Pony Express

Me being an orphan boy, I never expected to be important.  I wasn't anything special.  I was short and skinny (Lass).  I had no muscle, no bulk.  I was nineteen, but most people mistook me to be younger (Lass). But I guess I was hired because of those things.  

I was chosen to be one of the two hundred riders, but Mr. Russell, Mr.Majors, and Mr.Waddell gave me more than a job (letter) (Lass) . They gave me a place where I belonged.  Sure, the weather could be bad at times, but, I still loved it.  There was no greater joy than racing my bronco along the trail with nothing in sight but nature and no purpose in mind than the delivery.  Switchin’ horses every fifteen miles at a new station created a rhythm that became the background beat to the song of my life (Encyclopedia).

I guess I really was good at riding 'cause I set the record for the fastest delivery.  Seven days, seventeen hours (Lass) .  I had shaved five days off of our average delivery rate of twelve days (Lass).  Yep, I was pretty proud.  It gave me a name, a title.  I finally had something to brag about to the other boys.  

Everything was perfect.  My life finally had meaning.  I had a purpose.  And then, the telegraph came and destroyed everything (Lass).  I had only been hired eighteen months ago, and already, I was out of a job (Lass).  We were told to pack up and go home.  The company had been shut down.  Before I left, I grabbed a sheet of the thin stationary off the counter of the station (Lass).  Just something to remember the Pony Express.

Works Cited

Encyclopedia, The Columbia Electronic. Fact Monster. n.d. 28 February 2013.

Lass, William E. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. n.d. 28 February 2013.

letter, San Fransisco News. The Virtual Museum of the City of San Fransisco. n.d. 28 February 2013.