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Show r The 1 ii'e of the pony ex pre ssrnan was one of ha rdship , · exposure and peril. He was often deprived of sleep for days at a time. Sometimes, the e xpress being delayed by deep snows, on one or more sections of the line, the riders from off one, two or more routes would be ·. s ll bunched up at one end, and the rider at that point would have to ride his route and theirs until they could get out by mail , "Icha bod, " Herman Hunt on one of these oc casions rode s ome two hundred and fifty miles at one stretch and in February, 1861, the 'r:i.d:el0.· was three days from this city to Echo , the new s now on the trail over the mountai n be±~g c half way up the horse's sides and in drifts over his back, and the rider from Ca mp Floyd with this e x press got fa st in the drifting , bl inding snow, and after triangula ting Utah Valley found his bearings and reached the city. In the winter of 1860-61 at t imes when the expr·ess from the east was delayed it was no uncommon experience for the rider f irst out of this city to start out at midnight and ride up and down the canyon and over the Wasatch Range for ei ghty miles , mee t the delayed e xpress , turn and ride back without a stop except to change relays, and in this trip he would ride twelve horses . It sometime s happened tha t a rider would get lost, with the trail obliterated , the horse snow to his chin and the winter winds driving the blustering , sua shing snow in clouds through the a~~osphere he would get bewildered and wa nder and wa llow through the snow for hours before re~aining his cour se . Dense fogs were also cormrron on some parts of the road. A rider started out from Bear River one night with the ther nometer at 20 degrees and on reaching Needle rocks bottom he was in the midst of geniune pogonip and both s ides of the small vall ey having a similar ap pearance and the trail being obliterated with new snow he lost his bearings and wandered around for three hours whe-n horse and rider went ca.souse into one,6f those lar ge spring s east of Needle Rocks and after f loundering in the slush and water the ri der succeeded in getting out and with a strap attached to the bridle ~hich the rider carried coiled in his hand he pulled and coa xed the horse .out . The opportune discovery of the spring gave t he rider a hint a~ to where the t rail mi ght be found , and finally finding it, he felt down through the snow for tracks of animals that had last pa ssed over it, and finding which way they pointed got . his course and struck out, and had to ride only about thirty miles to his home station before he could change his clothes. The pony ride was exposed to more danger from the Indian than was the driver with with the coach , for there were always two or more with that, while the pony man was alone and did not confine himself to the road but took a tra il or cut-o f f wherever he could make time. On the first division east mhe riders were seldom molested , but on the next division and on the Platte they some time s caused the pony to beat .his own record. In the f all of 1860 a thieving band of hostile Bannocks raided Myers's station on Bear River, killed the herder and ran orf the stock and I led a couple of express animals over • |
