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1:1 14 THE PONY EXPRESS From the tim. time the Pioneers Plon •• rs entered the Salt Lake Valley In 1847 until the fall of 1851 the only communIcation they had with the outside was through emigrants coming Into the valley or those In the valley returning eastward to help oth.rs others to come here. It took months for news to be brought from or sent to any place In the .ast. east. Th. The news that Utah had been made a territory did not arrlv. arrive In Utah for many many' months Congre ••• after the act had been passed by Congres •• 8511 the first contract to carry the U. S. Mall In 1 8S Joseph, Missouri and Salt and Express between St. Jos.ph, Lak. Lake City was to John M. Hochaday and William Th.y us.d Liggett. They used the Stag. Stage Coach and mad. made the trip one. once a month. Later Lale,. they ran semi-monthly. By 1854 Congress passed an act that approprlat.d app,.oprlated mone money lor for better mall service. The stages were v.hlcles drawn by 6 to 8 horses or mules which light vehicles were chang.d changed every 10 to 15 miles. This transportation continued until the close of 1859. It was very . expensive and was costing the Government much mon.y. money. In the meantlm. William H. Russell, meantime thr.e three men, WIlliam Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell 'ormed a comA1exande,. pany and began experlm.ntlng expe,.lmentlng and decided to ask for 'or a contract to carry ca,.ry only letters lette,.s and mall - no expres•• By using horses th.y they thought the mall .could be b. delivered dellver.d faster. 'aster. The work of organizing, carrying out details, details. buildIng stations between tho.. already establl.,ecI. establl8hed, hiring hor-••• , .tc. men, buying horse., etc. went forth quietly and without publicity. Much pral.e given Mr. Major. Majors pr-als. must be glv.n whose capability of planning and carrying out details stage stations were made the venture a success. The stege too 'ar far- apart fo,. for- ho,.se hor-se t,.avel tr-avel so In-betw.en In-between .tatlons stations were mad. made \I\A1e,.e \Nher. horses ho,.ses could be quickly exchanged. Each stallon station had an ov.rseer, ove,.seer, stock tender and a blacksmIth shop. smith If possible the stallons stations were slluated situated near a ranch or settlement. It was a hard and adventurous lIIe 'or for both pony and rld.r life rider and many a pony was lost as well as the ,.Ide,.. rider-. The attacks were blamed on the il IndIans but II Indians It was \Nhlt. \I\A1lte 1I0utlaws "outlawsll more than Indians that caus.d caused the trouble. The Pony Express f,.om from the East left leU St. Joseph, MI ssourl at 6: 30 p. m. April 3, 1 860 and arrived arrIved In Salt Lake City Ap,.11 Apr-II g, 1860 at 6: 25 p. m. The Pcny Expr-ess Exp,.ess Irom Sacramento, Ir-om the West I eft Sacram.nto, Callfo,.nla a,.,.lved California at 1 2 2 p. m. on April 3, 1860 and arrived In Salt Lake Ap,.11 April 7, 1860 at 11 :45 p.m. Vllhlle II It was not a profitable p,.ofltable vantura. venture, It enabled anablad the ,.eadars readers of the IIDeseret "Da.e,.et Newa" Newall to laarn learn of Abraham Llncolnls p,.e.ldent eight afte,. he won Lincoln's alectlon election as Pr.sldent eIght day. days aUer the elecllon. AI so on April 20. about 11 p. m . a rider splashed Into town through a downpour of 01 rain with the news that 8 days before (April 12) South Carolina had fired on Fort Sumpter and the Civil war had begun. begun •. Soon came the Telegraph and th~n then the Transcontinental Rail Road that could take the place of the Pony Express. Ther. 01 Salt Lake City and There were 42 stations east of there were 56 stations west of Salt Lake City. There were 123 1 23 riders. Th. Stallon in Salt Lake was on Main The Pony Express Station Stre.t Street betw.en between 2nd and 3rd South and the route passed through Dry Creek about 15 miles south along State Stre.t. Street. THE CEMETERY The town Cemetery Is located at 11100 South. II It Is .ast east of Stat. State Street and the land gradually rises to the .ast east bounda,.y. boundar-y. No r.cord reco,.d has been kept of \I\A1en \Nhen it was bought so no dates are avail abe at this writing. When the ward was organized In 1896 the Bishopric cen,etery cite as every comwould naturally acquire a cen.etery munity must have a church, school and cemetery. However, I have a record that gives a burial date of July, 1898. Bishop Jensen acquired the site and the cemetery was on the east part and a IIthing tithing yard was next to the road. A granary and weigh scales were built and a root cellar cella,. near by as many memb.rs members gave produce lor tithing \Nhlch \I\A1lch was kept there. The tithing yard was later abandoned and the granary grana,.y was sold to Fred Jaynes. abandon.d The land was kept with the dream d,.eam of ' someday seeding Th. the land to grass and Improving the c.m.tery. cemete,.y. writing (1964) (1 964) the dream Is coming true. true . At this wr-Itlng Work Wor-k and Improvements Imp,.ovements have been going on fo,. for two y.ars years and II It Is now ,.eady ready to b. be planted to grass. g,.ass. A water system has been Installed, wate,. Installed. aled,.iclty electricity has been put In to run the pump, the roadway has been blacktop.d ed and soon the little hili \Nhere \I\A1ere sleep many of the men and women who pioneered this IItUe little town will be as lovely a cite as any place in the valley. God bless them and may their posterity honor them for the sacriflees they made and the heritage they left us. fices In 1963 the 4H Clubs of Crescent raised money and paid for a flag and flagpole which was placed in the eenter eente,. of the cemetery plot. The 4H leaders In in charge were Ora O,.a Falrbourn, Fairbou,.n, Selma Olsen, Eddus Hyde, and Leone Lloyd..Lloyd-.- -Dedicatory services were held al at the flagpole cile cite June 14, 1963 and It was dedicated by Hyrum Hardeestl.. castle. .