Hyde Park, St. Joseph, Missouri

This month is the 150th anniversary of the historic Pony Express. I am especially fond of this piece of American History since it’s headquarters are only a couple of hours away in one of my favorite towns, St. Joseph, Missouri. Some of our own family history was written there when Charity married Ryan under the shade trees of Hyde Park.

An early advertisement for riders of the Pony Express suggests that orphans were preferred. Evidently, the danger in the job was great, and the company didn’t want to deal with grieving parents along the way.

This risking of life and limb for the greater good has marked much of our nation’s history. Consider Abigail Adams and her efforts to eradicate smallpox among the troops before the revolutionary war. She and all her children received the experimental vaccine and suffered weeks of horrible illness, facing down death to prove the vaccine was safe. Meanwhile, her husband labored miles away in an effort to establish a new government.

Today, we enjoy the benefits of both their efforts. The Pony Express, however, only lasted eighteen months. It became obsolete the moment the first telegraph wire reached California, and all those orphans were out of a job.

These riders taught us something about ourselves, though. Whether we use the Pony Express or the Blackberry Curve, we are designed to communicate. To make contact. To share news, views, and thoughts. This trait in humanity is so strong that some are willing to risk death for the sake of it.

I, on the other hand, am willing to risk public humiliation by putting my thoughts in an electronic pouch and hurling them out for the world to see. It isn’t nearly as noble, of course. But, it’s my way to ride.