the freight business. And by combining forces, Alexander hopes that together they can serve more customers and make more money than ever before. The deal is complete by Christmas 1854, and the new company of Russell, Majors and Waddell sets its sights on expansion. With the additional drivers and wagons available after the merger, Alexander is able to make his deliveries to the US army on schedule. And impressed, the War Department offers him more contracts. Soon, Russell, Majors and Waddell establishes a monopoly on all freight transport west of the Missouri. But although the government contracts are lucrative on paper, the politicians don't always keep to their side of the bargain. Payments are often late, and as a result, Alexander's new company starts falling behind on its bills. The three business partners have different ideas about how to handle their cash flow problems. While Alexander and Waddell are in favor of reducing costs and focusing on what they already have, the more ambitious Russell doesn't want to stand still. He's heard about another government contract to deliver mail across America, and it's potentially worth a fortune. Convinced that this contract might save the company, William Russell lobbies hard for the deal. But the government officials responsible for the contract all tell him the same thing. Russell, Majors and Waddle needs to prove itself first by starting its own cross country mail service. Russell is enthusiastic about the idea, but his partners are less convinced that it's the best way forward. They know that mail businesses struggle to turn a profit. And this is no ordinary service that Russell is suggesting. He wants to establish an express delivery business that would take letters from Missouri to California in just 10 days, twice as fast as any existing service. To Alexander and Waddle, Russell's idea sounds like it's designed more to grab headlines than to make money. The average American citizen won't be able to afford the cost of sending Express letters across the country, and without customers, any business is doomed. So they tell him no. But Russell has already signed contracts that commit them to the new service. Alexander and Waddle are furious, but they know that if they back out of the deals Russell has signed, it risks ruining all their reputations. They feel they have no choice but to find a way to make the endeavor work. So in the winter of 1860, Alexander Majors and William Waddell agree to finance the new venture. In just a few months, the Pony Express will ride out for the first time across endless prairies, scorching deserts and treacherous mountain passes. Its riders will risk everything to deliver their cargo of letters. Some will never return, but those who do will help create a legend that will etch its name into the history of the American West.