ckkone
Explorer
Who - Wasatch Cruisers Club Run (23 rigs in attendence)
When - Saturday January 12th 2008
Where - Old Pony Express Rd. from Lehi, UT to Wendover, NV (approx. 130 miles)
I found a very good writeup about this trail on the internets using The Google, the authur does a much better job then I could ever do explaining the history, the region and the trail. The following trail history is an excerpt from this document
Trail History:
For mail to get across the west to California before the Pony express came to be, it traveled by ship down the Gulf of Mexico, by mule across Panama and then by ship again to San Francisco. That journey could take as long as 8 weeks if the weather was foul. Around the time of the Civil War, it became vital to keep California more closely aligned with the Union and a faster system for getting messages out was imperative. So in 1860, the Pony Express mail route was born from the vision of businessman William Russell. Starting in St. Joseph, Missouri the route forged 1800 miles across what is now Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada to its terminus in Sacramento, California. Since speed was the emphasis of this venture, only the fastest horses were used, riders had to be less than 120 pounds and each parcel no more than 20 pounds. Time required to get news to the west coast was significantly reduced —to about 8 to 10 days. Successful as it was, the route was only used for 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861. When the transcontinental telegraph was completed in 1861, the privately-owned mail delivery business was unable to make a profit and was subsequently shut down. Messages that once took 8 weeks by ship and mule, then 8 days by horse now took 4 hours by wire.
When - Saturday January 12th 2008
Where - Old Pony Express Rd. from Lehi, UT to Wendover, NV (approx. 130 miles)
I found a very good writeup about this trail on the internets using The Google, the authur does a much better job then I could ever do explaining the history, the region and the trail. The following trail history is an excerpt from this document
Trail History:
For mail to get across the west to California before the Pony express came to be, it traveled by ship down the Gulf of Mexico, by mule across Panama and then by ship again to San Francisco. That journey could take as long as 8 weeks if the weather was foul. Around the time of the Civil War, it became vital to keep California more closely aligned with the Union and a faster system for getting messages out was imperative. So in 1860, the Pony Express mail route was born from the vision of businessman William Russell. Starting in St. Joseph, Missouri the route forged 1800 miles across what is now Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada to its terminus in Sacramento, California. Since speed was the emphasis of this venture, only the fastest horses were used, riders had to be less than 120 pounds and each parcel no more than 20 pounds. Time required to get news to the west coast was significantly reduced —to about 8 to 10 days. Successful as it was, the route was only used for 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861. When the transcontinental telegraph was completed in 1861, the privately-owned mail delivery business was unable to make a profit and was subsequently shut down. Messages that once took 8 weeks by ship and mule, then 8 days by horse now took 4 hours by wire.
Looks fun. My family used to go out that way a lot.
